triage

[trochee]

The OED defines triage as "The action of assorting according to quality", and that its etymology is "F. triage ..., n. of action f. trier to pick, cull: see TRY v. and -AGE."

Until just now, when I looked it up, I had its meaning right -- more or less -- but its etymology wrong: I thought that its etymon was L. tri- or G. τρι- and -AGE, having more to do with "dividing into three", probably because I first heard it in a medical context (thanks, trombo2 and lapartera): incoming patients are (I think) triaged in busy ERs into three considerations: (1) won't die on our hands, (2) will die unless we act now and (3) will die anyway. Groups 1 and 3 are often ignored, and the middle group is where the ER tries to focus its energy, when resources are scarce.

Nevertheless, triage in either sense is a useful descriptor for my work right now. I was trying to get not one but two papers together for EMNLP, but the work going on the second one has been hitting irritating roadblock after irritating roadblock. The ideas are good, the strategy is sound, but the systems it's built on are so rickety that nothing holds together. It's like being a time traveler trying to build an electric car from steam era technology -- you might have the principle completely sound, but the materials you're working with are unreliable in ways that are very difficult to control. To do such a thing properly, our putative timetraveler would have to set up her own foundry, electrical power generation systems, smelters, plastics manufacturing, re-invent computer chip design, and do it all in her own lifetime.

While my tasks are somewhat less daunting (sticks tongue out), the frustration of not having quality materials is similar. As a result, I talked it over with Advisor and we've decided to bail on the second paper. Thus, submitting it to EMNLP won't happen [it probably falls into group 3], and I'll focus on the first paper, and on finishing out the quarter elegantly.

The good news is that the temporarily-abandoned paper -- after talking with Advisor -- has become an "Invited Talk", to be given some weeks later. In fact, this is more prestigious than the paper -- which hadn't been accepted yet! Somehow, by dropping it into group 3, it's taken itself around and shoved itself into group 1. I couldn't be happier. (I could be a little less tired, but I couldn't be happier.)

Just more evidence that letting go sometimes makes things go better.

I bet you didn't think I was going to put anything about my life in this, did you? yeah, I know most of you tuned out once I said "OED" and the stragglers left at "etymon". Ah, ye of little faith. Academics is my life; why would I deprive you loyal readers of either one?

Comments

[beckyb.livejournal.com]

(on firmer ground here than earlier...) Glad things are going well and that there is maybe less desire to frantically pedal. The invited talk is cool-- a whole separate section on your vita!

[trochee.livejournal.com]

yes -- I'm not sure which workshop it's been invited to, but it's exciting either way. and I think it's Advisor who's been invited, not me, but close enough, said the rabbit with the lion in his den.

[beckyb.livejournal.com]

If you're an author, you're an author!

People don't necessarily ask about lionesque qualities when shopping for grad advisors. It's pretty important though.

[mythalethe.livejournal.com]

Congrats on the horizontal expansions! Hang in there with the timetraveller issues, what else is time for than to build stuff, grow and enjoy each others similar processes?

[writeanya.livejournal.com]

Just more evidence that letting go sometimes makes things go better.

oh yes, this i like. plenty. could even adopt as a philosophy or some such. :D

now, the application phase...

[lapartera.livejournal.com]

Well, this all sounds to the good. Congrats!

My understanding is that triage came into common medical parlance on the battlefield, not in the emergency room -- but then battlefields are one big emergency room, I suppose....

veux tu "triage"?

[trombo2.livejournal.com]

Hmmmm.... Can fathers (or midwives) ever be wrong? Can they know less than the OED?

Here's the only definition offered by Stedman's Medical Dictionary, 27 ed.:

triage (tre'ahzh)

1. Medical screening of patients to determine their relative priority for treatment. 2. The separation of a large number of casualties, in military or civilian disaster medical care, into three groups: 1) those who cannot be expected to survive even with treatment; 2) those who will recover without treatment; and 3) the highest priority group, those who will not survive without treatment. [Fr. sorting]

Re: veux tu "triage"?

[trochee.livejournal.com]

neat! the OED doesn't have this military/disaster reading. But then, it's out of date.

Where I was confused was the etymology: trier vs tri-.