Old operating theatre in London
In countries that follow the conventions of British English, the place in a hospital where operations are performed is called an operating theatre. In American English this is known as an operating room.
The British usage comes as a surprise to people not familiar with it but the reason is clear. In the early days of anatomy and surgery operations were infrequent and were seen as educational events, open to other surgeons and students and they were performed in a place where a good number of people could watch what was being done. Of course, in those days there was no concern for sterility, surgeons worked in their street clothes, and a prosperous surgeon could be identified by the blood stains on his clothing.
The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Tulp, Rembrandt
(Images – Wikimedia commons)
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