A stratified randomed sample of 628 primary care physicians was identified from a population of 2,804 practitioners. Each physician was asked to anonymously complete a questionnaire, and 234 questionnaires (37.3 percent) were returned. The questionnaire contained 41 items that elicited information about physicians' demographic characteristics, AIDS and HIV knowledge, and attitudes toward individuals infected with HIV. Results showed that how physicians talked about AIDS often involved discrimination. Of 232 metaphors reported by general physicians in response to a question on what AIDS is like, some physicians answered with extremely judgmental replies. About one in four doctors chose a disease-oriented description of AIDS. It is concluded that what physicians say about AIDS and how they say it require special sensitivity in a context confounded by discrimination, sexuality, economics, and ideology. 10 references, 2 tables, and 1 figure (Author abstract modified)