The word “meningococcal” is an adjective, not a noun

The word “meningococcal” is an adjective, not a noun

The word “meningococcal” is an adjective, not a noun just like the word “pneumococcal” is an adjective not a noun. I’ve written about this before but it’s a pet peeve and a constant annoyance.

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Editorial and journalistic standards

I accept that commercial free to air television in Australia has imperfect standards when it comes to Australian English usage. I accept the commercial television journalists and editors may not be familiar with the difference between an adjective and a noun. Some of the popular “news” programs employ comedians who tell stories about the news. That said, many of these ‘news presenters’ have tertiary qualifications in humanities subjects including English as well as political science.

I can accept less than ideal standards from free to air commercial television. What disappoints me is when I hear journalists from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) use adjectives as nouns.

Public service announcements

I’m also seeing more public service announcements and infomercials on TV highlighting the problems associated with infections caused by the Gram-negative intracellular diplococcus named Neisseria meningitidis. However, the word used on TV for the infection (disease) is an adjective (meningococcal) and not a noun.

Is language devolving?

I get that language evolves, but does it have to evolve through ignorance and laziness? Surely we should expect people in the media to aim for correctness and not the lowest common denominator which is often muddying the waters of language. I’d prefer clarity rather than ambiguity. Isn’t it better to educate and improve rather than be lazy?

Neisseria meningitidis is also known as the meningococcus and in the laboratory we’ll shorten that to “meningo”. You’ll hear someone say, “Have you done a MALDI on that query ‘meningo’ yet?” “Was the ‘meningo’ PCR positive on that CSF?”

We will also write in short-hand too. Nm for Neisseria meningitidis and Ng for Neisseria gonorrhoeæ. Did you know that both bacteria can be spread venereally?

I would never expect to hear meningo or read Nm in formal announcements though.

Pathogens and diseases

For infections, we have ætiological microorganisms which have a name and a disease (which they cause) which has a name. The names may have similarities but names are not usually the same.

The diseases caused by the meningococcus are known as meningococcal meningitis, meningococcal bacteræmia, and meningococcal septicæmia. You can also get a meningococcal pharyngitis (sore throat), meningococcal pneumonia, and meningococcal urethritis (similar to gonorrhoea of the tube connecting your bladder with the outside, either through your penis or not if you don’t have a penis).

Likewise, Streptococcus pneumoniæ is a Gram-positive lancet-shaped diplococcus. It’s also known as the pneumococcus and we’ll shorten it to pneumo in the laboratory. This bacterium causes pneumococcal pneumonia and pneumococcal meningitis. In severe pneumonia and meningitis, we often find pneumococcal bacteræmia.

What have I watched this week?

Star Trek: Discovery

Hmmm…last year after each episode of Star Trek: Discovery, Netflix had a show named “After Trek”. It doesn’t seem to be available anymore. Instead, I’m watching the Ready Room on YouTube but it’s not available in Australia. One of the good things about using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is that I can direct it to the USA and watch the program.

Watching Star Trek: Discovery "An Obol for Charon" I'm really liking Jett Reno. I'm also a fan of Number One from USS Enterprise NCC-1701. Great episode. https://t.co/Ndwx6NmAzb I really love Star Trek. Good to know more of the bridge crew #StarTrek #DISCO #Enterprise #Discovery

— Gaz 🖖 (@garydlum) February 9, 2019

Jett Reno played by Tig Notaro is an engineer from the USS Hiawatha (NCC-815) which crashed during the war with the Klingons. She has a very good role, especially with Stamets and Tilly.

We also meet the first officer from the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701). She is played by Rebecca Romijn. It will be interesting to see her character evolve. The original TOS Number One was played by Majel Barrett whose voice was used for the computer in many of the live action series and she also played Commander (Nurse) Christine Chapel (TOS) and Lwaxana Troi (TNG, DS9).

LAW & ORDER

I’m into season three and we welcome Lennie Briscoe to the team after Phil Cerreta gets shot. It’s not the first time we see Jerry Orbach in the series He played Frank Lehrmann who was a defence attorney in season two in the episode “The Wages of Love”.

I like the character of Briscoe. It’s not that I didn’t like the character Phil Cerreta but he is played by Paul Sorvino and whenever I see him he reminds me of the annoying human brother Worf had in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

What have I listened to this week?

Just the usual podcasts. I have a quite diverse taste in what I listen too. This week, there wasn’t anything that I feel strongly enough about to describe here. Sometimes I wonder, if I just didn’t listen to podcasts for a week would it matter. Probably not, but I would miss the humour and the lessons I learn no matter how small.

What have I eaten and photographed this week?

This is a gallery of photographs. Click on one image and scroll through the rest of them.

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Yummy Lummy this week

I had a bit of a revelation and discovered that a relatively thin steak can be as tasty and delicious as a big thick juicy meaty steak. I also discovered that rice and steak are delicious together.

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Final thoughts

• Do any words or language usage issues annoy you?
• Should language evolve or are you happy with devolution?
• Do you use colloquial shorthand for formal names of things?