KEY POINTS:
John Pedersen was amused to see the directions on the Ventolin label in Sideswipe on Saturday and, as a pharmacist, explains how the faux pas happened. "We still use Latin abbreviations on prescriptions because they are universal and easily understood. One of those abbreviations is the instruction "prn" which in Latin stands for "pro re nata" or literally translated "the thing that is about to be born". On a prescription, the abbreviation means "when required", which makes sense on this label. These abbreviations have all been loaded into the pharmacy computer, the trouble being that if a letter in the abbreviation is accidentally left off it quite often will be translated by the computer as something quite different. In this case, the "n" has been left off, leaving "pr" (per rectum), which translates as "in or into the rectum", usually used for pile ointments or suppositories. It just demonstrates to pharmacists that it pays to read the labels carefully before dispensing."
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A group of friends in Washington DC were finishing a dinner on the back patio of a home when a man slid through an open gate and pointed a handgun at the head of a 14-year-old girl. Thinking on her feet, one of the guests asked the man if he'd like to join them for a drink. The intruder did and after some expensive French wine and camembert, he put the gun away, apologised and said he'd come to the wrong house. He then asked for a hug and the dinner guest obliged. Witnesses thought he might have been high on drugs. (Source: AP)
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Grumpy old men (and women) may not be just a convenient ageist cliche, according to a study which suggests age could affect one's sense of humour. A study by Washington University in St Louis found older people didn't get jokes as quickly as the younger students. The participants had to complete jokes and cartoon strips, choosing the correct punch line or picture from a selection of options. One such joke in the test was: "A businessman is riding the subway after a hard day at the office. A young man sits down next to him and says: 'Call me a doctor, call me a doctor'. The businessman asks: 'What's the matter, are you sick?' The participants were expected to correctly identify the punch line as: "The young man says: 'I just graduated from medical school'." The report's authors said the results suggested that age-related declines in short-term memory, abstract reasoning and moving between different thought trains may affect humour comprehension in older people. (Source: BBC)
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A house listed for sale in Williamson Ave, Grey Lynn, is advertised as a good spot for a pothouse, writes an outraged Herald reader. "The home-owner flagrantly brags about their hydroponics room. This is why there is such a drug culture in New Zealand - the police aren't even willing to deal with the problem on this level." Turns out it is an ad for the second series of Prime's television drama Weeds and which, like the controversial series, uses controversial ad campaigns. For the first series, a billboard with a giant bag of "weed" attached was erected in Kingsland and security footage released of some kids trying to pinch it for their flat.
