I suppose this really isn't a word post, but I just thought this list of worst jobs was funny (except for # 10). The fact is, I think there must be much worse jobs than some of these.

10. Nurse (Can you believe it?? No concept!)
9. Tick dragger (they drag sheets in tick territories, trying to catch ticks to study)
8. Iraqi archaeologist
7. St. John's Harbor (sewage) ecologist
6. K-25 (Oak Ridge Lab) demolition
5. Landfill monitor
4. Tampon squeezer (STD researcher)
3. Lab-animal veteranarian (we won't tell Cat about this one. )
2. Worm parasitologist

Ta Da! # 1 is: Anal wart researcher!

Now, for extra credit, tell me how the symbol of the medical profession was derived (at least according to this article!)

Kalleh,
I am laughing... ! I always thought that the person in the lab looking through the microscope at skin warts and moles and etc. had to be a special person... I never got as far in my thinking of anal "attaches"... And I would NOT want to give colonoscopies every day.. God love 'em.

Hmmm, nobody's getting the extra credit. I will give you another day. Actually, I hardly believe the story they give, but I thought I'd throw it out for you wordcrafters to debate.

As far as nursing being #10, that really dusts my doilies. There may be some unpleasantries in nursing, and the pay isn't great, but the rewards are wonderful. Yet, in the #9 job they walk around all day, dragging sheets to catch ticks. That's quite a difference!

Kalleh,

Do you mean the rod of Asclepius? Asclepius was the god of medicine and healing in ancient Greek mythology. In Roman mythology he was called Aesculapius.

Wikipedia says that

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The Rod of Asclepius symbolizes the healing arts by combining the serpent, which in shedding its skin is a symbol of rebirth and fertility, with the staff, a simple tool...

The Rod of Asclepius is frequently confused with the caduceus, which is a symbol of commerce associated with the god Hermes.

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From your tone, I suspect that may not be the answer you're looking for, though.

I can't understand how this article (in the Chicago Tribune) could be so wrong. Here is what it says:

One worm, the female Dracunculus medinensis, migrates from the gut and settles under the skin, where she grows to as much as 3 feet long and then lays her eggs. When the thousands of babies make their arrival, they blister the skin and pop through, leaving mom behind. Then it goes on to say that the traditional way to get rid of her is to wrap her head around a stick and twist very slowly -- one turn of the stick per day -- for weeks or months, depending on how long she is. It says that this ancient treatment gave rise to the "snake-curled-around-a-pole symbol" of the medical profession.

No iota of truth?

Well, this site confirms the idea that it was the origin of the rod of Asclepius. The fact that the author confuses the caduceus of Hermes with the rod of Asclepius does detract from the article's authority, though. There is no mention of the gruesome ancient treatment.

EDIT: I've just found The Caduceus vs the Staff of Asclepius which also repeats the story in its gory detail.

Staff of Asclepius

The real question (for me) is what was the word used for the staff that is associated with Asklepios and the Asklepiades (sons of Asclepius, i.e., physicians)?

Staffs, wands, sceptres, batons, rods, canes, crooks, swagger sticks, and the like are common emblems of office that folks carried around to let people know just who they were meeting with.

Latin caduceus 'staff; also specifically, Hermes' staff' is thought to have originally been an olive stick with stemmata ('garlands, wreaths') that soon became replaced with serpents. Cf. Gk kerukeion 'staff'.

Latin sceptrum (from Gk skeptron); cf. scamnum 'bench, stool; throne'.

Latin baculus (baculum) (and its derivitives bacillus and bacillum). Cf. Gk bakteria 'staff, cane, wand' and Old Irish bacc 'crook, curved stick'.

Latin scipio (scipionis) 'staff'.

Gk drakon 'wand with serpant coiled round it (= kerukeion); serpant-shaped bracelet; dragon standard'.

Gk rabdos 'rod, wand; fishing rod; staff of office (= skeptron)'.

Gk narthex 'giant fennel; schoolmaster's cane; splint; a singlestick used for military exercises'.

Gk thursos 'wand, wreathed in ivy and vine-leaves with a pine cone at the top' carried by devotees of Dionysus / Bacchus. Sometimes less stylized and more phallic in nature.

More history. Plus, Asklepios was called Æsculapius in Latin. I wonder if it was partly by folk etymology connecting it to æsculus 'Italian oak'.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jheem,

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I would NOT want to give colonoscopies every day.

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If you were so lucky as to have had one before the advent of the flexible scope, you wouldn't have wanted to have one either!!!!!!!! Don't ask how I know!