Antibiotics

[jean]

That seems much more likely!

I see that Wiki also says Diageo is an invented name which was created by the branding consultancy Wolff Olins in 1997...

Weren't they the people who designed that awful Olympic logo?

[An_Inspector_Calls]

"pseudo-reasonable and sanctimonious" and "froth and bubble!". Both combinations describe the essential components of Simon's approach to just about any discussion here, in my experience. Note how "madman" (the term Simon actually applied to Beethoven in relation to the late quartets) becomes "some of LvB's last works were affected by his mental and physical condition". Should anyone care to check the archive of the old BBC message boards, they will also find that "about 90% of the BNP's manifesto was little different from that of most other parties" was not quite how Simon expressed himself when addressing the question of the neo-nazis he refers to.

As to the pseudonym "Nethersage", my use of it is laid bare in my profile at r3ok.com for all to see. The point about "Simon-Says" is the children's game it derives from. All about deception, trickery and following the authoritarian diktat, what?

Sorry for my earlier post (#32), I didn't realise you were ill . . .

[handsomefortune]

Weren't they the people who designed that awful Olympic logo?

designed by iris apparently.... whoever that is!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wenlock_and_Mandeville

and made in china

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/24/locog-mascots-china-factories-sweatshop-conditions

one columnist claiming that the pair were the product of a "drunken one-night stand between a Teletubby and a Dalek"

unfortunately, anti biotics don't get rid of them either!

[Pabmusic]

I never knew there were such things as pro-biotics

Marketing ploy, to frighten people and, hence, to make money. Did your granny feel the need for introducing friendly bacteria into her diet? Or your Mum or Dad, did they live long without this cynical ploy?

Anna was right. 'Pro-biotic' is a marketing ploy, not a scientific designation. It's a bit like 'athlete's foot' and 'halitosis', which were names invented by advertisers to convince us we suffered from something we never knew we had, and which could only be cured by their product.

Incidentally, 'halitosis' was invented by the makers of Listerine for its third re-branding. It had started life as a surgical antiseptic in 1879, it was then sold as a floor cleaner, then as a cure for gonorrhoea, before it found its niche in the 1890s as a mouthwash. But it still wasn't a big success till the 1920s, when it became a cure for the invented condition 'chronic halitosis'.

'Pro-biotic' plays a similar game, but goes one better because 'pro-biotic' is 'real' inasmuch as the WHO does define it as "live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host". But it is a purely descriptive label. How easy then to create an anxiety that we're not getting enough pro-biotics!

As for Mum and Dad, they were well taken in by athlete's foot and halitosis!

[amateur51]

Popcorn anyone ?

A bit choice from this 'gone today, here tomorrow' member

[Pabmusic]

Actually Tallisker distillery is owned by Diageo, which has its headquarters in London. (according to Wikipedia, the name 'Diageo' "is composed of the Latin word "dias", meaning day, and the Greek root "geo", meaning world, and is meant to reference the company giving pleasure every day, everywhere", which might please Scotty, even if the ownership doesn't)

As Jean points out, the Latin for 'day' is dies - but this is an advertising agency we're talking about. If it really is meant to be a Latin-Greek portmanteau, it has an illustrious predecessor in 'television'. There were many letters to the Times, complaining about that one!

[mangerton]

Really? OK, so "dim" is a negative prefix in Welsh; I understand that now. What I don't understand, however, is how the Welsh can possibly market dim sum under the circumstances other than as a pejorative term applicable to someone's lack of skill in arithmetic, peut-être...

I don't think that's altogether correct. My understanding is that "dim sum" is a macaronic Welsh/Latin expression meaning "I am not terribly bright."

[Bryn]

I don't think that's altogether correct. My understanding is that "dim sum" is a macaronic Welsh/Latin expression meaning "I am not terribly bright."

Nah, that's just twp.

[mercia]

it was then sold as a floor cleaner, then as a cure for gonorrhoea, before it found its niche in the 1890s as a mouthwash.

just trying to work out in my mind how it was discovered to be good for one thing, then the next

[ahinton]

I don't think that's altogether correct. My understanding is that "dim sum" is a macaronic Welsh/Latin expression meaning "I am not terribly bright."

Ah, of course! Hadn't thought of that. The benefits of a classical education and all that...

[Pabmusic]

just trying to work out in my mind how it was discovered to be good for one thing, then the next

Through a series of unusual and slightly disconcerting experiments. Or else it was an accident - like the Alexander Graham Bell story (Mr Watson, come her, I need you); someone had an accident with the floor cleaner, and noticed that it had an effect on their unfortunate condition? Or perhaps it's a tale for which - like the giant rat of Sumatra - the world is not yet prepared...

[scottycelt]

Actually Tallisker distillery is owned by Diageo, which has its headquarters in London. (according to Wikipedia, the name 'Diageo' "is composed of the Latin word "dias", meaning day, and the Greek root "geo", meaning world, and is meant to reference the company giving pleasure every day, everywhere", which might please Scotty, even if the ownership doesn't)

Flossie, I'm very easily pleased and indeed can be (some much-loved ones occasionally assert) rather too timidly non-demanding, and, I must say, I'm truly fascinated by what Wikipedia has to say about Diageo, hitherto a company I knew next to nothing about.

However, in keeping with our now well-established forum tradition of mutual gross misunderstanding, I was actually hinting/referring to that late, great Scottish scientist, Sir Alexander Fleming, in my previous response to Mr GongGong.

I don't think this famous gentleman (Sir Alexander) had any significant connection with the modern 'drinks giant', though, like the odd forum member here, he may well have greatly enjoyed an occasional tipple of an evening?

[Pabmusic]

F...like the odd forum member here, he may well have greatly enjoyed an occasional tipple of an evening?

Undoubtedly so. That's probably why he overlooked the famous petrie dish.

[Flay]

'Pro-biotic' plays a similar game, but goes one better because 'pro-biotic' is 'real' inasmuch as the WHO does define it as "live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host".

There is a rôle being developed for this! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20081895

On a larger scale, should we think of maggots as pro-biotics? (Dégueuler alert: not for the squeamish): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggot_therapy

Which reminds me of my mis-understanding when women in the 70s said that the best treatment for thrush was live yoghurt.

You're not supposed to eat it! http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Thrush/...Treatment.aspx (final section - note that this is anecdotal, not evidence-based).

[Pabmusic]

There is a rôle being developed for this! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20081895...

Well...Life imitating art (or advertising!).