Brigid Daull Brockway is technically a writer

Brigid Daull Brockway is technically a writer

A blog about words, wordplay, and etymology, with slightly more than occasional political rants.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

I am not a roof!

Quick update because as it freaking turns out, I've got shingles and it kind of freaking hurts to type. Having shingles, however, caused me to wonder why in the hell it's called shingles. I mean, it looks nothing like shingles, so I'm guessing that's not it.
Turns out, according to the good old online etymology dictionary, comes from Latin cingulus, for girdle, because it goes around your body like a girdle. Amusingly, cingulus comes from the Greek zoster, also meaning girdle. That's funny to me because the name of the disease is herpes zoster
I know it's not the bad kind of herpes, but I still feel dirty having a disease with herpes in the name. Which comes, by the way, from the Greek herpein, meaning creeping.
For the record, my shingles look even less like a girdle than they do like a roof.

6 comments:

kevin said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
VEG said...

Um, yikes! Hope you feel better soon. You're the second person this week with Shingles that I've come across. I think I'm exempt, never having had Chicken Pox so come on over and play if you want. :)

Also? WTF, Kevin? TOTALLY different strain of the virus.

Brigid Daull Brockway said...

I believe Kevin was a clever spammer.

Anonymous said...

I know I'm coming late (that's what he said?)to this party. Well, now I want to know what Kevin said. Be that as it may, I hope this passes quickly. My advice: ibuprofen every 6 hours, don't pop the blisters, ice packs, meditation, and sleep. Good luck.

Oh, and as you were my 15th follower, I linked over to you on this day of green beer.

Nicholas J. Carter said...

Ah. Echoing the famous Richard Nixon comment. But before you make the claim, check yourself for stray frisbees and bird's nests.

Brigid Daull Brockway said...

Kevin was trying to advertise a dating site for people with genital herpes. Which is a pretty cool concept really...

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