I've had a couple of days off school with a bad cold and a sore throat. As always the teachers have have been kindness personified. One of them picked up some medicines for me at the pharmacy - real ones, not bags of twigs and stones. I was asking her what they were and she used the dictionary on her phone to tell me.
The blue and white capsules are, apparently, "antiphlogistication medicine".
What a great word!
"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
December 06, 2012, 04:55
Richard English
I didn't realise that Spontaneous human combustion was a major problem in China - not that the phlogiston theory was still believed there.
Richard English
December 06, 2012, 20:54
Kalleh
What was it supposed to be, Bob?
December 06, 2012, 21:31
BobHale
I think - having checked the internet - that it means anti-inflammatory.
"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
December 07, 2012, 08:52
<Proofreader>
quote:
I think - having checked the internet - that it means anti-inflammatory.
Or a universal balm.
December 07, 2012, 21:21
Kalleh
Well, an anti-inflammatory wouldn't do much, except bring down a fever. I'd expect an antihistamine or a decongestant or some sort of cough medicine, such as an expectorant or an anti-tussive. I suppose an anti-inflammatory could help a sinus inflammation, though.
December 08, 2012, 00:57
BobHale
I didn't actually take it because I knew I didn't need it. It was prescribed by a pharmacy, not a doctor, for a patient they hadn't seen.
I just put them away because it was nice of the teacher to go to the trouble. I did take the throat losenges though.
I never take medication for a cold. They always go away in a few days anyway. I just take lots of hot drinks - honey in hot water soothes the throat quite nicely.This message has been edited. Last edited by: BobHale,
"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
December 08, 2012, 20:57
Kalleh
quote:
antiphlogistication
So, Bob, I put this into Google, and guess what the first two sites were the first time? Your blog and Wordcraft. The second time they were 5th and 6th. It seemed to be a medical word in the 1800s. William Tully wrote about it in a pharmacology book in 1857-6. Then RT Trall wrote about it related to diphtheria.
December 09, 2012, 02:36
tinman
I haven't found antiphlogistication in any dictionary, but I have found it used in 2 Chinese medical patents, one for treating acne, and one for treating scalds and burns, both issued in 1994. The word antiphlogistic does occur in several dictionaries, such as M-W, where it is defined as either an adjective or noun meaning anti-inflamatory. It's also in the OED Online.
December 09, 2012, 21:10
Kalleh
What does the OED say? I miss having access to it. My library can't seem to come up with a way of getting it. I might have to purchase it.
December 10, 2012, 03:02
tinman
OED Online
quote:
antiphlogistic, adj. and n.
Etymology: Formed as antiphlogistian adj. + -ic suffix; compare phlogistic. antiphlogistic, adj. and n.
Aadj.
2. a.Med. Counteracting or reducing inflammation. 1769 W. Buchan Domest. Med. xliii. (1826) 184 The plethoric state of the patient..led to the employment of the antiphlogistic..treatment.
1803 Edinb. Rev. 1 471 The disease is..to be treated by topical remedies and the antiphlogistic plan.
1877 F. T. Roberts Handbk. Med. (ed. 3) I. 219 All antiphlogistic remedies are to be deprecated.
B.n.
A medicinal agent allaying inflammation.
1744 G. Berkeley Siris 28 A powerful antiphlogistic, and preservative against corruption and infection.
1875 H. C. Wood Treat. Therapeutics (1879) 50 As an antiphlogistic, nitrate of silver acts..as an astringent.
A medicinal agent allaying inflammation. 1744 G. Berkeley Siris 28 A powerful antiphlogistic, and preservative against corruption and infection.
1875 H. C. Wood Treat. Therapeutics (1879) 50 As an antiphlogistic, nitrate of silver acts..as an astringent.
phlogistic, adj. and n.
Etymology: In senses A. 1 and A. 3 < ancient Greek ϕλογιστός flammable, inflamed (see phlogiston n.) + -ic suffix; in sense A. 2 probably independently < phlogiston n. + -ic suffix. Compare post-classical Latin phlogisticus (1756 or earlier; compare antiphlogisticus (1709 in the passage translated in quot. 1715 at sense A. 1)). With use as noun compare French phlogistique (1750).
A.adj.
1.Med Of, relating to, or producing inflammation; inflammatory.
1715 J. Delacoste tr. H. Boerhaave Aphorisms 319 And to correct the Defects in the Mouth usual to this Sort, such ought to be made use of, as are Antiphlogistic [L.antiphlogistica], Antiscorbutic, and at the same time peculiarly proper to each particular sort of Scurvy.]
1732 T. Short Hist. Mineral Waters Derbysh., Lincs., & Yorksh. 219 In all inflammatory Diseases from a phlogistic Thickness of the Blood, it's..the most attenuating Salt.
1754–6 Connoisseur No. 53. ⁋9 Blotches and breakings out..owing to a kind of a phlogistic humour in her blood.
1813 J. Thomson Lect. Inflammation 71 Cases of acute or active inflammation preceded by what is called the phlogistic diathesis.
1854 C. H. Jones & E. H. Sieveking Man. Pathol. Anat. (1875) 321 The phlogistic process in the pericardium.
1946 Amer. Jrnl. Surg. 71 253/2 A phlogistic action was noted on chronic eczematous regions leading to exudation and hyperemia.
1984 M. J. Taussig Processes in Pathol. & Microbiol. (ed. 2) 19 Another important consequence of the fixation or activation of complement is the production of various phlogistic (inflammation-producing) factors.
2004 Jrnl. Immunol. 172 349 C5a is the most potent of these phlogistic peptides and is a strong chemoattractant for neutrophils and macrophages/monocytes.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: tinman,
December 22, 2012, 19:33
Kalleh
Wow, great work, Tinman. I see it has been cited fairly recently.