Blood pressure and body temperature pronunciation

[Rachel Adams]

Hello.

What is the correct pronunciation of 90/60mmHg and 120/80mmHg and of body temperature 36.6, 37.5 or 40 using the metric system?

For body temperature is it 'thirty-six pont six', 'thirty-seven point five', and 'forty'?

 

[Rover_KE]

ninety over sixty – one-twenty over eighty

thirty-six point six – thirty-seven point five – forty (Celsius–not metric)

 

[Rachel Adams]

ninety over sixty – one-twenty over eighty

thirty-six point six – thirty-seven point five – forty (Celsius–not metric)

Oh, 120 is pronounced as one-twenty so first number separately from 100 to 300. Right? 110/50 One -ten over fifty. 140/70 one-forty over seventy. 130 is the limit if I am not mistaken.

 

[GoesStation]

Body temperature should always be expressed with a decimal to indicate the precision with which it's measured. Say forty point oh or forty point zero. Normal oral temperature has historically been described as 98.6°F, but modern practice allows a lot of leeway. You might casually say "She had a hundred-degree fever", but a nurse would be more likely to call it "one hundred point oh".

 

[Raymott]

Oh, 120 is pronounced as one-twenty so first number separately from 100 to 300. Right? 110/50 One -ten over fifty. 140/70 one-forty over seventy. 130 is the limit if I am not mistaken.

No, there's no limit at 300.
If someone's BP was unfortunately 405/140, that's 4-oh-five over one-forty. (I've never seen such an upper level, but linguistically it would be correct).

 

[GoesStation]

No, there's no limit at 300.
If someone's BP was unfortunately 405/140, that's 4-oh-five over one-forty. (I've never seen such an upper level, but linguistically it would be correct).

When I was on the volunteer rescue squad I once transported a dignified old gentleman who was "feeling bad". He locked his house with a skeleton key, walked into the ambulance, and lay down on the cot. I put the blood-pressure cuff on his arm, inserted the stethoscope eartips into my ears, pressed its bell to the vein in his arm, spun the valve closed, and started pumping. And pumping, and pumping. The pulse finally stopped at 290. If I remember right, his diastolic was over 150. It was amazing that he was alive.

 

[Rover_KE]

120 is pronounced as one-twenty ...

That's how I and many other people say it. I should also have said that many others choose to say 'a hundred and twenty'.

San fairy ann.

 

[PeterCW]

Body temperature should always be expressed with a decimal to indicate the precision with which it's measured. Say forty point oh or forty point zero. Normal oral temperature has historically been described as 98.6°F, but modern practice allows a lot of leeway. You might casually say "She had a hundred-degree fever", but a nurse would be more likely to call it "one hundred point oh".

In my school days both my mathematics and my physics teachers were quite clear that "oh" was a letter not a number. It is common usage and I often say it myself but it should be avoided if in a formal scientific environment.

 

[Rachel Adams]

That's how I and many other people say it. I should also have said that many others choose to say 'a hundred and twenty'.

San fairy ann.

And in BrE for 405/140 do you use the same pronunciation Raymott suggested or "four hundred and five over one hundred and forty" as well as "four oh five over one forty"?

 

[Rover_KE]

Both are possible.

 

[Rachel Adams]

Both are possible.

If I mix them and say "four oh five over one/a hundred and forty" instead of "one forty" would it be correct?
If I use "hundred with the first number should I use it with the second too? And if I don't use "hundred with the first number canI use it with the second?
"Four hundred and five over one forty."

"Four oh five over one hundred and forty."

 

[Rover_KE]

Everybody would understand you, Rachel.

For the third time today, san fairy ann.

 

[Rachel Adams]

Everybody would understand you, Rachel.

For the third time today, san fairy ann.

Even when we non-natives are understood we don't always speak correctly. I was just making sure all the options I wrote were correct. As well as wondering if "one hundred" was correct in this context. I have definitely learnt a lot on UE.

 

[Tdol]

Go with what is the easiest and clearest to understand. My doctor tells me I should go for one twenty over eighty for my blood pressure.