In today's Dilbert strip, Dilbert tells Catbert that he has a shy bladder. The folkterm for the condition paruresis which I have always heard and used is shy kidneys. But it barely registers a beep on the Google hit charts:

ghits  term
=========================
118K   paruresis
33K    "pee shy"
26.1K  "shy bladder"
15.3   "bashful bladder"
559    "shy kidney"
312    "bashful kidneys"
100    "bashful kidney"
38     "shy kidneys"

From Greek παρ(α)- (par(a)-) 'beside, near, by' + ουρεω (oureō, cf. Latin urina) 'to pass water, pee' + ISV -esis a suffix of Greek origin used to form nouns of action or process.

I'm wondering if this is a regional dialectal difference or an archaic term being replaced by a newer one?

[Addendum: added "bashful kidney(s)" stats.]

This message has been edited. Last edited by: zmježd,

zm: Thank you for all those syns and Ghits too

Despite so many combinations, the one I've heard most often isn't one of them. It's "bashful kidney."

Today's Dilbert brought back memories of my draft induction physical, when they were screaming, "Pee in the bottle, NOW!!!" while I froze from all the pressure. NOT a fun day. Being blind in one eye, I flunked the physical, but they check eyes last.

Not to be confused with pareunia.

It's in the online OED, Wikipedia, and the On-line Medical Dictionary. It is also in the NHS Direct Online Health Encyclopedia. Yet, it isn't in my Taber's Medical Dictionary, and I haven't heard it. I suspect it may be a medical term used in urologic or maybe even psychiatric specialities. I would doubt that it is regional, but I could be wrong.

quote:

Originally posted by Kalleh:
I would doubt that it is regional, but I could be wrong.

Of course it's regional - the urinary region to be precise.

"Shy bladder" is the expression I have heard (in Ohio).

pareunia

From Greek παρευνος (pareunos) 'lying beside, or with; bedfellow' fr. παρ(α)- (par(a)-) 'beside, near, by' + ευνη (eunē) 'bed' (cf. ευναω (enuaō) 'to lie; sleep'). (Nothing to do with urine.)