The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1902-12-26
VERBAL ALIASES.
WORDS THAT GET TOO FAMILIAR TO
SUIT SOME TASTES.

| When the report was recently clrcu-
lated that prominent public man had
lost his life through accidentally in
| haling qsantity Of carbon dloxide,
the man In the street began at once in
| qurng what carbon dioxlde was.
As matter Of fact, carbon dioxide
Is merely another name for carbonTc
acid gas, one Of the products Of com
bustiOn and constituent OF atmos-
! pheric air.
Carbonic acid gas Is known by sew
cral different names, as, for instance,
carbon dloxide, carbonic oxide and car
bonic anhydrdc.
Consumption as name for a terri
bic and widespread disease Is known
and understood by practically every
man, woman ana child Ina England.
But the medical fraternity, ever on the
lookout for something new I'm the way
OF professional nomenclature, elected
some years back TO call IL phthisls.
and then just when that unspcllable
word began 10 be known and recog-
nized they evolved yet anOther-tubcr-
culosls
And as with consumption 50 with
most other complaints. A quarter OF n
century ago even eminent physicians
were content to speak Of smallpox, OF
typhoid fever, Of lockjaw. Today they
are called yariola, cntcrlc and tctanus
respectively.
A doctor when giving evidence before
an ignorant east end jury the other
day said that the immediate cause Of
death was "a violent and prolonged
fit of combined cpistaXis aud stomatOr-
rhngia." II would, one would think,
have been far easier for him to have
spoken OF bleeding at the nose and
mouth, and he would at all events have
had the satisfaction OF making himself
understood.
Most people now living can rcmem-
Der the time when bacteria were known
gcncrlcally as animalculic a not very
strictly scientific definition, perhaps,
but one easily understandable, and con
ycylng, moreover, distinct idea to
any one Of ordinary education and in
telllgcncc.
For that very reason, doubtless, the
title I'm question was voted out Of date
and old fashioned and the word "bacil-
IT. was substituted. This means, liter
ally, little sticks" certainly most
novel definition, but one that scarcely
strikes the average lay mind as being
either lucid or suitable. Nevertheless,
IL was accepted, and at last became
familiar To the man I'm the street.
That Of course could not bc tOlorat
ed. lmaglnc u bactcrioogist using
word which conveyed any meaning to
anybody outside his own charmed cir
Gle! The idea Is both degrading and
prcpOstCrous, 80 hc set TO work forth
with and invented Il whole host Of ter
rifle verbal aliases,
He called them for example, sChiZ-
Omycctcs, neuromuskol2cllcn, megacoc-
ci and polymorphonuclcar lcucocytcs,
M well as half hundred other things;
while for the chemical suLstances in
cidcntal To the science he invented such
delightful terms as "tctrahydrOpara-
neutrality-suspicious." and "tctramcthyl
diamido-triphcnyl Carbinol- oXalate."
The craze, too. Is getting commoncr
among other than scientists. Take the
word "rceknC" for instance, and ask
your friends what they understand by
II. "ReckingY one will say. why,
reellng means dripping with moisture,
soaked with wet" You will derive
some amusement from his surprise
when you tell him that rcckii.a,&ncans
smoking stcaming" \ chimney can
rcck When horse rccks with moist
ture, Il is because It's llanks smoke and
steam.
The change from the real meaning to
that given II In popular, present day
phrascOlogy can easily bc traced. Any
thing very wet will rcCk ~-ln frosty
weather; SO the wctncss has been as
sumcd To be the real characteristic of
rcpk
Theu there is "lurid,' which nine
people ont of ten use I'm an entirely
wrong sense. Ask Il man what color
lurid is ana hc may answer correctly,
hut the chances are that hc will say,
Red flame orange or bright yellow"
OF course, lurid mcaDs smoky or dull
color. London fog is mrid. Thick, suf-
locating smoke Is urid.
Lurid and livid are almost synony-
nous. Lurd flames are flames chokcd
and hidden by smoke. \ lurid sunset
Is not n brilliant one, but one dull and
gray ami chccrlcSs.
or course. the use of verbal aliases
is not an absolutely new departure. 1t
is only that We OF this generation I'm
our wild strivings after novelty have
so enormously increased and multiplied
them. The taste of our grandfathcrs
and great. grandfathcrS lay rather In
the direction of using over and over
again two or three long and uncommon
words.
Thus cahlituduitatihuS. rs a
synonym of fame. cmiucucc, occurs
and rccurs with almost depressing reg
ularity I'm the plays Of old prc-Eliza-
bcthan dramutlsts and Is even used 10y
Shakespeare on occasion.
II was partly I'm rldcule OF the silly
custom OF using this aud other similar
ldiotic verbal doubles. which had sur
viyed in part even until his time that
Rabclais makes Pnutauucl speak OF
"mnrrumhorizcvCrzcngirizcunoqucmor
gasachaqucvczincma my poor
eye" and ask augrily OF MIR Mauhound
whether IL was not enough to