2y ago

Tooth doctor doesn't have the same ring as eye doctor

Saying eye doctor in a conversation feels normal. Saying tooth doctor feels like listening to someone who had a bad disco elysium roll and they're punching themselves in the face to get the words out.

29 comments

Probably because of the more common word "dentist".
- That's because it's shorter, eye doctor is slightly shorter and easier to say and spell than opthamologist
  
  counterpoint: paediatrician.
  
  In the UK we see the optician. E z.
  
  I'd argue it's magnitudes easier to say.
Funny, because in German it's exactly that: Tooth doctor (Zahnarzt).
- The one that always bothered me is Hals-Nasen-Ohren-Arzt. Why is it Nasen? We only have one. It should either be Hälse-Nasen-Ohren Arzt or Hals-Nase-Ohren-Arzt.
  
  I never thought about that. Now it bothers me too. Thank you.
  
  I assume it's for the same reason you say Nasendusche, Nasenrücken or Nasenbluten but Halsschmerzen or Halstuch (though I'm not sure what's the exact grammatical reason). It has nothing to do with the number of noses. I think it would be Augenarzt and not Augearzt even if we had only one eye.
  
  In Dutch it's the same, but we just say "KNO-arts", for "throat, nose and ear".
- Tierarzt sounds normal but animal doctor sounds weird
  
  But that's because you learned english and know it's called a vet. Direct word-for-word translations are often supposed to be weird because that's just not how it works.
- Yes and y'all also use the French word for "curly" to say hair dresser... So.....
Optician? I've never heard "eye doctor" here in the UK
- Technically a general eye doctor would be an opthalmologist. An optician is someone who makes lenses. The person you see for an eye test at the opticians is an optometrist (someone who measures what strength lenses you need).
Don't be an anti-dentite
Similarly, saying butt doctor doesn't have the same ring to it as proctologist, but either way they're checking for rings around Uranus.
- Even worse is child doctor. I'm thinking of a child dressed as a doctor, not a paediatrician.
uh well where I live: https://emergencytoothdoctor.com/
they do in fact take care of emergencies too. They pulled a tooth for me on walk in.
Dentists and podiatrists don't go to med school in the US.
- Podiatry School is a medical school. 4 years plus a 3 year residency.
- Dentists go to teeth college

29 comments