word usage questions

[Verona_82]

Hello,

I have a few questions about the usage of some words; I decided not to create different threads as I don't think the questions need any thorough explanation. I'd appreciate it if somebody could have a look at them.

1. Can a person have 'shiny eyes'? ('shiny' - bright, sparkling, for instance, with joy)

2. Do we sit IN or ON the back row (in the stalls, for example)?

3. Is it okay to say "I better have a look at you' ? Does it mean the same as 'I'd better..." ?

4. Is the word 'polyclinic' common? I found it neither in Macmillar nor in OLD. Should I say 'clinic' instead?

Thank you!

 

[5jj]

1. Can a person have 'shiny eyes'? ('shiny' - bright, sparkling, for instance, with joy) I'd say someone's eyes were shining. I think it's possible to say "shining eyes", but "shiny eyes" does not sound right to me.

2. Do we sit IN or ON the back row (in the stalls, for example)? I'd say "in".

3. Is it okay to say "I better have a look at you' ? Does it mean the same as 'I'd better..." ? It should be "I'd better".

4. Is the word 'polyclinic' common? I found it neither in Macmillar nor in OLD. Should I say 'clinic' instead? It's given as "polyclinic" in COD. The word is not commonly used in the United Kingdom.

 

[Verona_82]

Thank you. Got it.
Can I ask one more polylinic-related question?
Polyclinics and hospitals are the core elements of our healthcare system; the former providing a rather wide range of health care services including diagnostics, simple surgeries and consultation by a number of specialist doctors; people don't have to stay overnight to get the services.

Is 'clinic' a correct and (more or less) exact equivalent in English? If I can't wait to see an ophtalmologist and my friend is anxious to visit an ENT specialist, shall we head for a clinic?

 

[freezeframe]

Thank you. Got it.
Can I ask one more polylinic-related question?
Polyclinics and hospitals are the core elements of our healthcare system; the former providing a rather wide range of health care services including diagnostics, simple surgeries and consultation by a number of specialist doctors; people don't have to stay overnight to get the services.

Is 'clinic' a correct and (more or less) exact equivalent in English? If I can't wait to see an ophtalmologist and my friend is anxious to visit an ENT specialist, shall we head for a clinic?

This information is only related to Canada.

Clinic is a very general term and there are many kinds of clinics. When you say clinic here most people think of (I assume) an outpatient clinic with GPs and they're often drop-in (no appointment).

To get an appointment with a specialist you need a referral from a family doctor (general practitioner). You see a GP at a health clinic or you visit your family doctor at his office.

Specialists don't have offices at general health clinics. Although some health clinics might have a specialist (ex. OB/GYN) in one time a week or something like that.

What kind of "simple surgery" do you have in mind?

 

[5jj]

In Britain, a clinic tends to be a specialised unit, sometimes functioning within a hospital, sometimes in a building of its own, as in STD* Clinic, Family Planning Clinic.

The large building with many wards where we go after being involved in an accident, being suddenty taken suddenly ill at work or in the street, or to which we are referred by our GP for specialist treatment or surgery, is a hospital (or infirmary in some parts of Scotland and the North-East of England). We may also go to the hospital to attend one of the special clinics there, or we may just go to the outpatients department for treatment that does not require overnight stays.

GPs operate from their own Surgeries, though the modern tendency is for several GP practices to share premises in a Health Centre.

*STD: Sexually Transmitted Diseases.

 

[Rover_KE]

2. Do we sit IN or ON the back row (in the stalls, for example)? I prefer on.

Rover

 

[riquecohen]

In AmE we sit in the back row.

The word "polyclinic" is not commonly heard in the US but still exists in the names of some institutions, such as the Stuyvesant Polyclinic. A clinic is generally an out-patient, ambulatoty facility, either free-standing or located in a hospital, where patients can receive general and specialized medical care.

 

[bhaisahab]

2. Do we sit IN or ON the back row (in the stalls, for example)? I prefer "in", it sounds much more comfortable.;-)

 

[Verona_82]

What kind of "simple surgery" do you have in mind?

The surgeries I have in mind (I believe I can count them) are putting stitches onto minor wounds, drainage of abscesses, ingrown toenail removal etc - any manipulations that don't require any complicated medical equipment or extended hospital stay.

 

[freezeframe]

The surgeries I have in mind (I believe I can count them) are putting stitches onto minor wounds, drainage of abscesses, ingrown toenail removal etc - any manipulations that don't require any complicated medical equipment or extended hospital stay.

Yes, here this kind of stuff can be done at a drop in clinic.