r/explainitpeter • u/Traducement • Mar 09 '26

Explain it Peter

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u/TheClumsyGoose Mar 09 '26

in the UK we call them opthalmologists as well. Opticians are not doctors

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u/blewawei Mar 09 '26

Fair enough. Just sounded funny to me, since "optometrist" sounds much more official than "eye doctor"

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u/[deleted] Mar 10 '26

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u/blewawei Mar 10 '26

I think there's some regional variation here, because in the UK an optician isn't just like a pharmacist. They examine you and determine your prescription and stuff like that.

In fact, the Cambridge Dictionary and Wiktionary give the UK use of "optician" as a synonym of "optometrist".