Prescription Abbreviations

Abbreviations used in prescriptions:

a.c. (ante cibum) – before meals
ad lib. (ad libitum) – use as much as one desires; freely
alt. h. (alternis horis) – every other hour
c (cibos) – food
D.A.W. – dispense as written
dc, D/C, disc – discontinue
e.m.p. (ex modo prescripto) – as directed
ex aq – in water
h.s. (hora somni) – at bedtime
L.A.S. – label as such
N.K.A. – no known allergies
noct. (nocte) – at night
NPO, n.p.o. (non per os) – nothing by mouth
p.c. (post cibum) – after meals
p.o. (per os) – by mouth or orally
s.a. (secundum artum) – use your judgement
sig – write on label
s.o.s., si op. sit (si opus sit) – if there is a need

Napoleon Bonaparte described medicine as “a collection of uncertain prescriptions the results of which, taken collectively, are more fatal than useful to mankind.”

August 29, 2005March 28, 2006 | Science & Math · Trivia

Car Company Name Etymologies

Origins of car company names:

Cadillac: Named after the founder of Detroit, French explorer Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac. Cadillac is a small town in the South of France.
Daewoo: “Great Universe” in Korean.
Mercedes: The first name of the daughter of Emil Jellinek, who worked for the early Daimler company around 1900.
Mitsubishi: “Water chestnut,” reflected as a stylized rhombus in the company’s logo.
Pontiac: A Native American Ottawa war leader.
Subaru: From the Japanese name for the Pleiades (Subaru was formed from a merger of seven other companies).
Volkswagen: The “people’s car.”
Volvo: Latin for “I roll.”

August 28, 2005March 28, 2006 | Trivia

Homo Ludens

All cultures play games.

August 26, 2005March 28, 2006 | Trivia

J.L. Hunter

The world’s oldest active bank robber was 91-year-old J.L. Hunter, who robbed the First American Bank in Abilene, Texas, of $2,000 in 2003. It was his third robbery in five years.

When asked why he did it, he said he hadn’t liked banks since they forced him into bankruptcy.

August 21, 2005April 19, 2006 | Crime · Trivia

Monthly Coincidences

Unless it’s a leap year:

January begins on the same day of the week as October.
February begins on the same day of the week as March and November.
April begins on the same day of the week as July.
December begins with the same day of the week as September.
No other month begins on the same day of the week as May or June.

August 20, 2005March 28, 2006 | Trivia

Smarty-Pants

This year Mensa accepted a new youngest member. Three-year-old Mikhail Ali of Bramley, Leeds, England, has an IQ of 137; he’s one of only 30 members under 10.

But he’s not the all-time youngest member — that’s Ben Woods, who was 2 years and 10 months old when he joined in the mid-1990s.

August 20, 2005March 28, 2006 | Trivia

Size Matters

If Wal-Mart were a country, it would have the 33rd largest economy in the world, with a GDP between Ukraine’s and Colombia’s.

August 19, 2005March 28, 2006 | Trivia

No Kickstand

The world record for high-speed bicycling keeps going up, of course, but the record for low-speed bicycling has remained unchallenged for 40 years. In 1965, Tsugunobu Mitsuishi of Tokyo, Japan, remained perfectly stationary for 5 hours and 25 minutes.

August 18, 2005March 28, 2006 | Trivia

Record Reader

Kim Peek, the basis for Dustin Hoffman’s character in the film Rain Man, has memorized 9,600 books.

August 18, 2005March 28, 2006 | Entertainment · Trivia

Mass Transit

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Moscow_Metro,_Kievskaya_station.jpg — Image: Wikimedia Commons

Moscow has the most heavily used metro system in the world, carrying 8-9 million passengers on a normal weekday. It has 170 stations and 12 lines, including an unusual “ring line” that circles the city.

According to legend, this came about when Stalin’s coffee cup left a ring on one of the blueprints. Historians dispute this account — but on maps, the ring line is always printed in brown.

August 17, 2005July 17, 2013 | Trivia