The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1902-12-26
VERBAL ALIASES.
WORDS THAT GET TOO FAMILIAR TO
sylT soNs TASTES


@onIy Hisunderstood.
when the report was recently cifcu-
lated that a prominent public nan bad
lost his nfe through accidentally in-
kaling q quantity Of carbon dioxlde.
The man IN The street began ut once ~
sulring what carbon d.oride was
As matter of raci. carbon dioHide
IL merely ab0ihsr naue Tor carbouic
add gas. one u the products of com
bustion and constituent ~ aimo@
pberic air.
Carionic acid gas j. known by sev.
erai different names. a.. Tor instance.
carbon dioIlde. carbOnic oxide and car.
bonie snhydride.
Consumption as a name Tor a terri
bic and widespread disease is known
and understood by practically every
mar. woman aDd child IN England.
But the medical fraternity. ever on the
lookout for something Dew IN The way
Of professional nomenclature. elected
some years back 10 call Il phtbisis.
and then just when that unEpelisbie
word began 10 b. known and recog-
nizsd they evolved jet anofher-tuber-
culOsis
And a. with consumption 50 with
most other complaints. A quarter Of a
century ago even eminent physicians
were content 10 speak of smallpox, Of
TYPHOID fever. of lOckjaw. Today they
arc called vsriOla. entefic aud tetanus
respectively.
, A doctor when giving evidence before
an ignorant east end jury the other
day said that the immediate cause %
death was "a violent and prolonged
o. Of combined episiaris and stomatOr-
rhagia." II would. one would think.
have been far easier for him 20 have
spoken Of a bleeding az the nose and
mouth. and be would AZ all events have
had the satisfaction of making himself
understood
Most people now living can remem-
Der the time when bacteria were known
gcnerically az animolculm-a not very
strictly scientific definition. perhaps.
but one easily understandable. and con
veylng. moreover. a distinct idea 10
any one Of ordinary education and .l-
telligencc.
For that very reason. dOubtlcEs. the
title in question was voted out of date
and old fashioned and the word "bGcll-
III" was substituted This means. iltcr-
ally. little sticks" certainly a most
novel definition. but one that scarcely
strikes the average lay mind as beiug
either lucid o. suitable, Nevertheless,
II was accepted. aud at last became
familiar 10 The man IN the street
That u course conH not be tolerat-
ed Imagine a bactcriologist using a
word which conveyed any meaning 10
anybody outside his own charmed cir
clel The idea is both degrading and
preposterous; 50 be set 10 work forth
with and invented a whole host of ter
rife verbal aliases.
He called them for example. schiz.
omycetes. neurOmuskelzellcn. megacOc-
ci and polymorpbonuclear leucOcytes,
Ms well as half hundred other things:
while for the chemical substances In
cldental 10 the science be Invented such
delightful terms as ''tetrahydTopara-
neutrality-suspicious." and "tetrametbyl
diamido triphenyl-c yl-carbinol-oxalate."
The craze. too. is getting commoner
among other than scientists. Take the
word "reekIng." for instance. and ask
your friends what they understand by
a. "ReekingT one viii say. why.
reeking means dripping with moisture,
soaked with wet You VIII derive
some amusement from his surprise
when you ten him that recking means
smoking. gtcem,ug" A chimney can
reck. when horse reeks with mo.s-
ture. Il IS because iiB tanks smoke and
steam.
The change from ihe real meaning 10
that given it iu popular present day
phras se.ioey can easily ue traced. Auy-
thing Very Wet via raes 'n frmtv
weather s1 tle Wdnesa los Lceu as.
sumed 90 bc tlc real caarac.lrs.l. of
Tcch
Then tlfe h luul." which uile
people out of fcn usa lu % entirely
wrong sense Ast mau NLal co.ol
lurld ls and le uay answer correctly
but tHe ca1nt4 rrr that .e wII aay
'Iicl cam. orar or t Hv"
of c1uu . $500
color Lo.H Ud I. wf
focat.ue IuUI
Lurd ra. I rmr ..uH
nous LurI laats ala I.4eF c.o..I
ana hidden f.o.c. l..d ua.t
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