The last thing I ever expected was to have my vocabulary expanded in ways I never would have dreamed of back in January.
"X", for many A to Z bloggers, is the most difficult letter. How many common words begin with X? And we A to Zers don't want to resort to words that begin with E but people take the E off of, such as Xcite (excite).
Enter COVID-19.
Some letters, including "Q", became so easy with our current epidemic. X was not one of them, until I ran into this term:
"Xanthine: A yellowish-white crystalline purine base that is a precursor of uric acid and is found in blood, urine, muscle tissue, and certain plants." Apparently, among other uses, it can be used as a dye and even a food coloring.
OK, true confession time. I didn't have to learn about Xanthine, but I suspect many of us learned medical terms we never expected to learn about over the past few months.
Like intubate and extubate. (My spell check hasn't caught up with either term, by the way.) Ventilator. High flow oxygen, which is something my hospitalized relative with COVID-19 became familiar with. ABX, meaning "antibiotics", which a nurse used in a text to me. Weaning. Hydroxychloroquine, which may well become a spelling bee standard. (Extra credit if you can pronounce it. I still stumble over it, although my relative was given that drug for several days after he tested positive.
We've had to learn so much in the last couple of months, here in our beautiful United States.
So, what about xanthene? I found out it is derived from the Greek word xanthós, meaning "yellow".
And that, dear readers, is a hit of what I'll be blogging about tomorrow.
"X" day in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.
Tuesday, April 28, 2020
6 comments:
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X is always a challenge. Another blogger used Xanthine gum, a food thickener. And I learned the meaning of the name, Xavier today - new house owner.
ReplyDeleteX is always a difficult letter in the AtoZ.. You have done a great job and I have increased my vocabulary too!
ReplyDeleteWe are all learning new words
ReplyDeleteI too have been learning new words. Some I classify as frightening, others as hopeful. Looking forward to more hopeful in our vocabularies.
ReplyDeleteAll so true! I am pleased that the general public now knows what PPE (personal protective equipment) is, because I once worked in occupational health where PPE is crucial. A new one for me was R-naught (R0), meaning the virus isn't spreading. This entire C19 pandemic has been a genuine education.
ReplyDeleteI always cheat with X, in one way or another. Although, I'm rather proud of my post for yesterday. I managed to write a question (back in March) that I was able to find an X title for.
ReplyDelete