Chick)

[Joseph McCollum]

On Fri, 12 Nov 1999 17:52:26 -0800 Bob Fitzke <fitzke at VOYAGER.NET>
writes:
>I suspect it's to differentiate causes. My son was bald at 44 but it was
because he >underwent chemotherapy for non-Hodgkins lymphoma. I doubt the
advertisers >purport to alleviate that kind of loss.
>
>Bob
>
So far as I know, that is right.  The term is actually "male pattern
baldness," referring to the genetic pattern that causes baldness (which
happens to be dominant in males and recessive in females), not to the
pattern observed on the scalp.  One would think that the hair tonic does
not  alter genetic codes and treats only certain types of  "nonpattern
baldness" instead.

One would think that a claim of male or female pattern obesity would
require identification of a genetic code.

Other subject:  From where does "on the bubble" originate?  I know the
term from the NCAA basketball tournament, but I used it saying that I was
"on the bubble" for a promotion.  A friend asked me what it meant, and I
myself wasn't sure.  The only thing I could think of would be some
insect, perhaps, on the bubble that is about to burst.
The other thing would be a bubble of water that acts as a magnifying
glass -- those "on the bubble" receive extra scrutiny.