Have I ever mentioned my love of prefixes? No? Well, let me tell you, I do, in fact, love prefixes. They're like the icing on the cake that is language. In fact, there's probably nothing I like better in language than prefixes, iambic pentameter notwithstanding.
But of course, there IS such a thing as too much of a good thing. Chemists, I think we can all agree, are a little crazy. And expecially so when it comes to prefixes. They have a whole system of naming compunds based around prefixes. Its called IUPAC nomenclature, and it gives us neat names like "(11β)-11,17,21-trihydroxypregn-4-ene-3,20-dione", where we could have just said "cortisol".
But medicine is immune to this sort of thing, right? Wrong. Ever heard of Hypothyroidism? What about Hypoparathyrodism? Or Pseudohypoparathroidism? Or (my new favorite) Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism?!?
In case you're wondering, this is what ends up happening while I'm "pseudostudying" or "hypostudying". I have yet to do any "pseudohypostudying", and I think "pseudopseudohypostudying" involves substance abuse. So, none of that for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment