Dyscopia
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Dyscopia consists of the Latin root "copia" which means abundance or plenty (see cornucopia) and the Greek prefix "dys" which means "bad", "abnormal", "difficult" or "impaired".
It is a word which has assumed two meanings, both of which are essentially a pun based on the similarity of the sound of the words copy and cope with copia.
In the field of neurology, dyscopia is used to describe a type of dyspraxia related to dyslexia and dysgraphia (inability to read or write). Specifically it is taken to mean difficulty with copying. A similar word acopia is taken to mean a complete inability to copy text. The correct Latin words for these conditions are dystranscribia and atranscribia.
The terms dyscopia and acopia have also crept into general medical parlance as a tongue-in-cheek shorthand notation for patients who, after being examined and found to have no specific medical condition, are deemed to be not coping with certain aspects of their life and presumed to be seeking treatment as a form of comfort from the medical profession. More recently, and controversially, the term has been used in this context as a diagnosis for admission to hospital.
The words have also been used in medical notes as a cryptic indication that certain members of a seriously ill patient's family are not coping with the situation and should be afforded some extra consideration to their feelings when the case is being discussed.
