Word of the Day

The other day at work, I had a conversation that left me a little flummoxed.  I was in the process of handing my little patient over to another nurse.  As I gave report, I listed off all the important details: where the intravenous lines were, what fluids were running, the drugs' drip rates, pertinent family history. When I finished, the nurse asked in a thick Colombian accent, 

"Is the baby peenchee?"

Peenchee?! My mind raced. Dang, was this some new medication audit or clinical assessment I hadn't heard about?  I looked at the other nurse with question marks all over my face.  

"You know--is he a peenchee baby?"  She gestured with thumb and forefinger like she was playing finger cymbals. Or squishing a bug.

And then, the lost-in-translation query broke through the clouds.  She wanted to know if the baby was pinchy.  And since a picture is worth a thousand words in an explanation like this...

Meet our friends' little masterpiece, Princess P.  

Petite, perfectly proportioned, and  pinchy, indeed.