Air Force Language (1962); Medical Slang (1994)

[Jeffrey William McKeough]

Arnold Zwicky wrote:
>
>like doug wilson, i'm suspicious about the acronymic source for
>GOMER.  i've known the term for over twenty years - learned it
>from medical friends, including some e.r. specialists - but didn't
>hear the acronym etymology until last year.  my doctor/nurse/
>social worker/aide friends, when asked about the source of GOMER,
>had no idea; that's just what they're called, i was told.

In the first season of "St. Elsewhere" (which was recently rerun on
Bravo), Howie Mandel's character (an ER doc) referred to GOMERs a
couple of times.  I'm almost certain that he explained it to another
character using the acronym.  That doesn't make the acronym etymology
correct, but if I'm remembering it correctly, it would date it to at
least 1982.

Now I get to grumble about the fact that Bravo has pulled the show
from its schedule so I won't be able to verify my memory during the
next run.

--
Jeffrey William McKeough
jwm at spdcc.com (or spdcc.net)