臨床表現 (clinical picture)、咳嗽有痰 (productive cough) 與不實消息 (misinformation/ disinformation)
有些醫學用語，如：「咳嗽有痰」，中文一目了然，但對應的英文 productive cough，可能就較難從字面理解。澳洲的 myDr.com.au 解釋 productive cough 如下：
A productive (wet) cough is when you have a cough that produces mucus(黏液) or phlegm (痰).
因此 productive cough（咳嗽有痰），就是因為它produces phlegm， 有別於沒有痰的 cough（乾咳），productive cough 又稱為 wet cough （濕咳）。
醫學術語「臨床表現」 (clinical picture) 無論中文、英文，一般人都不易了解。其實， 臨床 (clinical)是「實際觀察及治療，有別於理論或實驗」：
. . . pertaining to or founded on actual observation and treatment of patients, as distinguished from theoretical or basic sciences.
Photo/Graphic courtesy of Bookman l 圖片:書林
譬如：解剖學、生理學是基礎醫學 (basic medicine)，內科、外科是臨床醫學 (clinical medicine)。所以，臨床表現就是「直接觀察病患呈現的症狀」。
「臨床表現」英文也可說 clinical presentation 或 clinical manifestation。雖然也有人主張 clinical picture， clinical presentation 和 clinical manifestation 不完全相等，不過所有同義詞都會有不完全等義的問題，在此就不細述了。
網路常有「不實消息」俗稱「假消息」 (fake news) 流傳，「假消息」如果是「錯誤訊息」英文叫 misinformation 如果是刻意「扭曲訊息」則是 disinformation。
防疫必備詞彙：新冠常見症狀
發燒 fever
乾咳 cough
肌肉痠痛 myalgia
四肢乏力 fatigue
咳嗽有痰 productive cough
A productive [wet] cough is a cough that produces mucus or phlegm.
頭痛 headache
咳血 hemoptysis
腹瀉 diarrhea
文章由書林出版公司提供：
www.bookman.com.tw
蘇正隆 — 台灣翻譯學學會前理事長、師大翻譯研究所兼任副教授; 編著《英語的對與錯》，《世紀病毒：必讀防疫英文知識與詞彙》...等
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