This is one of the strongest moments in the novel, and unexpected, because up to now Roger has been portrayed only as a man who likes a drink, starting with a "phlegm-cracker" early in the day, moving on to a "sharpener" before food and finishing with a "zonker", which is virtually anything he can tip into a glass at the end of the day.
Each patient was independently diagnosed by two TKM physicians from the same site according to one of four patterns, as suggested by the Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine: 1) a Qi deficiency pattern, 2) a Dampness-phlegm pattern, 3) a Yin deficiency pattern, or 4) a Fire-heat pattern.
Sometimes I think of the upper lobe of my left lung as an insane but dedicated little sputum factory where round-the-clock work is in progress, diligently turning out a product (phlegm) for which no other part of my organism has need.
Every now and again I cough and get a little phlegm up.
In a sputum culture, the phlegm or sputum produced from coughing is analyzed for tuberculosis growth.
It was a midlevel cough, volumewise, halfway between a throat-clear and a deep-phlegm extraction, and I peppered my conversation with it liberally.
Exhaust from cars and trucks, in combination with wind-borne dust from the Arabian Desert and humid air from the Persian Gulf, formed a thick, phlegm-colored haze that made breathing unpleasant — an effect exacerbated by the ferocious heat.
A restaurant cleaner, Mr. Liu had a dollop of phlegm to dispose of, and was rushing around the lake to go out the park's west gate.
The academy also advises that any of the following signs and symptoms should prompt a visit to the doctor: difficulty breathing, swallowing or opening the mouth; joint pain; earache; rash; fever over 101; blood in saliva or phlegm; a lump in the neck; a sore throat that recurs frequently; and hoarseness that lasts more than two weeks.
My old friend, Barry McEvoy, and I were chatting about that the other day, he used to sing in a band called Phlegm back then and he's a damn fine actor and film maker now, he did that film Everlasting Piece.
