Fomite

Hi, you have A Way with Words.

Hello, this is Janet Bomey from Spokane, Washington.

Well, welcome to the program, Janet.

I had a word that I want to discuss.

The word is fomite, and I think it’s a very useful word, but I don’t hear it very often. I think that it’s especially useful right now in our days of H1N1 influenza and our increased awareness of fomites. So I would like to know about the origin of the word.

Janet, you’re saying fomite? How are you spelling that?

F-O-M-I-T-E.

And where would you have run into this word?

When I went to nursing school in the 60s, it was probably one of the first things I learned at the University of Washington School of Nursing.

Oh, really?

And I’ve used it for years, but I found that a lot of people don’t really understand it.

I think you’re talking about mites.

Well, tell us how you would use it in a sentence.

A doorknob is a fomite.

Yes, a fomite being an inanimate object that can transmit an infectious agent.

Correct.

Yeah, it’s a great word, F-O-M-I-T-E. And you’re going to love this because it has a very picturesque origin. It goes back to the Latin word for tinder, you know, a readily combustible material.

Oh.

Isn’t that cool?

Yes, it is.

Yeah.

So a fomite would be like a comb with head lice or a doorknob that has bacteria on it or germs that are…

Blankets infested with smallpox?

Yeah, yeah, blankets infested with smallpox.

Exactly.

They’re all fomites, right?

Yeah.

You will see this word in print around if you look, and usually it’s pronounced fomite. Some people say famities, but to me that sounds like vomities or something.

But that’s closer to the original Latin pronunciation, right?

Yeah, yeah.

The Latin famitis means of touchwood or of tinder. But I like that picturesque image of something that could just sort of burst into infectious flame, you know?

Yeah.

You were saying that you think that this word would be handy in this day and age, right?

Well, I think there’s so much more awareness right now of inanimate objects that carry disease. When you go to the grocery store, you have the little wipes that you wipe your grocery cart down with, and there’s hand sanitizer everywhere. So I just think there’s a lot more awareness of fomites.

Right. Keep those shopping carts from being fomites. Exactly.

And do you know the expression, by the way, Janet, Dracula sneeze?

No.

I love this expression. I’ve only seen it recently.

Dracula sneeze?

Yeah.

I’ve seen health professionals suggest that if you have a cold or something, you should use a Dracula sneeze, which is when you sneeze, you should put your face and nose into your elbow, like Dracula.

Oh, because he’s holding his cape up.

So two great expressions, fomites and Dracula sneeze. What do you think?

I think it’s great.

I do, too. We’ll keep wiping down those handles.

Okay.

Thanks, Janet.

All right.

Bye-bye.

So call us with your medical words, 1-877-929-9673, or tell us your OCD stories at words@waywordradio.org. Tell us all about your aches and pains.