While studying psychology in West Lafayette, Indiana, Sarah wondered whether it’s correct to speak of a treatment’s efficacy or its effectiveness. Usually, in research and professional settings, efficacy describes how well a treatment works under...
Kamela works as a nurse in Anchorage, Alaska. When she asked a patient how how he was doing post-surgery, the man responded with Well, I haven’t grown gills yet. It’s a jocular way of acknowledging that although he hadn’t recovered completely...
The handy German neologism Impfneid literally means “vaccine envy.” It’s one of many German words coined during the COVID-19 pandemic. Neid in German means “envy” and Impf, meaning “vaccine,” derives from the horticultural metaphor of grafting part...
Vaccines take their name from vaccinia, the virus that caused cowpox. It was the original ingredient used to vaccinate people against smallpox. Stefan Riedel, a pathologist at the Baylor University Medical Center, offers a detailed history of the...
Talibangical adj.— «Rounds is proposing free HPV vaccines to be distributed by the state. The talibangical far right don’t want it and are probably pretty steamed that Rounds would want to help people not die from cancer.» —“ Pendulum Swing In...
shut up and color v. phr.— «Field perceives that they are being deceived. possibly being used as guinea pigs, treated like idiots and told to due nothing more than shut up and color (or in this case take the vaccine).» —“Adverse Reactions To...