Under this same title which appeared in L’Express  of April 1995 and October 2016, a new third edition is  presented  with some  popular  ‘one word’ we have been bombarded with since. 

One  word in the right context can mean a lot. It is convenient to the flow and proper understanding of a passage. My late English teacher told me that a knowledge of latin and greek helps in the right choice of  a word. An advantage of   classicists  over scientists. We talk of a word of love, sympathy or encouragement, as appropriate.

Plastic 

In the previous editions, I referred to the word ‘PLASTIC’, a great discovery then, as encountered in the film THE GRADUATE (1967). Plastic  has been a  ‘ boon’ until now when it is considered a ‘bane’ and  even calls to ban it altogether in many of its uses because of its harmful effects on the earthly and marine environments. The Graduate includes the masterpiece of Simon and Garfunkel: ‘The Sound of Silence’. A new version has just been produced with the same pleasant  background music but with words pertaining to the present Coronavirus. Worth listening to! 

Epidemic and Pandemic

The Coronavirus, talk of the town, sparks several interesting words needing clarifications to avoid any confusion. A VIRUS is a microorganism smaller than a bacteria that cannot grow or reproduce apart from a living cell. It uses the host cell’s machinery to reproduce. Antibiotics are useless against viruses. Like many  other viruses, the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-n- CoV) comprises the genetic material:  RNA (Ribonucleic Acid), enveloped in a protein coat. The outer protein spikes give the appearance of a crown (corona). The disease caused by this  present virus has been baptised by the World Health Organisation(WHO) as coronavirus disease- COVID -19. It  has suddenly  in mid-december last year caused an EPIDEMIC in  Wuhan,  China. An Epidemic refers to a sudden increase in the number of cases of a disease above what is normally expected. On the other hand, a PANDEMIC is an epidemic that has spread over several  countries or continents increasingly affecting a large number of people. According to its established criteria, we are not  far from WHO declaring the present world situation of the virus, a pandemic. Still there are blurred distinctions between epidemiologists. Another  word has been coined  , INFODEMIC, concerning the coronavirus, which WHO is also trying to fight, through a special information platform.  The word means a global epidemic of misinformation which can occur  in any country. The WHO representative in Mauritius and  the Ministry of Health are also taking  care of this. Let us pray that  our island be spared from this deadly virus. 

A disease present in a geographical area at all times without external inputs is referred to as being ENDEMIC. For example, malaria is  still  endemic in a few countries.

Fakenews

FAKE was already well-known for a number of articles ( counterfeit coins, notes passports, watches)but add news to it-FAKENEWS- and  it assumes gigantic proportions, especially across the popular social media. Dominique Wolton, an expert in communication, just referred to the social media as ‘an immense poubelle’ ( a big dustbin).  The difference between information and communication is nevertheless an interesting debate. 

News real or fake now arrive instantly on one’s LAPTOP or WHATSAPP through the MOBILE (phone), indispensable tools in today’s world. Let us, however, make good and precious uses of these wonderful modern gifts. Regular contact messages with relatives and friends locally and worldwide  contribute to one’s  mental health, if not be good natural anti-depressants. Socialization is believed to provide good electrical connections between nerve cells in the brain.

Laser

I still remember our mathematics teacher in the sixth form, fresh from university, in the sixties (who we had the pleasure of meeting at a recent Old Royals’ lunch) introducing the word LASER(Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Lasers have since then been used in various fields : medical(in eye surgery for repairing detached retinas and cosmetic surgery to remove tattoos),military(in communication and guiding missiles) industrial and commercial (in barcode scanners and lighting displays accompanying musical concerts. 

A new advanced imaging centre housing super-bright lasers is opening in Oxfordshire, U.K., to produce state-of-the-art 3D X-Rays to capture images of diseased bones in just 40 seconds. This same new technology will also be used in the design of next generation aerodynamic aircraft components.

One Word only

Titles of essays given to students carry very often only one word : LIES, COMPUTERS, TELEVISION or INTERNET and yet with some imagination one can produce a dissertation of a thousand words on each of these.  Rodney Phillips, in his impeccable  English and unimitable style,  usually produces a whole page  in the magazine Weekly on any  ‘one word’ topic. Recent coverages included  MASKS and PERSUASION. 

Words are the tools of lawyers. Long debates  by opposing lawyers can revolve on the interpretation of a single word. Expert witnesses in a court of law (forensic scientists and forensic pathologists) are very often  rigorously cross-examined on specific words as used by them. One word in a piece of legislation can make all the difference in terms of interpretation and enforcement. What the legislator had in mind is not always obvious.

A single word can be linked to another and finally to  association of ideas.   For instance, a single word of an old song can bring back pleasant memories of  friendship or of a particular place abroad.

Synthetique (Synthetic) 

We encounter the word SYNTHETIQUE’(fr.) almost everyday in the press and often on radio. This refers to a class of drugs of abuse known as the Synthetic Cannabinoids. They are  novel psychoactive sustances(NPS) mimicking the effects of traditional cannabis, especially THC (Tetrahydocannabinol) the most  active pharmacological ingredient  present in the cannabis plant( Cannabis Sativa L). Through ingenious chemical synthesis a large number of these  new molecules have emerged and added to plant material. The herbal blends are usually smoked. These chemical structures in large numbers are well-defined now. They are an  identification challenge to drug analysts and a headache to the medical profession. All these molecules and their metabolites(breakdown products) have many undesirable pharmacological properties(e.g. agitation, psychosis, confusion). Unfortunately these new substances are doing a lot of harm to our youth as a cause  or a contributory factor of death. 

Post-Truth

POST-TRUTH was named the Word of the Year in 2016 by the Oxford Dictionary. It is defined as “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.”

I leave the end word (le mot de la fin) to  readers!