vitamin P
n.— «Considering her own history of depression—Vincent had been taking “Vitamin P” (better known as Prozac) for years—she anticipated her mental health might suffer.» —“Norah Vincent spent a year disguised as a man for her last book but the experience put her in a mental institution…cue follow-up” by Chitra Ramaswamy Scotland on Sunday (Glasgow) Jan 25, 2009. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Some college students are using the word loyalty as a synonym for monogamy. Are the meanings of these words now shifting? Plus, a biologist discovers a new species of bat, then names it after a poet he admires. Also, warm memories of how a childhood...
Enthusiastic book recommendations! Martha’s savoring the biography of Alexander von Humboldt, the 19th-century explorer, polymath, and naturalist who revolutionized our understanding of nature and predicted the effects of human activity on...
I’ve heard the expression “Vitamin P” (= Prozac) since 1998 or so, mostly from Lilly pharmaceutical sales reps. Can you imagine the status a drug thought of as almost like a vitamin would achieve, especially for the company’s marketing department? I suspect that may have been where the reference originated as well. But of course that is pure conjecture…