How I Remember Medical Hebrew

Ever since I started getting up there in my education ("up there" being when I had to start memorizing words like Diphyllobothrium latum and Wuchereria bancrofti - a couple human parasites - and hundreds of words like them and be able to write them from memory), I've been using mnemonic devices. These usually come in the form of ridiculous stories, acronyms, and "sounds like" scenarios.  This is how I survived biochemistry, parasitology, microbiology, organic chemistry, medical terminology, and any other course that required me to remember large amounts of information that was completely foreign to me.

Organic chemistry wasn't so bad.  You just put the roots and prefixes and suffixes together.  The same goes for medical terminology.  Learning Spanish was also convenient since it shares so many words and roots of words with English.

But Hebrew. Oh, Hebrew. Hebrew is nothing like anything I've ever heard before.  It doesn't share its roots with Latin, Greek, or anything remotely similar to anything I've seen.  Now we're in a medical Hebrew course, where we learn basically how to practice basic medicine in Hebrew.  As you can imagine, it's a lot to memorize, and I have my ways.  After sharing a few of them with the class on Sunday, my TA and other classmates encouraged me to share my methods.  I'm telling you, most of this is bizarre and makes no sense.  Some of them are going to be kind of difficult to explain.  I'm not promising that it will be helpful to anyone, but maybe you'll be amused. Behold, how I've been able to remember some Hebrew terms and keep them in my head (at least for a day or so. . .):

Elbow - Marpek - "mar" in Hebrew means "bitter" and elbows look similar to bird beaks.  It would be bitter to be pecked in the face by a bird. I would probably elbow that bird.  Marpek.

I told you this is a little crazy.

Heel - Akev - "kelev" is "dog" in Hebrew.  Shorten that and you end up with "kev."  A common command for dogs is "heel!" Akev.

Okay, so I realize this probably isn't helpful for those of you who don't know any Hebrew at all.  So here are some dedicated to you.  

Eyebrow - Gaba - Yo Gabba Gabba! is a disturbing children's show that makes me raise my eyebrows. Gaba.

Jaw - Leset - You set your jaw when you're upset. Leset.

Nostrils - Nakhir - Where should I put my finger? Not here . . . *points to nostrils* Nakhir.

Spine - Khuliya - Someone comes up and tells you, "She was in a car accident and broke her spine." You reply, "Who, Leah?" Khuliya.

Lip - Safa - Sara has soft lips, therefore, we shall call her Safa.

Hair - Se'ar - Creepy dude to a girl with long, beautiful hair, "Say, are you beautiful!" Se'ar.

Chin - Santer - Sounds like a man's name (maybe a variant of the Spanish "Santos?"), and that he would have a prominent chin.  He probably saunters, too. Santer.

Testis - Ashakh - Like a shack that houses sperm. Ashakh.

Scrotum - Sak ha'ashakhim - The sack that holds the shack that houses the sperm. (the suffix -im makes it plural; Hebrew for "the" is ha). Sak ha'ashakhim.

So, most of these include other Hebrew words, inevitably.  Like I said, there's nothing I've ever experienced before that was quite like Hebrew, so it's easiest to use it against itself.

Bottom - Yashvan

Buttocks - Akuz -  Yesh (There is) a van.  You sit on your bottom in a van. Inside that van is also a cuz (akuz). Yashvan, akuz.

Cheek - Lekhi - You turn your cheek to someone - le (which means to) he (ambiguous male). Lekhi.

Tooth - Shen - Glistening white teeth "shine." 

Face - Panim - A common Hebrew phrase translated to English is "all on the face." "Pan" means "all," so it's all on the face. Panim.

Ankle - Karsul - Sul broke her ankle getting out of the car.  Wow, she's a klutz. Karsul.

Big toe - Bohen - Hebrew for test is "bohan," and when you stub your big toe, it's a test of whether you're going to shout expletives to the world. Bohen.

Pupil - Ishon - (My Hebrew TA gave me this one.) Ish means "man" in Hebrew. When you look into someone's pupil, you see yourself in the form of a little (wo)man. (I'm pretty sure Hebrew did this intentionally) Ishon.

Hip - Agan - Broken hips are a common problem with the elderly, and sometimes it happens more than once. When someone tells you Uncle Alf broke his hip, you might respond, "Again?!" Agan.

Thigh - Yarekh - Girls, you see your girlfriend stuffing her face with a donut, you shake your head in disgust, "Girl, ya' wreckin' your thighs." Yarekh.

Okay, that's all for now. I'm learning internal terms right now, so there will be more!  I hope this was a tad helpful for my fellow students, and maybe it was a tad entertaining for everyone else.

Lehitra'ot!