Just recently I was in a conversation with a number of UK mainlanders and we had a debate over what “tories” meant, apparently disproportionately ordinarily it refers to a political party and it’s not usual to use it as short for “territories” as I’ve used it (according to how the debate ended, it was half and half between them). And once again I’m reminded of how people feel to look back at their usage of a word/phrase over the years and cringe.

More tragically, me and a friend were embarrassed once upon realizing everyone was confusing “encephalitis” with “hydrocephalus” when talking to someone about their kid with hydrocephalus. Awkward because encephalitis is caused by HIV.

  • GreyShuckEnglish
    26•11 months ago

    Awkward because encephalitis is caused by HIV.

    From the NHS website:

    Encephalitis is most often due to a virus, such as:

    • herpes simplex viruses, which cause cold sores (this is the most common cause of encephalitis)
    • the varicella zoster virus, which causes chickenpox and shingles
    • measles, mumps and rubella viruses
    • viruses spread by animals, such as tick-borne encephalitis, Japanese encephalitis, rabies (and possibly Zika virus)

    Encephalitis caused by a virus is known as “viral encephalitis”. In rare cases, encephalitis is caused by bacteria, fungi or parasites.