When I was very young (many, many years ago), I recall going to my aunt's house after playing a basketball game in a competition sponsored by the recreation department in my hometown. I proudly proclaimed, "We won the team." She looked at me and said, "Well ... where are they?" She explained that my team won the game and not the team. The importance of words and grammar continued to be important to my aunt, and I provided many teachable moments throughout my younger years for her to correct me and teach me. Several years ago, I was pushing her wheelchair around the nursing home in which she was residing after she had a stroke and also some dementia and I intentionally said something not grammatically accurate when I was trying to be funny. She turned her upper body so that she could point her finger at me and sternly stated, "Nan, that should have been predicate nominative." I just smiled and corrected my statement.
I also remember her telling the true story of when she and 2 other women went to Wyoming when they were in their 30s. Once when they were touring, they saw a crowd and went to investigate. There was a gentleman proclaiming that if anyone could spell a particular word, he would give them $50.00, which at that time was quite a bit of money. He said the word was "syzygy." My aunt put up her hand and quickly spelled it correctly. She always smiled when she relayed that he told her that he had never lost that bet for the several years of his challenges. She would often challenge me on the weekends by giving me words to spell and giving me nickels if I was correct. (I think I should have bargained for at least a dime.)
I can look back now and see that my appreciation and desire for precision was fostered by the projects my aunt assigned to my brother and me. When she gave us a microscope, we had to document the things that we looked at with the microscope. I feel a bit guilty now as I know that many spiders lost at least one leg due to our project. When we went to the rock mines in Maine, we had to catalog what we brought home and write a bit about each one. When we took a trip to the museums in Washington, District of Columbia, I remember having to stand and listen to my aunt as she read the information provided in front of each exhibit. I knew that my brother and I would be quizzed at night while we sat in front of the campfire. The standards that I was taught were, I believe, responsible for the fact that I am very fond of logic and precision. It is also why I am exceptionally fond of the Krebs cycle and the muscle spindle (yes ... I have pictures of them on my wall at home, which a friend recently informed me that qualifies me to be a certified member of "geekdom"). So be it. The functioning of each is predictable and precise and, in my opinion, absolutely beautiful. The desire for precision is also why I cringe, and sometimes scream aloud, when I read, "the data was..." instead of the correct "the data were...."
Whether we as physical therapists are documenting what we do for the interventions in plans of care or describing the tools and techniques we use to complete research, we need to be mindful of precision. The standardization of terminology would allow for precision of communication, replication, interpretation, sharing, comparison, and believability of results. This is the point of concern expressed in the letter to the editor in this issue of Journal of Women's Health Physical Therapy. One only has to Google the phrase "Standardization of Terminology" to observe the efforts of many organizations that have supported the need for the standardization of terminology in their disciplines. At CSM 2016, I will place discussion of the implementation of terminology standardization requirements on the agenda of our Editorial Board Meeting. I do think that it would be appropriate for each physical therapist, whether a clinician or a researcher, to visit the Web site provided in the Letter to the Editor and review the recommended standard terminologies (http://www.ics.org/committees/standardisation). Adherence to the use of standard terminologies by both clinicians and researchers may then allow the answer to the question, "What's in a Word?" to be "precision." Precision of communication can lead to precision of understanding, with no chance of misinterpretation or confusion. When precise communication and precise interpretation and precise understanding are in alignment, it is as wonderful as the syzygy of the sun, the earth, and the moon.
In this issue, Drs James Bellew, Arthur Nitz, and Brittany Schoettlekotte describe the use of neuromuscular electrical stimulation as an intervention for woman with a postpartum femoral nerve palsy. Barbara Cooper and Dr Donald Kowalsky present their research regarding an intervention for clearing blocked milk ducts, which is a common condition affecting women who are lactating. Drs Patricia Nelson, Kathryn Irish, and Kimberly Cleary describe their research that investigated the relationship between balance and urinary incontinence in older women.
Finally, I feel that I should end this editorial with a piece of information about my aunt. My aunt was a high school teacher (predicate nominative)-Booyah!
Nancy C. Donovan, PT, PhD
Editor-in-Chief