These are all hilarious, but the sci/fi one and the period one made me LOL!
As for foot-in-mouth, I've done that too.
About 10 years ago, the hispanic population in this area increased exponentially, and all the nurses were given little pocket phrase books with Spanish medical phrases. So I was trying to learn to say some pertinent things in Spanish and was very proud of myself when I asked about a patient's intake for my shift without using a translator. That is, UNTIL I told a friend, who is from Chile, what I had said. She absolutely DIED laughing. When she could finally talk, she told me what I had ACTUALLY said to the poor woman, and I was mortified!
I had intended to ask how many times during my shift had she nursed her baby. What I actually asked her was how many breasts she had.
(and yes, the mother had looked at me very oddly, and held up two fingers. And...I charted that the baby had nursed twice!
)
As for foot-in-mouth, I've done that too.
About 10 years ago, the hispanic population in this area increased exponentially, and all the nurses were given little pocket phrase books with Spanish medical phrases. So I was trying to learn to say some pertinent things in Spanish and was very proud of myself when I asked about a patient's intake for my shift without using a translator. That is, UNTIL I told a friend, who is from Chile, what I had said. She absolutely DIED laughing. When she could finally talk, she told me what I had ACTUALLY said to the poor woman, and I was mortified!
I had intended to ask how many times during my shift had she nursed her baby. What I actually asked her was how many breasts she had.

(and yes, the mother had looked at me very oddly, and held up two fingers. And...I charted that the baby had nursed twice!
