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Chris -- 2018-04-11

#1 2013-10-08 14:21:20

kem
Eggcornista
From: Victoria, BC
Registered: 2007-08-28
Posts: 2851

skateboard fracture << scaphoid fracture

While chatting with a physician friend of mine this week, he mentioned – I forget just why – a “scaphoid fracture,” a common break of a small bone in the wrist. The room was noisy and I thought he said “skateboard fracture.” The injury is, interestingly, a typical outcome of skateboard falls, caused by the board rider reaching out to catch him/herself on the way down.

I’m not the only one to make this apt substitution. A medical records transcriber admits to the same hearing error:

Confession on a forum: “I was just typing up a letter and put ‘The patient had a skateboard fracture ’ then figured there is no such thing as a skateboard fracture. Turns out it’s a scaphoid fracture. Lol.”

“Skateboard fracture” for “scaphoid fracture” may have taken hold in some speech communities. Here are three web pages that may be supporting examples:

Orthopedics Q/A site: “He declared a likely skateboard fracture, with potentially other injuries, and put me in a splint.”

Automobile forum: “ I go flying and land on my hands. My left wrist hurt a lot. But nevertheless I got up to get the wrench. I torqued my wheels before I even got ice for what I learned a day later was a Navicular ( skateboard) fracture in my left wrist.”

Parent forum: “My BIL came off his bike quite a number of years ago and broke his collar bone plus had what they call a skateboard fracture on his hand. ”


Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.

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#2 2013-10-08 17:05:43

David Bird
Eggcornista
From: The Hammer, Ontario
Registered: 2009-07-28
Posts: 1690

Re: skateboard fracture << scaphoid fracture

Another likely mishearing/eggcorn for this one might be a ‘scaffold’ fracture.

Resolved Question:
What kind of fracture should this be? a “scaffold” fracture of the left wrist.
Nurse dictation correction

went to an orthopedic doctor the next day X-rays showed a minor scaffold fracture in one of the carpals in my wrist.
forum

Fell going up my stairs, verdict was sprained shoulder with contusion, sprained wrist and possible scaffold fracture
dating board

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