Thursday 25 October 2012

Vocabulary: New Words from House M.D.


After taking a break from my n-th time rewatching of House M.D., the journey continues once again and I've reached Season 4. The fact that after rewatching the show so many times yet new words still pop out is truly amazing!! The level of detail in the scripts is simply remarkable and should be appreciated for decades to go! If you still haven't seen any episodes yet, it is time to get its DVDs.


Season 1 Episode 5: Damned If You Do 
(in the hospital chapel, a room set aside for prayer, but House goes there to watch a portable TV):
Dr. House talking to Eucharist
Image from FOX

Eucharist: I need to talk with you, Dr. House. Sister Augustine believes in things that aren't real.
House (sarcastically): I thought that was a job requirement for you [religious] people.
Eucharist (somewhat offended): She's been known to lie to get sympathy. She's a hypochondriac.
House: So you're warning me that I may be treating a non-existent ailment?
Eucharist: [She has had] Sore throats, joint pains. There's always something wrong, and there's never a reason for it. Mother Superior (their boss) plays right into it… lets Augustine off work duties, treating her as fragile—special.
House: Let's talk about you for a moment. We've got pride, anger, envy, gluttony… That's four of the "seven deadly sins" in under two minutes (less than two minutes).
Eucharist (still annoyed, but calm): They say you have a gift. You hide behind your intelligence. And you make jokes because you're afraid to take anything seriously. Because if you take things seriously, they matter. And if they matter…
House: …when things go wrong, I get hurt. I'm not tough. I'm vulnerable.
Eucharist: I barely know you, but I hope I'm right because the alternative is that you really are as miserable as you seem to be.



Season 4 Episode 14: No More Mr Nice Guy
Dr. Chase bowling with Dr. House
Image from FOX
Chase: Cameron had this one insufferable friend. She wasn’t going to get rid of her and I sure wasn’t going to join them, so I just said, see her on Thursday’s. I know it’s not as exciting as an exploding birthday cake, but, hell, I don’t want to hang out with her every night anyway.

House: That’s amazing. Cameron only has one insufferable friend?


Season 1 Episode 22: Honeymoon
House arguing with ex-wife Stacy
Image from FOX
Stacy: You want him to die.House: I gave him [Stacy's husband] the parameters. It's his call.
House: I diagnosed him. I did my job. You want somebody to tie him down and force him into treatment, you're way better at that than I am.
Stacy: Is that what this is? Payback for your leg? How many times have we been over this? I saved your life.
House: Yeah, maybe.
Stacy: You're gonna kill my husband to teach me a lesson?
House: No. He's gonna die 'cause he's too stubborn to make the right choice.
Stacy: Now we're in your territory.
House: I am respecting your husband's decision. I don't see why you got a problem with that.
Stacy: Because it's crap! Because you browbeat patients, intimidate them, lie to them! If you think you're right, you don't give a damn what they think! I did what you do all the time. The only difference is, I did it to you.


Season 1 Episode 17: Role Model
[Cut to Exam Room One, where Sarah is back with a mysterious bruise on her neck…]
House checking on the bruise on patient Sarah

Sarah: Petechial bruising?  I don’t know if I’m pronouncing that right.
House: Gosh, the internet is such a wonderful tool.
Sarah: It could be leukemia.
House: Definitely possible.  The more likely diagnosis is hickey.
Sarah: Well, it can’t be a hickey.
House: [exasperated]  Why is everybody so ashamed of sex all of a sudden?
Sarah: I’m not having sex.  I’ve barely even thought about sex since my marriage. [House pulls a hair from Sarah’s head.]  Ow!
House:  I say you’re having sex, you say you’re not.  Either you’re lying, or I’m wrong.  Or there’s some middle ground.
Sarah: You mean like oral?
House: I mean you’re having sex without knowing it.  I’m testing you for booze, drugs and GHB.
Sarah: I don’t drink, and… what’s GHB?
House: The date rape drug.  [He leaves.]

Season 4 Episode 2: The Right Stuff
"Cut-throat Bitch"
Image from FOX
Applicant #24: Aren't we going to discuss how the patient received burns. He [Applicant #6] brought paddles into an oxygenated room!
Dr. House: Well, either you thought it was worth a shot, which makes you a hypocrite, or you thought he would fail, which would make you a cut-throat little pixie.

Vocabulary:

glib -- (adj) (glibberglibbestspeaking or spoken in a confident way, but without careful thought or honesty
hypochondriac -- (n) [C] a state in which a person continuously worries about their health without having any reason to do so
ailment -- (n)[C] an illness
gluttony -- (n)  [U] disapproving when people eat and drink more than they need to
insufferable -- (adj) very annoying, unpleasant or uncomfortable, and therefore extremely difficult to bear
browbeat sb -- (vb)  [T] (browbeatbrowbeatento try to force someone to do something by threatening them or persuading them forcefully and unfairly
split hairs -- (vb)[I]  disapproving to argue about whether small details are correct
hickey / love bite -- (n)  [C] US (UK love bitea temporary red mark on someone's skin, often their neck, where someone has sucked or bitten it as a sexual act
du jour -- (adj)  [only after n(of food in a restaurant) the particular type available today:
hypocrite -- (n) [C] disapproving someone who says they have particular moral beliefs but behaves in way which shows these are not sincere
cut-throat -- (adj) mainly UK (US also cutthroat) not involving considering or worrying about any harm caused to others; fierce
pixie -- (n) (also  pixy) [C] (especially in children's stories) a small imaginary person

Resources:

Medical Vocabulary: Medical Words from House M.D. @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/07/medical-vocabulary-medical-words-from.html

Medical & Vocabulary: New Words from House Finale @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2011/12/medical-vocabulary-new-words-from-house.html

Dr. Gregory House (Character) - Quotes
http://zg85.com/uploads/HouseMD/transcripts/s1/house-117.htm

House MD @ IMDb
http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0015927/quotes

House (Season 4) @ Wikiquote
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/House_(Season_4)#The_Right_Stuff_.284.02.29

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/glib?q=glib
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/hypochondria?q=hypochondriac+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/ailment?q=ailment+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/gluttony?q=gluttony+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/insufferable?q=insufferable+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/browbeat?q=browbeat+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/split-hairs?q=split+hairs#split-hairs__1
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/hickey?q=hickey+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/american-english/du-jour?q=du+jour
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/hypocrite?q=hypocrite
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/cut-throat?q=cut+throat
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/pixie?q=pixie