_The r-word_

[Garson O'Toole]

Individuals who have the remarkable ability to remember the quotidian
details of almost every day of their existence have been studied by
scientists. Here is a 2006 article about one of the first woman in
modern times who has been examined and tested:

Woman With Perfect Memory Baffles Scientists
ABC News March 20, 2006
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=1738881&page=1
[Begin except]
So unique, in fact, that the Irvine team has given her condition a new
name. They call it hyperthymestic syndrome, based on the Greek word
thymesis for "remembering" and hyper, meaning "more than normal."
[End excerpt]

The terms "hyperthymestic syndrome" and "hyperthymesia" are new but
the underlying concept is compelling. So the word "hyperthymesia" will
grow in popularity, I suspect.

Wordnik provides examples for "hyperthymesia" but does not display any
definitions:
http://www.wordnik.com/words/hyperthymesia

Wikipedia has an entry for "Hyperthymesia":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperthymesia

I do not see "hyperthymesia" in the OED or Merriam Webster. They do
have a different word that lies within a small edit distance:

hyperthermia noun
: exceptionally high fever especially when induced artificially for
therapeutic purposes

Garson

On Tue, Feb 21, 2012 at 9:16 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: _The r-word_
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Tue, Feb 21, 2012 at 9:03 PM, Jonathan Lighter
> <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Obviously "retarded" and/or "retard."
>
> In the context, that should have been totally clear, given that the
> twins are what used to be called "_idiot_-savants."
>
> --
> -Wilson
> -----
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
> to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -Mark Twain
>
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