Most therapeutic medicines have at least three different names. The chemical name, whose form generally follows the rules issued by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). For […]
Jeff Aronson’s Words
Jeffrey Aronson: When I Use a Word . . . Being one, two, or many
As I noted last week, animals are monophyodonts, diphyodonts, or polyphyodonts. Rodents and some cetaceans, for example, are monophyodonts—their teeth grow continuously and are never replaced. Humans, and most other […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I Use a Word . . . Nonexistent words, nonexistent meanings
As I noted last week, “spuria”, defined in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) as “spurious works, words, etc.”, was first recorded in 1918. The word appeared in Rupert Brooke: a […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I Use a Word . . . Medical anniversaries in 2018
My list of medical anniversaries in 2018 is restricted to those that are multiples of 50 years. Thus, I have not included, for example, the 40th anniversary of the first […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I Use a Word. . .Wise men pharmacology
The three magi, the three Kings of the East, or the three wise men (Latin magus, a wise man, Greek μάγος), are also known as the three Kings of Cologne, […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I use a word . . . Dropsies
During the years spanning the 100th anniversary of the 1914–18 war, The Daily Telegraph has, day by day, been publishing facsimiles of issues of the paper that appeared 100 years […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I use a word . . . Alcohol
At this time of year, well at any time of year really, a look at alcohol may not go amiss. Alcohol was originally what you put on your eyes, powder […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I use a word . . . Paramedics
To begin with, flex your mental muscles. To flex (Latin flectere) means to bend; a flex is easily bent. Reflection is bending back, of objects, light (as in the retinal […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I use a word . . . Intro and outro: exnovation and outroduction
Last week I discussed the use of the word “de-adoption” in the title of a paper recently published in The BMJ: “De-adoption and exnovation in the use of carotid revascularisation”. […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I use a word . . . Intro and outro: De-adoption
A study published in The BMJ attracted my attention when I saw it in the print issue of 11 November: “De-adoption and exnovation in the use of carotid revascularisation”. Neither […]