Source: "Christa C. Louise" <
>Subject: Scientific Jargon
The following list of phrases and their definitions will help you to
understand that mysterious language of science and medicine.
>
>"IT HAS LONG BEEN KNOWN"
>...I didn't look up the original reference.
>
>"IN MY EXPERIENCE"
>...Once.
>
>"IN CASE AFTER CASE"
>...Twice.
>
>"IN A SERIES OF CASES"
>...Thrice.
>
>"IT IS BELIEVED THAT"
>...I think.
>
>"IT IS GENERALLY BELIEVED THAT"
>...A couple of other guys think so too.
>
>"CORRECT WITHIN AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE"
>...Wrong.
>
>"ACCORDING TO STATISTICAL ANALYSIS"
>...Rumor has it.
>
>"A STATISTICALLY ORIENTED PROJECTION OF THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THESE
>FINDINGS"
>...A wild guess.
>
>"A CAREFUL ANALYSIS OF OBTAINABLE DATA"
>...Three pages of notes were obliterated when I knocked over a glass of
>beer.
>
>"IT IS CLEAR THAT MUCH ADDITIONAL WORK WILL BE REQUIRED BEFORE A COMPLETE
>UNDERSTANDING OF THIS PHENOMENA OCCURS"...
> I don't understand it.
>
>"AFTER ADDITIONAL STUDY BY MY COLLEAGUES"
>...They don't understand it either.
>
>"WHILE IT HAS NOT BEEN POSSIBLE TO PROVIDE DEFINITE ANSWERS TO THESE
>QUESTIONS"
>...An unsuccessful experiment, but I still hope to get it published.
>
>"THREE OF THE SAMPLES WERE CHOSEN FOR DETAILED STUDY"...
> The results of the others did not make any sense.
>
>"A TREND MAY BE EVIDENT"
>...These data are practically meaningless.
>
>"TYPICAL RESULTS ARE SHOWN"
>...This is the prettiest graph.
>
>"THESE RESULTS WILL BE IN A SUBSEQUENT REPORT"...
> I might get around to this sometime, if pushed/funded.
>
>"THE MOST RELIABLE RESULTS ARE OBTAINED BY JONES"
>...He was my graduate student; his grade depended on this.
>
>"THANKS ARE DUE TO JOE BLOTZ FOR ASSISTANCE WITH THE EXPERIMENT AND TO
>ANDREA SCHAEFFER FOR VALUABLE DISCUSSIONS"
>.. Mr. Blotz did the work and Ms. Schaeffer explained to me what it
>meant.
>
>"A HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT AREA FOR EXPLORATORY STUDY"
>...A totally useless topic selected by my committee.
>
>"IT IS HOPED THAT THIS STUDY WILL STIMULATE FURTHER INVESTIGATION IN THIS
>FIELD"
>...I quit!
>
> Thanks to all the faculty and visiting professors that unknowingly
>contributed to this article.
>