amblyopia

[Steve Kl.]

On Wed, 20 Mar 2002, Laurence Horn wrote:

> Synchronistically enough, just after our intense but inconclusive
> debate on "nipplyopia", I was paging through yesterday's New York
> Times Science section when I came upon an article on the affliction
> of "lazy eye", or--we're told--"amblyopia".  I thought the idea might
> be that the eye just kinda ambles around aimlessly, but I see on
> closer examination (with my good eye) that the first root is Gk.
> amblos 'dim'.  It's been around since 1706 and there are 25,000 hits
> on google, but I'd never heard of it (or, for that matter, of the
> rather less well-attested "nipplyopia") before yesterday.  Go know.

In the early 70s, Charlie Brown's sister Sally had to wear an eyepatch
because she had been diagnosed with amblyopia, so, freakishly, that's a
word I remember from early childhood. It figured in the series for a
while.

Interestingly, searching on "Charlie Brown" and "amblyopia" gives:
http://aaugh.com/guide/peanutsl.htm

Under "Odd Collections"

-----
Security is an Eye Patch * This is a keen one. It's a 16 page pamphlet
published by the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare,
reprinting the strips about Sally's dealing with her "lazy eye"
(amblyopia.)

-- Steve