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Carrion Luggage  Native to the Americas, the turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) travels widely in search of sustenance. While usually foraging alone, it relies on other individuals of its species for companionship and mutual protection. Sometimes misunderstood, sometimes feared, sometimes shunned, it nevertheless performs an important role in the ecosystem. This scavenger bird is a marvel of efficiency. Rather than expend energy flapping its wings, it instead locates uplifting columns of air, and spirals within them in order to glide to greater heights. This behavior has been mistaken for opportunism, interpreted as if it is circling doomed terrestrial animals destined to be its next meal. In truth, the vulture takes advantage of these thermals to gain the altitude needed glide longer distances, flying not out of necessity, but for the joy of it. It also avoids the exertion necessary to capture live prey, preferring instead to feast upon that which is already dead. In this behavior, it resembles many humans. It is not what most of us would consider to be a pretty bird. While its habits are often off-putting, or even disgusting, to members of more fastidious species, the turkey vulture helps to keep the environment from being clogged with detritus. Hence its Latin binomial, which translates to English as "golden purifier." I rarely know where the winds will take me next, or what I might find there. The journey is the destination. |
| In my ongoing quest to look at word/phrase origins, I found this explanation from Mental Floss, though I felt no urgency to share it. Well, I thought it was pretty common knowledge that it came from the medical field, but I've been surprised many times by what I thought was common knowledge that turned out to not be. The reason stat is short for statistics needs no explanation. Yeah, it kind of does. Because 'stat' is short for 'statistic,' and 'stats' is short for 'statistics,' at least in my country. The one thing about British English that I actually find superior is that they shorten 'mathematics' to 'maths,' while we use 'math.' If stats are statistics, why is math mathematics? Many things in language make little sense, and this is one of them. But that's not the 'stat' we're talking about. Stat simply means “immediately.” And has the advantage of one short, sharp syllable instead of an unwieldy and tongue-time-consuming five. You sometimes see it written in all caps, STAT, which could either be to add extra emphasis or because people assume it’s an acronym. Amusing thing: like many people, I have an ongoing prescription for a cholesterol-controlling medicine. My doctor's office, affiliated with the university here, has a computer system that always capitalizes STAT. Consequently, the prescription is for AtorvaSTATin. It’s possible that the all-caps custom is influenced by the fact that ASAP basically means the same thing and is an acronym (for as soon as possible). It's also possible that they just want it to stand out on reports for other medical professionals. "We need an X-ray of this leg stat" might be overlooked, but "We need an X-ray of this leg STAT" adds emphasis to the urgency. But stat is not an acronym: It’s an abbreviation for the Latin word statim, also meaning “immediately.” Oddly enough, 'immediately' is also a Latin derivative, but it appears to share its Latin root with 'mediate' and 'medium.' I don't have a good source for this, but I suspect the 'im-' prefix negates the 'mediate' root, conveying a sense of urgency as opposed to moderation. Like with 'immobile' or 'imprecise.' When stat first entered the English lexicon in the early 19th century, it was used by physicians clarifying that a drug or procedure should be administered immediately. Early 19th century? "Give me that jar of leeches, stat!" "Trepanning drill, stat!" Medical professionals still use stat today, sometimes to differentiate a medication that must be administered immediately from two other types of medication orders. There are scheduled ones, which “are typically utilized for medications that are designed to give a continuous effect over a certain period of time (e.g. antibiotics),” per a 2016 article in Pharmacy Practice; and PRN orders “for medications that are to be given in the event of specific signs or symptoms (e.g. analgesics and antipyretics for pain and fever, respectively).” PRN is Latin, too: It stands for pro re nata (literally, “for the affair born”), meaning “as needed.” There's a brewery near me called Pro Re Nata, and the R in their sign has the little x cross on the tail that signifies 'prescription.' I find this amusing. Their beer isn't bad, either. Next time I go there, I'll be like, "Pint of brown, STAT!" Though I'll have to pronounce it carefully, or they might think I'm ordering stout. Not that there's anything wrong with that. |
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