| Dedication | 5 |
|---|
| Preface | 6 |
|---|
| Contents | 8 |
|---|
| List of Figures | 9 |
|---|
| Chapter 1: About Medical Words and Their Origins | 21 |
|---|
| Some Words About the Medical Words We Use Today | 23 |
| My Interest in Words | 24 |
| What’s Ahead? | 25 |
| References | 27 |
| Chapter 2: Medical Words with Mythological Origins | 28 |
|---|
| In the Grove of Academia | 28 |
| The Odd Origin of Apollo Disease | 30 |
| Mercury and its Movements | 30 |
| Atlas and the Celestial Globe | 33 |
| Aphrodite Arising from the Sea | 33 |
| Children of Aphrodite: Eros, Hymen, and Priapus | 34 |
| Children of Aesculapius | 35 |
| Atropine and the Three Fates | 37 |
| The Sphinx and Muscles that Squeeze Tightly | 37 |
| Oedipus and His Mother | 39 |
| Narcissus, Echo, and an Ill-Fated Attraction | 39 |
| Undine and the Penalty for a Broken Promise | 41 |
| The French Disease and the Shepherd | 41 |
| Ulysses in the Clinic Today | 42 |
| Morpheus, the God of Dreams | 43 |
| The Maze and the Inner Ear | 44 |
| The River of Forgetfulness | 45 |
| References | 45 |
| Chapter 3: Descriptive Medical Terms: Activities, Actions, and Appearances | 46 |
|---|
| Physician: From Greek to Latin to French to English—To Provider | 47 |
| Plague: Rats, Fleas, Quarantine, and the Black Death | 48 |
| Ascorbic Acid and the Battle Against Scurvy | 49 |
| Sartorius: the Tailor’s Muscle | 50 |
| The Ornithological Origins of the Disease Named Pica | 51 |
| Testis, Testimony, and the Swearing on Highly Valued Items | 52 |
| Nausea on the High Seas | 53 |
| Perils of Eating Like an Ox | 53 |
| Epilepsy, the Not-So-Divine Disease | 54 |
| Islets, Diabetes, and Insulin | 55 |
| The Emperor and the Horse | 55 |
| Sydenham, Huntington, and the Chorines | 56 |
| The Artery of Stupefaction | 58 |
| Pudendum, Shame, and Shamelessness | 58 |
| The White Plague, Euphemisms, and Poets | 59 |
| The Little Mouse of Strength | 60 |
| The Paintbrush that Changed History | 61 |
| Damn the Sphenoid | 62 |
| Horses and Sea Monsters | 62 |
| Diphtheria and the Skin of the Goat | 63 |
| Anal Varicosities and the Ring of Fire | 63 |
| About the Glove of the Fox | 64 |
| The Tale of the Tailbone | 65 |
| Shutting the Window of Vision | 65 |
| A Vision of a Fort | 66 |
| Ears, Goats, and Tragic Flaws | 67 |
| The Body’s Holy Bone | 67 |
| Beware of the Mad Dog | 68 |
| Sewing and Seams | 69 |
| References | 70 |
| Chapter 4: Medical Words from Various Languages | 71 |
|---|
| Rumors, Noises, and Hums | 71 |
| Druggists and Grocers | 72 |
| Making a Crackling Sound | 73 |
| Hospital | 74 |
| What is Done When There is not Enough Care for All | 75 |
| Sausages, Books, and Botox | 75 |
| The Pox, Great and Small | 76 |
| Tobacco as Cure and Curse | 77 |
| The Flowering Plant That Gave Us Mary Jane | 79 |
| From Brazil to Your Medicine Cabinet, and Then Not | 79 |
| More Potent than Marijuana | 80 |
| Eye Shadow and Demons | 81 |
| The Story of the Magic Hairball | 81 |
| The Red Boys of the Gold Coast | 83 |
| Black Fever and the Sand Fly | 83 |
| The Tale of the Dangerous Bug | 84 |
| Bringing Home the Tattoo | 85 |
| Running Amok or Amuck | 85 |
| Agar, Dessert, and Jelly | 86 |
| The Perils of Polished Rice | 87 |
| The Laughing Death Syndrome | 88
|