a flu by any other name

[gustavolacerda]

Mexican flu, swine flu, H1N1, hiney, the 2009 flu pandemic, the "A" flu (romance languages)

What does it about something say if people can't settle on a name?

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_flu_pandemic

Comments

[bhudson]

What does it about something say if people can't settle on a name?

It's very old and names have diverged in the intervening millenia, or it was discovered independently by different groups who coined unrelated terms for it.

[glapaloopscap]

Or it makes people nervous, so they make up euphemisms for it. How many euphemisms are there for sex or death?

[jcreed]

bhudson++

[bhudson]

My mother was a linguist and my father smelt of elderberries.

[hykue]

don't forget HAMTHRAX!

[widdertwin]

Tuporkulosis!

I just call it Ned.