I needed some information from one of our staff members urgently. It was her day for performing major operations. I called the or and asked if she was free.
“I will check” said the house surgeon politely, “please wait.”
I waited. The house surgeon returned after awhile.
“Sir, madam is dewashed. She is in the staff room.”
I was in a hurry. So I resisted the urge to have the word ‘dewashed’ interpreted. I called the staff room, found the professor, obtained the information I wanted and continued with my work.
It was the next day afternoon when I met that house surgeon in the corridor.
“Good afternoon sir” she said.
“Good afternoon” I said. “I know what ‘washed’ means. I also know what ‘unwashed’ means. I do not know what ‘dewashed’ means. You should be able to tell me since I heard that one from you yesterday.”
She smiled but offered no verbal answer.
“Does ‘dewashed’ mean ‘unwashed’?” I asked with what I thought was a straight face. It was probably not straight, because she smiled, with a little mischief added to her original simple smile. “No, Sir” she said politely, still offering no meaning for the word ‘dewashed’.
“All right,” I said “Perhaps you used the word as when you use ‘decaf’ or ‘decongested’ to indicate the opposite of ‘caffeinated’ and ‘congested’. I take it to mean ‘washed out after performing an operation’."
She smiled a 'yes'.
