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script

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noun (f)
[med] recepta

I heard 'script' meaning 'prescription' for the very first time yesterday. I thought at first it might be Australian, however, according to Wikipedia:
"The word "prescription" can be decomposed into "pre" and "script" and literally means, "to write before" a drug can be prepared. Those within the industry will often call prescriptions simply "scripts".

I heard two people use this word yesterday when I took Rebecca to the doctors. The first was a patient in the doctor's waiting room who was talking to the receptionist. The second was one of the doctors who gave me a 'script' to take to the chemist. Are any of the other English speakers familiar with this use of 'script'? Is it fairly common in everyday speech and I've just been blissfully unaware of it? I swear that no doctor in America or the UK ever gave me a 'script'.

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Gill Martin added a comment -

I've never heard this used in the UK either, though I suppose it may be "doctor speak".

If it were Australian, surely it would be "scrippo"

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Gill Martin added a comment - I've never heard this used in the UK either, though I suppose it may be "doctor speak". If it were Australian, surely it would be "scrippo"
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Max Wheeler added a comment -

"Script" = prescription is new to me, but OED says:

script, n.3
pr /skrIpt/
Shortened form of prescription n.15a, esp. one for narcotic drugs. Cf. scrip n.5*

1951 Evening Sun (Baltimore) 27 Mar.4/1 He sc. a drug-addict may have found he could acquire prescriptions, or 'script' from a doctor who had his price.
1953 W. S. Burroughs Junkiei ii. 40, I got a codeine script from an old doctor by putting down a story about migraine headaches.
1972 J. Brown Chancer ii. 33 You're just like a bloody junkie I know. Gets his script at mid-day every day, then works his fixes out.
1980 J. Winchester Solitary Man xiv. 136 He completed the script and handed it across the desk.

*scrip, n.5
pr /skrIp/ etym [Shortened form of prescription n.1.]
= script n.3

1966 O. Norton School of Liars iv. 72, I wasn't to worry if I found his tablets in the bathroom, because Chris had given him a 'scrip for some more and he had had it filled on the way up.
1967 M. M. Glatt et al. Drug Scene ii. 22 In this country...he can find drugs. Say he is not due to pick up a 'scrip' (prescription) for two hours...he can usually find someone.
1973 Guardian 25 Apr.16/6 Failures of execution while we sc. the Labour Party were in government....Teeth, specs, scrips.
1975 J. F. Burke Death Trick (1976) ii. 29 The little cloisonné pillbox...contained some uppies for which she had no scrip.
1977 Times 19 Sept.17/6 Is there not a sickness in Whitehall which needs curing by Dr Owen before he gives us a scrip for our local Rhodesian consumption?

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Max Wheeler added a comment - "Script" = prescription is new to me, but OED says: script, n.3 pr /skrIpt/ Shortened form of prescription n.15a, esp. one for narcotic drugs. Cf. scrip n.5* 1951 Evening Sun (Baltimore) 27 Mar.4/1 He sc. a drug-addict may have found he could acquire prescriptions, or 'script' from a doctor who had his price. 1953 W. S. Burroughs Junkiei ii. 40, I got a codeine script from an old doctor by putting down a story about migraine headaches. 1972 J. Brown Chancer ii. 33 You're just like a bloody junkie I know. Gets his script at mid-day every day, then works his fixes out. 1980 J. Winchester Solitary Man xiv. 136 He completed the script and handed it across the desk. *scrip, n.5 pr /skrIp/ etym [Shortened form of prescription n.1.] = script n.3 1966 O. Norton School of Liars iv. 72, I wasn't to worry if I found his tablets in the bathroom, because Chris had given him a 'scrip for some more and he had had it filled on the way up. 1967 M. M. Glatt et al. Drug Scene ii. 22 In this country...he can find drugs. Say he is not due to pick up a 'scrip' (prescription) for two hours...he can usually find someone. 1973 Guardian 25 Apr.16/6 Failures of execution while we sc. the Labour Party were in government....Teeth, specs, scrips. 1975 J. F. Burke Death Trick (1976) ii. 29 The little cloisonné pillbox...contained some uppies for which she had no scrip. 1977 Times 19 Sept.17/6 Is there not a sickness in Whitehall which needs curing by Dr Owen before he gives us a scrip for our local Rhodesian consumption?
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Linda Oxnard added a comment -

I'm now fairly sure that 'script' is actively used in Australia by the general public as I was just watching an item on the evening news about kids taking Ritalin for ADHD and they used the word repeatedly, including splashing it in big letters all over the top of the screen ("260,000 scripts a year"). Bizarre. I haven't heard this word for the past 15 months I've been here and then suddenly I hear it three times in two days.

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Linda Oxnard added a comment - I'm now fairly sure that 'script' is actively used in Australia by the general public as I was just watching an item on the evening news about kids taking Ritalin for ADHD and they used the word repeatedly, including splashing it in big letters all over the top of the screen ("260,000 scripts a year"). Bizarre. I haven't heard this word for the past 15 months I've been here and then suddenly I hear it three times in two days.

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