Gesundheit!
Sternutation: A Medical Term for a Sneeze
Impress your friends with medical lingo during the pandemic.
Well, here we are on “day-god-knows-what” of the Corona virus pandemic, all of us squirreled away in our safe nests (aside from those deemed essential to society, many of whom are far underpaid for it). And, I’ve decided to remain in the st- section of the OED, scouting for interesting words to follow statuomania and staupings.
I skipped over some pretty good ones, but decided that we ought to make a stop on sternutation, as it seems appropriate for the times. The word stems from various sternu- words in Latin that relate to sneezing (or, I suppose as the Romans might have said, sternutationem).
The word, which dates back (at least) to the 1500s, carries a fine medical / pathological sound to it, just as you’d expect for a bodily action like this, though the OED notes that, in modern use, it’s often considered affected or humorous — used with a joking / pretentious tone.
Indeed, these medical / technical words are great terms for humor writers to know and use in appropriate places. I’m reminded of The Big Lebowski, in which the Big Lebowski character says to The Dude: “I just want to understand this, sir. Every time a rug is micturated upon in this fair city, I have to compensate the owner?”
