- Spaghetti and meatballs – image from Wikimedia Commons
Metaphors are important in education – they facilitate learning and recall. Food-related medical metaphors are no different.
Beyond their educational value, some researchers (“The ‘Gourmet’ Pathologist“, Anna Batistatou , V. Zolota and CD Scopa. Int J Surg Pathol, 2000 8(4):341-342.) have pondered if food-related medical terms reflect the attitudes and peculiarities of their users.
Perhaps pathologists will be hungry when they name disease entities after, for example, spaghetti and meatballs.