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Micro- and Megavariants
Dec. 15th, 2021 02:47 pmNow I know my ABCs... maybe I should concentrate on my alphabetagammas. Including how to type the Greek alphabet from my computer keyboard!
Several decades ago, when I was going into grade 9, I had a choice between Latin and Typing for my optional subject. I chose Latin, but also took (noncredit) typing lessons during my lunch break. My Latin teacher also knew and informally taught classical Greek after regular school hours. I lasted for maybe a week in those classes before deciding that high school was already quite stressful enough without taking on that additional work.
So to make a long story short, most of it is all still Greek to me. My familiarity with the Greek alphabet is pretty much limited to those symbols that are regularly used in mathematical or scientific nomenclature. I was never involved in sororities, fraternities or toga parties, where I'm sure Greek letters were tossed about with abandon, along with the French letters and ouzo. Now, of course, there's COVID-19, which has forced us to learn much more Greek than we ever wanted to know.
I guess it's easier to learn the Greek letters assigned to variants than it was to learn complex alphanumeric series of characters like we did at the beginning of the pandemic. Still, the assignment of names to viruses and variants is definitely not devoid of political controversy!
Just as the "Spanish flu" pandemic a century or so ago was apparently not really Spanish, so the Novel Coronavirus is NOT to be dubbed the Chinese virus or the Wuhan virus. Nor are we to use the Greek letter xi for any of the variants because Xi is a common name in China and using it might offend people of Chinese descent. I'm not quite sure why we don't have similar concerns about possibly offending the Greeks!
Let's look at the latest variant of concern, omicron. First off, how do we pronounce it: with a short "o" or a long "o" (as in O Canada!)? The Canadian Oxford Dictionary has it with a short o. Likewise the Webster's dictionary I own, which then goes on to indicate that the British pronunciation is with a LONG o. Interestingly enough, our copy of the Shorter Oxford doesn't seem to have the word "omicron" in it at all. I then looked in our Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, which did have the word, but it was under the entry for "Omega". The entry also points out that omicron is the equivalent of our lower-case "O" (our micro-O) while omega is equivalent to capital "O" (mega-O).
Mind you, I don't believe everything I read, particularly when it doesn't jibe with the evidence of my own ears. Listening to commentary from the UK, most people seem to pronounce "omicron" with a short "o" whereas in North America, the long "o" seems to prevail. There are some notable exceptions, however. For example: Chrystia Freeland, our Minister of Finance and Deputy PM, consistently pronounces it with the short "o". As for the way it's written, I note that the Postmedia newspapers spell it with an upper-case "O" although it's possible they just use capital letters for all the variants.
Maybe we should just give up and call this the Omega variant? Sort of like making a christening gown twice the length of the new baby, hoping the baby lives long enough to grow into it, we could name this variant after the last letter of the Greek alphabet in hopes that it will be the last variant of concern we see during this pandemic - or maybe even ever! Mind you, we haven't seen the name "Methuselah" grow much in popularity since biblical times, even as lifespans lengthen.
What's in a name? Lots, apparently. Many people seem more passionate about the name than the thing or phenomenon it denotes. Does that make even one iota of sense?
Several decades ago, when I was going into grade 9, I had a choice between Latin and Typing for my optional subject. I chose Latin, but also took (noncredit) typing lessons during my lunch break. My Latin teacher also knew and informally taught classical Greek after regular school hours. I lasted for maybe a week in those classes before deciding that high school was already quite stressful enough without taking on that additional work.
So to make a long story short, most of it is all still Greek to me. My familiarity with the Greek alphabet is pretty much limited to those symbols that are regularly used in mathematical or scientific nomenclature. I was never involved in sororities, fraternities or toga parties, where I'm sure Greek letters were tossed about with abandon, along with the French letters and ouzo. Now, of course, there's COVID-19, which has forced us to learn much more Greek than we ever wanted to know.
I guess it's easier to learn the Greek letters assigned to variants than it was to learn complex alphanumeric series of characters like we did at the beginning of the pandemic. Still, the assignment of names to viruses and variants is definitely not devoid of political controversy!
Just as the "Spanish flu" pandemic a century or so ago was apparently not really Spanish, so the Novel Coronavirus is NOT to be dubbed the Chinese virus or the Wuhan virus. Nor are we to use the Greek letter xi for any of the variants because Xi is a common name in China and using it might offend people of Chinese descent. I'm not quite sure why we don't have similar concerns about possibly offending the Greeks!
Let's look at the latest variant of concern, omicron. First off, how do we pronounce it: with a short "o" or a long "o" (as in O Canada!)? The Canadian Oxford Dictionary has it with a short o. Likewise the Webster's dictionary I own, which then goes on to indicate that the British pronunciation is with a LONG o. Interestingly enough, our copy of the Shorter Oxford doesn't seem to have the word "omicron" in it at all. I then looked in our Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, which did have the word, but it was under the entry for "Omega". The entry also points out that omicron is the equivalent of our lower-case "O" (our micro-O) while omega is equivalent to capital "O" (mega-O).
Mind you, I don't believe everything I read, particularly when it doesn't jibe with the evidence of my own ears. Listening to commentary from the UK, most people seem to pronounce "omicron" with a short "o" whereas in North America, the long "o" seems to prevail. There are some notable exceptions, however. For example: Chrystia Freeland, our Minister of Finance and Deputy PM, consistently pronounces it with the short "o". As for the way it's written, I note that the Postmedia newspapers spell it with an upper-case "O" although it's possible they just use capital letters for all the variants.
Maybe we should just give up and call this the Omega variant? Sort of like making a christening gown twice the length of the new baby, hoping the baby lives long enough to grow into it, we could name this variant after the last letter of the Greek alphabet in hopes that it will be the last variant of concern we see during this pandemic - or maybe even ever! Mind you, we haven't seen the name "Methuselah" grow much in popularity since biblical times, even as lifespans lengthen.
What's in a name? Lots, apparently. Many people seem more passionate about the name than the thing or phenomenon it denotes. Does that make even one iota of sense?
