Humorous disease names

[Tom Zurinskas]

When you get older you win a lot a trophies.   A trophy of the spine.  A trophy of the nervous system.  A trophy of the....

I do think medical names are often miscommunicative when simple English names should do.


Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL5+
See truespel.com - and the 4 truespel books plus "Occasional Poems" at authorhouse.com.

> Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 14:02:49 -0700
> From: zwicky at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU
> Subject: Re: Humorous disease names
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: "Arnold M. Zwicky"
> Subject: Re: Humorous disease names
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Jun 4, 2008, at 1:39 PM, Jim Parish wrote:
>
>> Gerald Cohen wrote:
>>> I had a friend in high school (1954-1958) and college (1958ff.) who
>>> when asked what was wrong with, say, someone we knew who was sick,
>>> would humorously respond: "Complications of the zorch." He was the
>>> only person I ever heard use the term "zorch", and it was only in
>>> this
>>> context. We both understood it as a nonexistent internal organ.
>>
>> I recall a reference to "slitting someone from guzzle to zorch" in
>> one of
>> Piers Anthony's Xanth novels.
>
> you might be sort-of-remembering the threat of the Cold Duke of Coffin
> Castle in James Thurber's The 13 Clocks (1957):
>
> "And if I fail?" asked Zorn.
>
> The Duke removed his sword from the sword-cane and ran his glove along
> the blade. "I'll slit you from your guggle to your zatch, and feed you
> to the Todal."
>
> [disgusting description of the Todal follows]
>
> arnold
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
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