swab >> swap

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

ok, it's some sort of malapropism, but is it an eggcorn?

The New Yorker, 6/11&16/07, p. 71:

_From the Alexandria (La.) Town Talk._

   Unless they could do a nasal swap, Morocco said, he couldn't say
if the cases were "true flu."

   "We do it on people who might have an increased risk, people who
are diabetic, transplant patients, the elderly, folks like that we
swap them routinely."

_Citizens who meet these criteria: consider yourself warned._

-----

modest number of webhits for "oral swap" and "nasal swap" in the
relevant senses, e.g.:

Oral Cancer Screen: A procedure that is most often performed with an
oral swap of a soft tissue or minor extraction of hard tissue.
www.drhopewell.com/resources/dictionary.ahtml

This sample was an oral swap taken from Scott Dyleski after his
arrest, along with an accompanying blank control sample.
www.newsmakingnews.com/kd,dyleski,DNA,7,17,06.htm

In eight cats a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for Feline Herpes
Virus 1 (FeHV-1) was performed on Schirmer tear test strips, saliva
and a nasal swap.
www.blackwell-synergy.com/ doi/abs/10.1046/j.1463-5224.2001.00150.x

Thus far, the only means of detecting ricin is through nasal swap of
the antigens or from suspected food samples, and these tests can take
1 to 3 days to ...
www.dsta.gov.sg/Home/DisplayPage/showpage.asp?id=1692&tem_id=10

plus:

The clinic did a urethral swap for both Gon. and Chlam. and the
results were negative.
www.medhelp.org/forums/STD/messages/2201.html

The occurrence of Enterobius vermicularis was examined by adhesive
cellotape anal swap method.
www.bioline.org.br/abstract?id=gm06004&lang=en

Normal vaginal flora obtained both from the vaginal swap and ring
culture of the woman still using the ring.
linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0378512206002106

... strains, obtained from an ocular sample, an ear swap, a bronchial
aspirate and. 118. sputum and none of P. minutispora.
aac.asm.org/cgi/reprint/AAC.01177-06v1.pdf

Eye swap samples as well as ulcus material of this patient were
negative for Acanthamoeba ...
www.ingentaconnect.com/content/klu/436/2004/00000092/00000004/
art00004?crawler=true

Repeat mouth swap for microscopy/culture/sensitivity/virology and
consider using:. Fluconazole PO 200mg od (or IV 200mg OD) for candida.
www.nuh.nhs.uk/qmc/antibiotics/Specialist%20guides/Haematology/Haem%
20Ulcer.htm

Shipping: DNA Tribes ships cheek swap kits using Federal Express, and
delivers analysis using email.
www.dnatribes.com/merchantinfo.html

The buccal swap (or saliva test) has proven itself to be the easiest
and most ... The amount of DNA acquired through a buccal swap is
enough to amplify the ...
www.papacheck.de/engl/methods.html

I need to get a eye swap, nose swap, thyroid test, .... A
prescription for ventilin, and as we will be going to Sydney soon and
it will be the fist time the ...
www.unomas21.com/archivepages/march02.htm

arnold

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