Sarajevo on the morning of 29 May1992. The Serbian forces have surrounded the city. A Bosnian field commander reassures Esma Zecevic, the city’s chief paediatrician that the hospital will likely […]
Columnists
Richard Smith: What’s it like to have dementia?
Having watched our mother lose her memory over a dozen years to the point where she doesn’t know who we are, my brothers and I wonder what goes on in […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I Use a Word . . . Diction
Last week I discussed two of three related elements of speech— dialect and accent. I now turn to diction. The IndoEuropean root DEIK meant to show or utter. The Greek […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I Use a Word . . . Medical accents
There is currently a discussion about the differences between related aspects of speech—dialect, accent, and diction. Dialect is a form of a language that is peculiar to a specific region. […]
Richard Smith: COP26 needs to happen in-person but must be as safe as possible
Holding a global in-person meeting like COP26, the annual UN meeting on climate change due to be held in Glasgow in November, is a major challenge in the middle of […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I Use a Word . . . Medical snowclones
A few weeks ago I wrote about tortured phrases, phrases that are meaningless or misleading because some of the words have been replaced by inappropriate synonyms. For example, calling artificial […]
Martin McKee: Has the United Kingdom government given up the fight to protect and promote health?
The struggle to improve the health of the public is never-ending. As the pandemic has shown, there are always new threats that can emerge. Looking ahead, it is apparent to […]
Richard Smith: What is a life worth?
“What is a life worth?” is a question that nobody can answer and should perhaps remain unanswered. But there are circumstances in which it is in everybody’s interest to give […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I Use a Word . . . Curiosity
Jeff Bezos, hoping to retard ageing, is reportedly investing in a company whose stated aim is to do curiosity-driven research. I wonder if he has contemplated the nature of curiosity. […]
Peter Brindley: An open letter to the unvaccinated
At the time of writing, the number of covid-19 cases in North America is rising sharply (yet again) and many doctors and nurses are profoundly frustrated. It really didn’t have […]