A
family of chemical compounds used as minor tranquilizers that act against
anxiety and convulsions and produce sedation and muscle relaxation; marketed,
with variations, under a number of brand-names and trademarks such as Diazepam
(Valium) and chlordiazepoxide (Librium).
1934:
Word is a chemical construct, from benzo
(word-forming element used in chemistry to indicate presence of a benzene ring
fused with another ring) + di (from
the Ancient Greek δίς (dís) (twice) +
az (nitrogen-substituted) + epine (from the French hepta (seven-membered).
Benzodiazepines
are a class of therapeutic agents capable of producing a calming, sedative
effect and used in the treatment of fear, anxiety, tension, agitation, and
related states of mental disturbance.Among
the most widely prescribed drugs in the world, the first benzodiazepine was chlordiazepoxide (Librium), followed by
a large variety of agents, including diazepam
(Valium) and alprazolam (Xanax), each
with slightly different properties. Benzodiazepines
work by enhancing the action of the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which inhibits anxiety by reducing
certain nerve-impulse transmissions within the brain.
Before
the development of the benzodiazepines, the only available anti-anxiety drugs
were the barbiturates and meprobamate and, relative to these, the
benzodiazepines had fewer unfavorable side effects and a reduced potential for
abuse.The thus quickly became the
preferred treatment for anxiety, used also to treat insomnia, general stress, calming
muscle spasms and preparing patient for anesthesia or dental surgery.Side effects include sleepiness, drowsiness,
reduced alertness, and unsteadiness of gait but benzodiazepines are not lethal
even in very large overdoses, having the tendency only to increase the sedative
effects of alcohol and other drugs.Dependence
may however occur, even in moderate dosages, with withdrawal symptoms observed even
after short-term use and for long-term users, almost half may suffer withdrawal
symptoms which can take months to subside.As a consequence, some long-term users continue to take the drug not
because of persistent anxiety but because the withdrawal symptoms are too
unpleasant.
Valium
was introduced by the Swiss Roche Labs in 1963.It was the first billion-dollar medicine and ushered in the era of brand-name
drugs, the model of later marketing campaigns for products such as Prozac and Viagra.In its halcyon years between 1969 and 1982, more
prescriptions were written for Valium than any other drug. The
name Valium (which in US trademark law was Hoffmann-La
Roche’s proprietary name for diazepam, first registered in 1961) was a creation of the corporation, not,
as is often claimed, from a Latin word or formation meaning "to be strong
and well".Valium was no different
from Telstra and Optus, creations by consultants needing a word both unique and
different enough from others to withstand legal challenge while being something
which hints, however vaguely, at what’s being sold.In Latin, there was validum (strong; powerful; efficacious), vallum (a fortification) and the plant valerian (a herbal sedative), all of which were probably in the corporate
mind.Some with medical connections such
as vulnerary (used for or useful in
healing wounds), valetudinarian (a
person of a weak or sickly constitution) and valetudo (one's state of health (good or bad)) might have been a
bit remote so the closest inspiration was likely valere (a Latin verb meaning “to be strong”; “to be well”).Best of all the sardonic industry jokes was a
connection with the Latin vale
(goodbye; farewell) although Valium wasn’t much use in suicide attempts, fatal
overdoses, while not impossible, were rare.
Xanax tablets.
Xanax is the brand name for the drug alprazolam which is a benzodiazepine. It is a prescription medication primarily used to treat anxiety disorders, panic disorders and (more controversially) depression. A fast & short-acting benzodiazepine, Xanax works by enhancing the activity of a neurotransmitter called gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which helps to reduce anxiety and promote relaxation. Xanax is regarded as effective for treating anxiety and related disorders when used as prescribed but can be habit-forming, leading to dependence and addiction. Lindsay Lohan released (or "dropped" in the fashionable parlance) the track Xanax in 2019. With a contribution from Finnish pop star Alma (Alma-Sofia Miettinen; b 1996), the accompanying music video was said to be “a compilation of vignettes of life”, Xanax reported as being inspired by Ms Lohan’s “personal life, including an ex-boyfriend and toxic friends”. Structurally, Xanax was quoted as being based around "an interpolation of" Better Off Alone, by Dutch Eurodance-pop collective Alice Deejay, slowed to a Xanax-appropriate tempo.
(1) Fear,
foreboding, worry, disquiet, distress, uneasiness or tension caused by
apprehension of possible future misfortune, danger etc, often to a degree that
normal physical and psychological functioning is disrupted (can occur without
an identifiable cause in which case the patient may be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder).
(2) Earnest
but tense desire; eagerness; an uneasy or distressing desire for someone or
something.
(3) In
psychiatry, a state of intense apprehension or worry often accompanied by
physical symptoms such as shaking, intense feelings in the gut etc, common in
mental illness or after a distressing experience; a generalised state of
apprehension and psychic tension occurring in some forms of mental disorder.
1515–1525:
From the Middle English anxumnesse (apprehension
caused by danger, misfortune, or error, uneasiness of mind respecting some
uncertainty, a restless dread of some evil), from the Old English angsumnes, from the Latin anxietatem (nominative anxietas) (anguish, anxiety, solicitude)
a noun of quality from anxius (uneasy,
anxious, solicitous, distressed, troubled in mind) from angō (to distress, trouble), akin to the Ancient Greek ἄγχω (ánkhō)
(to choke).The construct of the Latin anxietās was anxi(us) (anxious) + -etās, a variant of -itās used if appearing before a vowel.The -itas
suffix was from the Proto-Italic -itāts
& -otāts (-tās added to i-stems or o-stems, later used freely) and ultimately
from the primitive Indo-European -tehats.Synonyms
include foreboding, uneasiness, perplexity, disquietude, disquiet, trouble,
apprehension, restlessness & distress and it’s become a popular modifier
(range anxiety, climate anxiety, separation anxiety, performance anxiety etc).Anxiety is a noun; the noun plural is
anxieties.
Xanax tablets.
Xanax is the brand name for the drug alprazolam which is a benzodiazepine. It is a prescription medication primarily used to treat anxiety disorders, panic disorders and (more controversially) depression. A fast & short-acting benzodiazepine, Xanax works by enhancing the activity of a neurotransmitter called gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which helps to reduce anxiety and promote relaxation. Xanax is regarded as effective for treating anxiety and related disorders when used as prescribed but can be habit-forming, leading to dependence and addiction. Lindsay Lohan released (or "dropped" in the fashionable parlance) the track Xanax in 2019. With a contribution from Finnish pop star Alma (Alma-Sofia Miettinen; b 1996), the accompanying music video was said to be “a compilation of vignettes of life”, Xanax reported as being inspired by Ms Lohan’s “personal life, including an ex-boyfriend and toxic friends”. Structurally, Xanax was quoted as being based around "an interpolation of" Better Off Alone, by Dutch Eurodance-pop collective Alice Deejay, slowed to a Xanax-appropriate tempo.
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and panic disorder (PD) were formalized when the third edition of the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) was released in 1980 although among clinicians, GAD had for some years been a noted thread in the literature but what was done in DSM-III was to map GAD onto the usual pattern of diagnostic criteria.In practice, because of the high degree of co-morbidity with other disorders, the utility of GAD as defined was soon a regular topic of discussion at conferences and the DSM’s editors responded, the parameters of GAD refined in subsequent releases between 1987-1994 when GAD’s diagnostic criteria emerged in its recognizably modern form:
By the
time the terminology for mental disorders began in the nineteenth century to be
codified, the word anxiety had for hundreds of years been used in English to
describe feelings of disquiet or apprehension and in the seventeenth century
there was even a school of thought it was a pathological condition.It was thus unsurprising that “anxiety” was
so often an element in the psychiatry’s early diagnostic descriptors such as “pantophobia”
and “anxiety neurosis”, terms which designated paroxysmal manifestations (panic
attacks) as well as “interparoxysmal phenomenology” (the apprehensive mental
state). The notion of “generalized
anxiety”, although not then in itself a diagnosis, was also one of the symptoms
of many conditions including the vaguely defined neurasthenia which was
probably understood by many clinicians as something similar to what would later
be formalized as GAD.As a distinct diagnostic category however, it
wasn’t until the DSM-III was released in
1980 that GAD appeared, anxiety neurosis split into (1) panic disorder and (2) GAD.When the change was made, the editors noted
it was a response to comments from clinicians, something emphasised when
DSM-III was in 1987 revised (DSM-III-R), in effect to acknowledge there was a
class of patient naturally anxious (who might once have been called neurotic or
pantophobic) quite distinct from those for whom a source of anxiety could be
deduced.Thus, the cognitive aspect of
anxiety became the critical criterion but within the profession, some
scepticism about the validity of GAD as a distinct diagnostic category emerged,
the most common concern being the difficulty in determining clear boundaries
between GAD, other anxiety-spectrum disorders and certain manifestations of
depression.
The
modern label aside, GAD has a really long lineage and elements of the diagnosis
found in case histories written by doctors over the centuries would have seemed
familiar to those working in the early nineteenth century, tales of concern or apprehension
about the vicissitudes of life a common thing.As psychiatry in those years began to coalesce as a speciality and
papers increasingly published, it was clear the behaviour of those
suffering chronic anxiety could culminate in paroxysmal attacks, thus it was
that GAD and panic attacks came to be so associated.In English, the term panophobia (sometimes as
pantaphobia, pantophobia or panphobia) dates from 1871, the word
from the Late Latin pantŏphŏbŏs, from
the Ancient Greek παντοφόβος (all-fearing (literally “anxiety about everything”)).It appears in the surviving works of medieval
physicians and it seems clear there were plenty of “pantophobic patients” who
allegedly were afraid of everything and it was not a product of the
Dark Ages, Aristotle (384-322 BC) in the seventh book of his Nicomachean Ethics (350 BC) writing
there were men “…by nature apt to fear
everything, even the squeak of a mouse”.
The
first edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
(DSM-I (1952) comprised what seems now a modest 130 pages.The latest edition (DSM-5-TR (2022)) has 991 pages.The growth is said to be the result of
advances in science and a measure of the increasing comprehensiveness of the
manual, not an indication that madness in the Western world is increasing. The editors of the DSM would never use the word "madness" but for non-clinicians it's a handy term which can be applied to those beyond some point on the spectrum of instability.
Between
Aristotle and the publication of the first edition of the DSM in 1952, physicians
(and others) pondered, treated and discussed the nature of anxiety and theories
of its origin and recommendations for treatment came and went.The DSM (retrospectively labelled DSM-I) was
by later standards a remarkably slim document but unsurprisingly, anxiety was
included and discussed in the chapter called “Psychoneurotic Disorders”, the
orthodoxy of the time that anxiety was a kind of trigger perceived by the
conscious part of the personality and produced by a threat from within; how the
patient reacted to this resulted in their reaction(s).There was in the profession a structural
determinism to this approach, the concept of defined “reaction patterns” at the
time one of the benchmarks in US psychiatry.When DSM-II was released in 1968, the category “anxiety reaction” was
diagnosed when the anxiety was diffuse and neither restricted to specific situations
or objects (ie the phobic reactions) nor controlled by any specific psychological
defense mechanism as was the case in dissociative, conversion or obsessive-compulsive
reactions. Anxiety reaction was characterized by anxious expectation and
differentiated from normal apprehensiveness or fear.Significantly, in DSM-II the reactions were
re-named as “neuroses” and it was held anxiety was the chief characteristic of
“neuroses”, something which could be felt or controlled unconsciously by
various symptoms. This had the effect
that the diagnostic category “anxiety neurosis” encompassed what would later be
expressed as panic attacks and GAD.
A: Excessive
anxiety and worry (apprehensive expectation), occurring more days than not for
at least 6 months, about a number of events or activities (such as work or
matters relating to educational institutions).
B: The patient
finds it difficult to control the worry.
C: The
anxiety and worry are associated with three (or more) of the following six
symptoms:
(1) Restlessness
or feeling keyed up or on edge.
(2) Being
easily fatigued.
(3) Difficulty
concentrating or mind going blank.
(4) Irritability.
(5) Muscle
tension.
(6) Sleep
disturbance (difficulty falling or staying asleep, or restless, unsatisfying
sleep).
The key change really was for the criteria for GAD requiring fewer symptoms. Whereas
with the DSM-IV-TR (2000) individuals needed to exhibit at least three physical
and three cognitive symptoms for a diagnosis of GAD, under DSM-5 (2013), only one of
each was required so not only was the accuracy and consistency of diagnosis (by
definition) improved, the obvious practical effect was better to differentiate
GAD from other anxiety disorders and (importantly) the usual worries and concerns
endemic to the human condition.The
final significant aspect of the evolution was that by the time of DSM-5, GAD had become
effectively a exclusionary diagnosis in that it cannot be diagnosed if the
anxiety is better explained by other anxiety disorders and nor can GAD be caused directly by stressors or trauma.
Leonard Bernstein's Symphony No 2 (The Age of Anxiety) was inspired by WH Auden's long poem of the same name.
WH Auden's (1907-1973) The Age of Anxiety: A Baroque Eclogue (1944) divided critics, said by some to be "his best work to date" and by others to be "dull and an obvious failure", some of whom rubbed in the critical salt by adding Leonard Bernstein's (1918-1990) Symphony No 2 (1948-1949), inspired by the poem, was the finer piece of art. It was better received in the US where it was written, winning the Pulitzer prize but whether or not influenced by the reaction, Auden would never again complete an epic-length work. Like HG Wells' (1866-1946) Mind at the End of its Tether (1945), it was very much a work of the unhappy time in which Auden found himself and in some ways picked up from his lament September 1st, 1939 (a poem he later renounced). As a poem, The Age of Anxiety is a delight for structuralists, its six sections (prologue, life-story, dream-quest, dirge, masque & epilogue (and emulated by the six movements in Bernstein's symphony (each movement sub-divided))) able to be deconstructed even mathematically but, the most common complaint is that although his four protagonists (three men and a woman) are very different people and all from a world of vernacular American English, their thoughts on the human condition and their own are expressed as if each had once gone up to Oxford to take a degree in English, as Auden in his youth had done. Such voices in poems are not unusual but the critics go further in claiming that anyone new to the work, were the characters' names to be concealed, could not possibly guess which of the four is talking. While it becomes clear the abstractions he maps upon his four represent thought, intuition, sensation & feeling, while helpful as a device through which his word-view can be discussed, as flesh & blood characters they are vague indeed. Still, literature should perhaps be enjoyed for what it is rather than what it's not; one doesn't need to find plausible what Philip Roth (1933-1918) thinks might be the thoughts of a woman to find pleasure in the text and it's the same with Auden'sThe Age of Anxiety. Those interested in poetry as art will read such cleverness with relish, ticking the boxes on the path to technical ecstasy. Those who want to feel something should stick to Sylvia Path (1932-1963).
We would rather be ruined than changed We would rather die in our dread Than climb the cross of the moment And let our illusions die.
(1) To
introduce (something additional or extraneous) between other things or parts;
interject; interpose; intercalate; to make additions, interruptions, or
insertions.
(2) In
mathematics, to estimate (a value of a function) between the values already
known or determined.
(3) To alter
a text by the insertion of new matter (with a long history of being applied
especially if done deceptively or without authorization but technically a
neutral term and can be used either way).
(4) To
insert (additional or spurious material) in this manner.
1605–1615:
From the Latin interpolātus, past
participle of interpolātus & interpolāre (to make new, refurbish,
touch up; to give a new appearance to), the construct being inter- (between, among, together) + -polā- (verb stem (akin to polīre (to smooth or polish) + -tus (the past participle suffix) from polare, from the primitive Indo-European
root pel- (to thrust, strike, drive),
the connecting notion being "to full cloth".The sense evolved in Latin from the neutral "refurbish"
to the slightly more loaded "alter appearance of" to the actually
accusative "falsify” (especially or specifically by adding new
material".By the early fifteenth
century Middle English had gained interpolen
in a similar sense and by the 1650s also interpolator,
from the Late Latin interpolator (one
who corrupts or spoils), agent noun from past participle stem of Latin interpolāre.The noun interpolation (that which is
interpolated) dates from the 1670s and appears to have evolved both from the
seventeenth century French interpolation and directly from the Latin interpolationem (nominative interpolatio) from the past participle
stem of interpolāre.Interpolate, interpolated & interpolating
are verbs, interpolater (or interpolator) & interpolation are nouns, interpolable,
interpolatory, interpolative are adjectives and interpolatively is an adverb.
Extrapolate (pronounced ik-strap-uh-leyt)
(1) To
infer (an unknown) from something that is known; an evidence-based conjecture.
(2) In
statistics, to estimate (the value of a variable) outside the tabulated or
observed range.
(3) In
mathematics, to estimate (a function that is known over a range of values of
its independent variable) to values outside the known range.
(4) To
perform extrapolation.
1830s:
The construct was extra- + -polate (extracted and borrowed from
interpolate).The verb extrapolate in
the sense of “make an approximate calculation by inferring unknown values from
trends in the known data" became popular among astronomers, statisticians,
economists & mathematicians after appearing in an 1862 Harvard Observatory
account of Comet Donati (Donati's Comet (C/1858 L1 & 1858 VI)) in 1858).In contemporary accounts, it was said to have
been a word used since the 1830s by English mathematician and astronomer Sir
George Airy (1801-1892).Extrapolation
(an approximate calculation made by inferring unknown values from trends in the
known data) dates from 1867 and was the noun of action from extrapolate by
analogy with the long-established interpolation although the original sense was
"an inserting of intermediate terms in a mathematical series", the
transferred sense of "drawing of a conclusion about the future based on present
tendencies" adopted since 1889.Extrapolate, extrapolated & extrapolating are verbs, extrapolater
(or extrapolator) & extrapolation are nous, extrapolable, extrapolatory,
extrapolative are adjectives and extrapolatively is an adverb.
Extrapolation
and Interpolation
The common
root of the words is the Latin verb (polīre) meaning “to polish” which in this
context means “adding finish” to a data-set by adding what’s missing but the
prefix is most useful in distinguishing between the two, inter- meaning “between”
or “among,” and extra-, “outside” or “beyond”.The two words look similar and at first glance it’d be not unreasonable
to assume they might be antonyms but, although related in use and tangled in
history, they are used in different ways and, one highly nuanced and the other
sometimes applied correctly but inducing the drawing of erroneous or at least
misleading conclusions.Interpolation
refers to inserting something between other things, while extrapolation is the act
of drawing conclusions about something unknown based on what is known.In mathematics, the meanings are
uncontroversial in that interpolation is the process of determining an unknown
value within a sequence based on other points in that set, while extrapolation
is the process of determining an unknown value outside of a set based on the
existing data (often expressed as a “curve”).Interpolation is a commonly used tool of mathematicians, statisticians
and others in the data-based sciences where it’s necessary to determine a function’s
value based on the value of other points, an unknown value within the sequence
is determined based on what else is in the sequence.
Interpolation,
used beyond mathematics can be a loaded word because it’s the act of
introducing something (additional or extraneous) between other parts, usually
in text or musical notation and thus the technical equivalent of “insert” or
(sometimes) “interject or interpose”.Interpolation
can thus be a merely neutral description but because of the history of the word
(in Latin it evolved from the neutral "refurbish" to the slightly
more loaded "alter appearance of" to the actually accusative "falsify”
(especially or specifically by adding new material"), can imply that what
has been inserted is spurious, false, misleading or done with some other
nefarious purpose.It’s thus a word
which needs to be used with caution lest implications be drawn where no
inference was intended.
A big
word with lots of syllables, interpolate may be unfamiliar to many and that’s
maybe why sometimes it’s been used apparently in an attempt to impart some
sense of gravitas or perhaps disguise what’s really happening.In pop music, sampling, the interpolation of
other people’s music into one’s own is now probably a sub-genre and it’s well
understood although, despite the involvement of courts and copyright lawyers,
the distinctions between sampling, interpretation and actual appropriation
although well-trimmed, remain frayed at the margins and all three can be
interpolated.One derided as a form of plagiarism,
sampling seems to have gained respectability, at least among those who practice
the art, the critical legal device apparently being to sample by using a fragment
from a previously recorded song, but re-recording rather than directly copying the
original.The origin of the practice
appears to be as the work-around for when the copyright holder refuses to
license the original for sampling purposes.Use in this way, only a publisher’s permission is required although in
some common-law jurisdictions, the original can be subject to a compulsory
licensing regime.
Extrapolation
is related to deduction, an act of drawing a conclusion about something unknown
based on what is known so the verb extrapolate is often used synonymously with infer
and deduce.However, in mathematics,
while the act of interpolation involves a closed data set with defined low and
high values, extrapolation involves estimating the value of a variable or
function outside an observed range so it can be necessary to understand the
context (social, economic etc) of the numbers being used in the exercise.A Roll-Royce dealership which has a good
month and sells ten cars should probably not from that data-set extrapolate
that in the year ahead they will sell 120; other factors need to be considered
beyond the simple math.
Xanax (Alprazolam), a fast-acting benzodiazepine. It is marketed as anti-anxiety medication.
Lindsay Lohan released
the track Xanax in 2019.With a contribution from Finnish pop star
Alma (Alma-Sofia Miettinen; b 1996), the accompanying music video was said to be “a
compilation of vignettes of life”, Xanax reported as being inspired by Ms Lohan’s “personal life, including an ex-boyfriend and toxic friends”.Structurally, Xanax was quoted as being based around "an interpolation of" Better Off Alone, by Dutch Eurodance-pop collective Alice Deejay, slowed to a
Xanax-appropriate tempo.
Lindsay Lohan risked going straight to Hell by creating a promotional meme featuring
Pope Francis (b 1936; Roman Catholic Pope since 2013). Cryptically captioned Blessed
Be The Fruit, it included an image of the art-work used for her debut album
Speak (2004). Given the problems he's expected to manage, solve or conceal (depending on the circumstances), most would forgive the pope if he popped the odd Xanax.
The original photograph (top left) was taken
in 2013 during a mass conducted in the Catedral
Basílica do Santuário Nacional de Nossa Senhora Aparecida (Cathedral
Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady Aparecida) in Aparecida, Brazil. His Holiness was at the time administering communion. It has since proved a popular photograph for
meme-makers interpolating optical discs.
Xanax by Lindsay Lohan
I don't like the parties in LA, I go home
In a bad mood, pass out, wake up alone
Just to do it all over again, oh
Looking for you
Only one reason I came here
Too many people, I can't hear
Damn, I got here at ten
Now it's 4 AM
I can't be in this club
It's too crowded and I'm fucked
Ain't nobody here for love
Ain't nobody care about us
I got social anxiety, but you're like Xanax to me, yeah
Social anxiety, when you kiss me, I can't breathe
No, I can't be in this club
It's too crowded and I'm fucked
Ain't nobody here for love
Ain't nobody care 'bout us
I got social anxiety, but you're like Xanax to me, yeah
Social anxiety, when you kiss me, I can't breathe, yeah
But you're like Xanax to me
When you kiss me, I can't breathe
I try to stay away from you, but you get me high
Only person in this town that I like
Guess I can take one more trip for the night
Just for the night
Only one reason I came here
Too many people, I can't hear
Damn, I got here at ten
Now it's 4 AM
I can't be in this club
It's too crowded and I'm fucked
Ain't nobody here for love
Ain't nobody care about us
I got social anxiety, but you're like Xanax to me, yeah
Social anxiety, when you kiss me, I can't breathe
No, I can't be in this club
It's too crowded and I'm fucked
Ain't nobody here for love
Ain't nobody care 'bout us
I got social anxiety, but you're like Xanax to me, yeah
Social anxiety, when you kiss me, I can't breathe, yeah
(1) A
thin vesicle on the skin, containing watery matter or serum and induced
typically by caused by friction, pressure, burning, freezing, chemical
irritation, disease or infection.
(2) In
botany, a swelling on a plant.
(3) A
swelling containing air or liquid, as on a painted surface.
(4) In medicine,
something applied to the skin to raise a blister; a vesicatory (blister agent) or
other applied medicine (mostly archaic).
(5) In
glass-blowing, a relatively large bubble occurring during the process.
(5) In roofing,
an enclosed pocket of air, which may be mixed with water or solvent vapor,
trapped between impermeable layers of felt or between the membrane and
substrate.
(7) In
military jargon, a transparent bulge or dome on the fuselage of an airplane,
usually for purposes of observation or mounting a gun but used sometimes as a
housing for rearward air extraction.
(8) In
photography, a bubble of air formed where the emulsion has separated from the
base of a film, usually as a result of defective processing.
(9) In metallurgy,
a form of smelted copper with a blistered surface.
(10) A
dome or skylight on a building.
(11) The
moving bubble in a spirit level.
(12) The
small blister-like covering of plastic, usually affixed to a piece of cardboard
or other flat sheet, and containing a small item (pens, hardware items etc).
(13) As
“blister pack” or “blister card”, the packaging used for therapeutic or medicinal
tablets in which the pills sit under small blister-like coverings, often
labeled sequentially (1,2,3 or Mon, Tue, Wed etc) to aid patients.
(14) As
“blister packaging” a type of pre-formed packaging made from plastic that
contains cavities; a variant of bubble-wrap.
(15) In
slang, an annoying person; an irritant.
(16) The
rhyming slang for “sister”, thus the derived forms “little blister”, “big blister”,
“evil blister” et al).
(17) In
slang, a “B-lister” (ie a celebrity used for some purpose or invited to an
event when it’s not possible to secure the services of an “A-Lister”.In industry slang, the less successful celebrity
managers are “blister agencies”.
(18) To
raise a blister; to form or rise as a blister or blisters; to become blistered.
(19) To
criticize or severely to rebuke (often as “blistering attack”).
(20) To
beat or thrash; severely to punish.
(21) In
cooking, to sear after blanching
1250–1300:
From the Middle English blister &
blester (thin vesicle on the skin
containing watery matter), possibly from the Old French blestre (blister, lump, bump), probably from the Middle Dutch blyster & bluyster (swelling; blister), from the Old Norse blǣstri (a
blowing), dative of blāstr (swelling).All the European forms are from the primitive
Indo-European bhlei- (to blow, swell),
an extension of the root bhel- (to
blow, swell).The verb emerged late in
the fifteenth century in the sense of “to become covered in blisters” and the
medical use (of vesicatories) meaning “to raise blisters on” is in the literature
from the 1540s.The noun & adjective
vesicatory dates from the early eighteenth century was from the Modern Latin vesicularis, from vesicula (little blister), diminutive of vesica (bladder).In
historic medicine, a vesicant (plural vesicants) or vesicatory (plural
vesicatories) is used as an agent which induces blistering.Typically a chemical compound, the primary
purpose was intentionally to create a blister to draw blood or other bodily
fluids to the surface, often in an attempt to relieve inflammation, improve
circulation in a specific area, or treat various conditions indirectly by this
counter-irritation technique.Historically,
vesicatories were commonly used with substances like cantharidin (from blister
beetles) being applied to the skin to achieve this effect but in modern medicine
the practice is (mostly) obsolete because more effective and less invasive
treatments now exist.Blister & blistering
are nouns, verbs & adjectives, blistered is a verb & adjective, and
blisterlike, blisterless & blistery are adjectives; the noun plural is
blisters.
1968 MGC Roadster with bulge, blister and the bulge's curious stainless steel trim.
The MGC
(1967-1969) was created by replacing the MGB’s (1962-1980) 1.8 litre four
cylinder engine with a 2.9 litre (178 cubic inch) straight-six, something which
necessitated a number of changes, one of which was the bonnet (hood) which
gained a bulge to accommodate the revised placement of the radiator and, on the
left-hand side, a small blister because the forward of the two carburettors sat
just a little too high to fit even with the bulge.Because to raise the whole bulge would have the
bonnet look absurd, the decision was taken just to add a blister.A blister (in this context) is of course a
type of bulge and where a blister ends a bulge begins is just a convention of
use, blisters informally defined as being smaller and of a “blister-like shape”,
something recalling one appearing on one’s foot after a day in tight, new
shoes.A blister (which some seem to
insist on calling a “teardrop” in they happen to assume that shape) also
differs from a scoop in that it’s a enclosed structure whereas a scoop has an aperture
to permit airflow.There are however
some creations in the shape of a typical blister which are used for air-extraction
(the aperture to the rear) but these tend to be called “air ducts” rather than
blisters.MGC’s bulged and blistered bonnet
has always been admired (especially by students of asymmetry) and both the
originals (in aluminium which is an attraction in itself) and reproduction
items are often used by MGB owners, either just for the visual appeal or to
provide greater space for those who have installed a V8.The apparently superfluous stainless steel trim piece in
the bulge (there's no seam to conceal) is believed to be a motif recalling the small grill which was in a similar place on BMC’s (British Motor Corporation) old Austin-Healey 3000 (1959-1967), the MGC created because the 3000 couldn’t easily
be modified to comply with the increasingly onerous US regulations. Because there were doubts the cost of developing a
replacement would ever be recovered, the decision was taken to build what was, in effect, a six-cylinder MGB.The considerable additional weight of the bigger engine spoiled the MGB’s almost perfect
balance and although a genuine 120 mph (195 km/h) machine, the MGC was never a critical or commercial success with only 8,999 (4,542 roadsters & 4,457 coupés) produced during its brief, two season life.
Republic P-47C Thunderbolt with the original colonnaded canopy (top) and the later P-47D with blister canopy (bottom).
When
the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt (1941-1945) entered service with the USAAF
(United States Army Air Force) in 1942, it was the largest, heaviest, single
seat, piston-engined fighter ever produced, a distinction it enjoys to this
day.However, one thing it did share
with some of its contemporaries was the replacement in later versions of the colonnaded
canopy over the cockpit by an all-enveloping single panoramic structure which afforded
the pilot unparalleled visibility, something made possible by advances in
injection molding to fabricate shapes in Perspex, then still a quite novel
material.These canopies were adopted
also for later versions of the The Supermarine Spitfire (1938-1948) and the North
American P-51 Mustang (1941-1946) but the historians of aviation seem never to
have settled on a description, opinion divided between “bubble-top” and “blister
top”.
In
military aviation, “blister” is more familiar as a use to describe the transparent
bulge (or dome) on the fuselage of an airplane, usually for purposes of
observation or mounting a gun but used sometimes to house a rearward air
extraction device.However, because of
other linguistic traditions in military design, the “blisters” used as gun
mounting position were also described with other words, the use sometimes a
little “loose”.One term was barbette (plural
barbettes), a borrowing from the French and used historically to mean (1) a
mound of earth or a platform in a fortification, on which guns are mounted to
fire over the parapet and (2) (in naval use), the inside fixed trunk of a
warship's gun-mounting, on which the turret revolves and used to contain the
hoists for shells and cordite from the shell-room and magazine.
Meme-makers know whatever the advantages conferred by blister-packs, getting to
the tablet can take a vital second or two.Imodium is a medication used to treat occasional diarrhea.
Also
used was turret, from the Middle English touret,
from the Old French torete (which
endures in Modern French as tourette),
a diminutive of tour (tower), from the Latin turris.In architecture (and
later adoptions like electronic circuitry and railcar design), turrets tended
to be variations of or analogous with “towers” but in military use there was a
specific evolution.The early military
turrets were “siege towers”, effectively a “proto-tank” or APC (armoured personnel
carrier) in the form of what was essentially a “building on wheels”, used to
carry ladders, casting bridges, weapons and soldiers equipped with the tools
and devices need to storm so fortified structure such as a fort or castle.From this evolved the still current idea notion
of an armoured, rotating gun installation on a fort or warship and as powered
land vehicles and later flying machines (aircraft) were developed, the term was
adopted for their various forms of specialized gun mountings.In aircraft, the term blister came later, and
allusion to the blister-like shape increasingly used to optimize aerodynamic
efficiency, something of little concern to admiralties.
Mar-a-Lago, Ocean Boulevard, Palm Beach, Florida.
Another
military blister was the cupola (plural cupolas or cupolae), from the Italian cupola, from the Late Latin cūpula (a small cask; a little tub),
from the Classical Latin cuppella,
from cuppa & cūpa (tub), from the Ancient Greek κύπελλον (kúpellon) (small cup), the construct being cūp(a) + -ula, from the primitive Indo-European -dlom (the instrumental suffix) and used
as a noun suffix denoting an instrument.The origin in Latin was based on the resemblance to an upturned cup,
hence the use to describe the rounded top of just about any structure where no specific
descriptor existed.In military use, a
cupola is basically a helmet fixed in place and that may be on a building, a
ship or an armored vehicle, the function being to protect the head while
offering a field of view.Sometimes,
especially in tanks or armored cars, guns or flame-throwers were integrated
into cupolas and in naval gunnery, there was the special use to describe the
dome-like structures protecting a (usually single) gun mounting, something
which distinguished them from the larger, flatter constructions which fulfilled
the same purpose for multi-gun batteries.Turrets and cupolas are among the architectural features of Mar-a-Lago, Donald
Trump’s (b 1946; US president 2017-2021) winter palace on Ocean Boulevard, Palm
Beach, Florida.
Northrop P-61 Black Widow: A prototype with the troublesome dorsal blister turret (left), the early production P-61A with the blister removed (upper right) and the later P-61B with the blister restored (lower right).
The attractive
aerodynamic properties of the classic blister shape was an obvious choice for
use in aircraft but even then, they weren’t a complete solution. The Northrop P-61 Black Widow was the first
aircraft designed from a clean sheet of paper as a night-fighter, cognizant of
the experience of the RAF (Royal Air Force) which during the Luftwaffe’s (the
German air force) Blitz of London (1940-1941) had pressed into service day-fighter
interceptors. Designed to accommodate on-board
radar, the Black Widow was heavily gunned and incorporated notable US
innovations such as remote control firing mechanisms. Part of the original was a remotely-controlled
blister turret on the dorsal section which proved the shape’s aerodynamic properties
worked only when pointed in the appropriate direction; when pointed at
right-angles to the aircraft’s centre-line, the tail section between the
twin-booms suffered severe buffeting.
Accordingly, the blister turret was deleted from the early production
versions but the early experience of the military confirmed the need for
additional firepower and after a re-design, it was restored to the slightly lengthened
P-61B. The integration of so many novel
aspects of design meant the P-61 didn’t enter service until 1944 and, as the
first of its breed, it was never a wholly satisfactory night-fighter but it was
robust, had good handling characteristics and offered the advantage of being
able to carry a heavy payload which meant it could operate as a nocturnal intruder
with a lethal disposable load. It was
however in some ways a demanding airframe to operate, the manufacturer recommending
that when fully-loaded in its heaviest configuration, a take-off run-up of 3
miles (4.8 km) was required. Although
its service in World War II (1939-1945) was limited, remarkably, like the de
Havilland Mosquito (DH.98), the Black Widow was also a Cold War fighter, both
in service until 1951-1952 because of a technology deficit which meant it wasn’t
until then jet-powered night-fighters came into service. The Black Widow was in 1949 (by then designated F-51), the first
aircraft in service in the embryonic USADC (US Air Defense Command), formed to
defend the country from any Soviet intrusion or attack.
Xanax (Alprazolam), a fast-acting benzodiazepine. It is marketed as anti-anxiety medication and supplied in blister packs.
Lindsay Lohan released the trackXanaxin 2019.With a contribution from Finnish pop star Alma (Alma-Sofia Miettinen; b 1996), the accompanying music video was said to be “a compilation of vignettes of life”,Xanax reported as being inspired by Ms Lohan’s “personal life, including an ex-boyfriend and toxic friends”.Structurally,Xanax was quoted as being based around "an interpolation of" Better Off Alone, by Dutch Eurodance-pop collectiveAlice Deejay, slowed to a Xanax-appropriate tempo.
Xanax by Lindsay Lohan
I don't like the parties in LA, I go home
In a bad mood, pass out, wake up alone
Just to do it all over again, oh
Looking for you
Only one reason I came here
Too many people, I can't hear
Damn, I got here at ten
Now it's 4 AM
I can't be in this club
It's too crowded and I'm fucked
Ain't nobody here for love
Ain't nobody care about us
I got social anxiety, but you're like Xanax to me, yeah
Social anxiety, when you kiss me, I can't breathe
No, I can't be in this club
It's too crowded and I'm fucked
Ain't nobody here for love
Ain't nobody care 'bout us
I got social anxiety, but you're like Xanax to me, yeah
Social anxiety, when you kiss me, I can't breathe, yeah
But you're like Xanax to me
When you kiss me, I can't breathe
I try to stay away from you, but you get me high
Only person in this town that I like
Guess I can take one more trip for the night
Just for the night
Only one reason I came here
Too many people, I can't hear
Damn, I got here at ten
Now it's 4 AM
I can't be in this club
It's too crowded and I'm fucked
Ain't nobody here for love
Ain't nobody care about us
I got social anxiety, but you're like Xanax to me, yeah
Social anxiety, when you kiss me, I can't breathe
No, I can't be in this club
It's too crowded and I'm fucked
Ain't nobody here for love
Ain't nobody care 'bout us
I got social anxiety, but you're like Xanax to me, yeah
Social anxiety, when you kiss me, I can't breathe, yeah
