Found in translation

Let me sketch a scenario for you. There are no clinics for you to attend and no interesting patients for you to clerk on the ward so you venture down to the radiology department for the afternoon. Your first patient has been sent down from the emergency department for an intravenous urogram for possible renal colic. She comes in leaning on her husband, and she is obviously in a lot of pain.

The radiographer explains the procedure and asks the woman to lie on the platform under the x ray machine, so that the dye can be injected. The woman and her husband are motionless. The radiographer points to the platform and repeats his instructions, a little louder this time. The woman manages to get onto the platform and sits waiting. By now the radiographer is getting irritated: “You need to lie down.” The couple mutter to each other. The radiographer says, “So… you don't speak English.”