MSGID: 1:153/716.0 dfe7c104   
   REPLY: 2:203/2 5de5855a   
   CHRS: IBMPC 2   
   Hi, Paul!  Recently you wrote in a message to Alexander Koryagin:   
      
    AK>  But stenographers and typists do different job.   
    AK>  A stenographer doesn't type his texts; they write   
    AK>  speeches down by hand using the special stenographic   
    AK>  symbols and tricks. The only problem is that nobody   
    AK>  can read their scripts. ;-)   
      
    PQ>  Neither can I.  That's why they -did- type from their   
    PQ>  own notes!   
      
      
             As I mentioned to Alexander on Oct. 30th....  :-Q   
      
             I said they "take dictation", however... and I realize now that the   
   word "take" is one of those deceptively short, simple words in English with a   
   multiplicity of definitions.  What I meant to say is that stenographers write   
   down by hand the other person's exact words & type them from their own notes.   
   IMHO deciphering such notes can't easily be assigned to the typing pool.  :-)   
      
      
      
    PQ>  Although the 'chicken scratchings' form that steno notes   
    PQ>  may start by using a standard script, often the person   
    PQ>  would insert their own symbology to account for in-house   
    PQ>  terms and abbreviations, for example.   
      
      
             Yes, that's what a friend of ours who uses shorthand tells us.  The   
   boss may have "pet phrases" which the steno learns to abbreviate too....  ;-)   
      
      
      
    PQ>  It's similar to the medical field where there is a   
    PQ>  notation form for even the specification of patients'   
    PQ>  medication.  Ask a nurse, pharmacist or doctor (?maybe)   
    PQ>  how their 'shorthand' looks for a typical example for:   
    PQ>  "1 pill, twice a day".   
      
      
             In hospital you may also notice terms like NPO (= nothing by mouth)   
   and PRN (= as necessary)... particularly where surgery is involved.   
      
             Until the mid-twentieth century, in this country at least, patients   
   were expected to do as they were told & did not have prescription medications   
   with identifying labels.  Things changed when someone in the field brought to   
   other people's attention that if the patient had accidentally or deliberately   
   taken an overdose of little white pills the hospital staff might need to know   
   what the pills contained.  Older doctors still use "shorthand" based on Latin   
   when they are writing prescriptions, but I think this may be more a matter of   
   custom & convenience than the desire to preserve an aura of mystery.  Since I   
   remember a bit of Latin from my high school days I used to enjoy figuring out   
   that e.g. "BID" represents a Latin phrase meaning "twice a day"... but now we   
   have a young GP who uses a computer to generate prescriptions in English.  He   
   doesn't waste a lot of time typing out polysyllabic names of medications &/or   
   instructions such as "apply to affected area(s) twice daily".  I imagine that   
   with the aid of the computer he has found other ways of working quickly.  :-)   
      
      
      
    PQ>  (I'm counting on Russian equivalent folk doing the same,   
    PQ>  of course... /fingers crossed/.)   
      
      
             The same applies in other fields of endeavour.  As an ex-waitress I   
   often abbreviate "orange juice" as "OJ", e.g., on my shopping lists.  I'm not   
   trying to hide anything from my nearest & dearest... but I remember how if my   
   mother needed sanitary napkins or whatever she tended to use shorthand.  :-))   
      
      
      
    PQ>  The separation of typing duties from stenography was only   
    PQ>  possible with the introduction of dictatorial equipment.   
      
      
             I think you mean "dictation", but I get the drift....  ;-)   
      
      
      
    PQ>  History lesson, finished. Thank you for listening.  :)   
      
      
             As I get older I appreciate that my ancestors knew stuff I wish I'd   
   paid more attention to while they were still alive.  If I tend to ramble that   
   may be at least in part because I've lost a few marbles.  But I am also aware   
   that I may be among the last few people on earth who know such things, and it   
   seems people who haven't already heard them often enjoy my stories... [grin].   
      
      
      
      
   --- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+   
    * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)   
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