Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Disese*, Diseas (for Disease, etc.)

'Tis the season for diseases. At least, those of the sore throat, drippy nose, stuffed head, hacking cough kind. I've caught a cold. And, though it's nice to have an excuse to lie on the couch all day and read the new library book, while being brought comfort snacks and cups of herbal tea now and again, it's really no fun being sick. However, the home-remedy "cure for the common cold" self-tinkering is always instructive. This time I'm trying oranges and lemons, garlic and honey, elderberry syrup, and some beautiful purple homeopathic lozenges. I'm feeling under the weather today. It's been raining all afternoon. Time to get back to my book now, though. I'm afraid I'll be feeling much better in the morning. If you feel up to it, get back to work checking for our two typos today. Disese* was found 21 times in OhioLINK and 242 times in WorldCat, while Diseas turned up seven times and 262 times respectively. (I noted some, however, with a "sic" in tow and others that may have been older spelling variants).

(Color lithograph advertising poster: "Dr. D. Jayne's Tonic Vermifuge. A Sure Remedy for Worms. The Best Tonic for Young and Old. The Cure for C[ough]s, Colds, Asthma, or any Lung or Throat Disease, is Dr. D. Jayne's Expectorant." Captioned: "The Child Moses." From Wikimedia Commons.)

Carol Reid

1 comment:

Mrs. C said...

I just want you to know how very much I enjoy these posts. That there are rarely comment makes me sad. Always fun to read and often brilliant. Thank you!