June 1, 2013

"Healthing."



I'm not sure what bothers me more here — the word "healthing" or the notion of spraying germ-killer all over the house. What passes for cleaning these days? What passes for healthy? What passes for language?!

AND:



ALSO: I looked up "fungi" in the OED, hoping for some better pronunciation info, after many commenters said the "fun guy" pronunciation was correct and/or subliminally useful. I got distracted by the 1c definition of fungus:
c. A beard. Also face fungus n. at face....

1925 P. G. Wodehouse Sam the Sudden xiii. 89 Where did you get the fungus?
1936 P. G. Wodehouse Laughing Gas xxiv. 255, I had fallen among a band of criminals who were not wilful beavers, but had merely assumed the fungus for purposes of disguise.
1937 ‘R. Crompton’ William—the Showman x. 240 ‘Is it to be me or that ass with the fungus on his cheeks?’ demanded Richard belligerently....

72 comments:

rhhardin said...

I go the reactive immunity route.

Nothing protects better than years of dust and grime.

traditionalguy said...

Keeping cleanliness rule sis a boost to self esteem. So Advertisers sell that notion. It's like the good feeling separating trash into different cans gives us...until the Garbage handlers put it back together and take it to the land fill.

You gotta believe!

ricpic said...

It's not pronounced funguy? You learn something new every day.

n.n said...

An antiseptic environment leaves us vulnerable to suffer from the slightest perturbation. The development of our minds, and our bodies, are inhibited in a vacuum.

Michael K said...

The diseases of cleanliness are still not a topic that would-be elites want to talk about.

And yet they eat bacteria in the probiotics they buy.

rhhardin said...

Tee-shirts don't get ring around the collar, by the way.

chickelit said...

"Healthing" is not just incorrect but probably not catchy. The correct word usage would be "healing" but that conveys treatment instead of prevention.* Tomorrow's healthcare is all about prevention and not treatment. At least, that's the gamble we've made.
___________________________
*cf. Healing/health, well/wealth, steal/stealth, etc. These are germanic word pairings.

lemondog said...

If you are going to spray, wear a mask.

Efficacy of anti-bacterial soap over just proper washing is questionable with concerns that such products may lead to more resistant bacteria or ‘super bugs’.

Ruth Anne Adams said...

I used to always mistake that voice as Ann Curry, but it's really her sound-alike doppelgänger Nancy Giles.

chickelit said...

No one bats an eye in Italy if you order pizza con funghi.

But they might be tempted to correct you and say pizza coi funghi.

KCFleming said...

I call it 'stupiding.'

chickelit said...

@Ruth Anne: OT, but I made a new chirbit recording of Lurch: link

traditionalguy said...

Ricpic...It really is pronounced fun guy. But that might offend the hard working women house cleaners who are this advertisers customers.



edutcher said...

Pronounced fun gi, as in martial arts.

This is more of the "words, just words" thing the Lefties love.

When words (like homophobia) don't mean anything, they can mean whatever you want them to mean.

Jason (the commenter) said...

So Lysol wants to be like Listerine and "halitosis".

"Healthing" sounds dumb to me, but perhaps it will do wonders with their target audience.

dreams said...

I grew up in the country on a farm in the fifties and like a lot other neighboring families we didn't have in-door plumbing. We didn't even have a well, our water was from a cistern that caught the rainwater that ran off of the metal roof of our house. As a child, I don't think I had ever heard of asthma, I for sure never knew anyone with asthma.

BlogDog said...

A mushroom walks into a bar.
The bartender says, "Get out! We don't serve your kind here."
The mushroom says, "Why not? I'm a fun guy."

Hagar said...

El Pollo Raylan,

What's this "we" stuff, Kemo Sabe?

Jason (the commenter) said...

Instead of a used diaper in the garbage can they should have had a used tampon. And instead of "E coli" they should have name dropped chlamydia.

Jason (the commenter) said...

"Healthing" makes it sounds like medical product. They need a voice at the end to quickly say, "Not for use in the vaginal area."

dreams said...

My pet peeve is the word infamous which I came know the meaning of from Roosevelt's infamy speech of 1941. I've noticed a lot of young people say infamous when they really just mean famous.

chickelit said...

What's this "we" stuff, Kemo Sabe?

You may not have made the choice, but you'll live with it.

edutcher said...

PS The proper pronunciation of fungi is based on the old Romansch dialect, which is believed to be a direct link to Latin the way the Romans spoke it.

Bob Ellison said...

That's not how I pronounce fungi, and I'm a fun guy.

Hagar said...

Color me "uncooperative."

virgil xenophon said...

What happened to the term "Well-Care?" Or is that now deemed too institutional in nature--as opposed to taking personal responsibility for one's health?

Rusty said...

rhhardin said...
Tee-shirts don't get ring around the collar, by the way.

Said the guy who has never seen my work shirts.

Bob Ellison said...

dreams, how about "electric" v. "electrical" and "flammable" v. "inflammable"?

Dust Bunny Queen said...

I go the reactive immunity route.

Nothing protects better than years of dust and grime.


My Grandmother adhered to the 5 second rule on food too. She would often say: "You're gonna eat a peck of dirt before you die." pick up the cookie/whatever and give it back to you.



KCFleming said...

We call it hell thing.

Howard said...

I think it's a great time-saving solution for working Moms.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Dreams,
There's nothing wrong with that usage.

ErnieG said...

It's a lot easier spraying that stuff around than actually, you know, cleaning the place up.

Rich Rostrom said...

Major Vladimir Peniakoff, the commander of "Popski's Private Army" in WW II, allowed his men to wear beards after at least five combat missions. But the beard had to be approved by him: no "tufted fungus" was accepted.

KCFleming said...

Hell thing, I think I love you.

Quaestor said...

Fungus - Latinate second declension noun. The plural forms with -i, thus fungi. Pronounce it like it's an Italian proper name and you've got it.

Rabel said...

"I'm not sure what bothers me more..."

The gap between Althouse and Andy Rooney narrows with each passing day. Not that that's a bad thing.

Anonymous said...

Tiny mites crawling unnoticed over Our Skin. Small nibbles, less then the slightest pinprick. Baby Spiders while you Sleep. Bowels full of half-digested Cheerios. Microscopic Creatures swarming In the Bathroom, Always, and You With your Pants Down. Sweat pressed into the Bed Sheets in which you will Cover Yourself Again. Drool on the Pillow. Cat Drool on the Pillow. Wash your Hands with the Same Bar of Soap That Someone has Used to Clean Horrible Things from Their Hands. Toothbrush unprotected in the same Room with the Toilet. The Plunger in the Corner, with Memories of What Has Been Plunged. Dry off from the Shower with the Towel from the Day Before, tiny flakes of Skin now Damp and Reapplied. Washcloth. Public restaurant with Sneezed Microbes Hanging in the Air, Settling on your Dinner Plate. Don't Even Think about the Horrors hiding in the Food on That Plate. A Solitary Hair from the Cook's Beard, the Second-Hand Steroids in the Beef. Not Every Employee Washes their Hands. The Guy in the Kitchen washing the Silverware in a Sink of oily brackish water, perhaps with the Faint Residue of the Drain Cleaner used to clear the Reoccurring Clogs. Band-Aid on the Finger loosening in Same Water. Table considered clean by a Quick Wipe with a Dish-Towel Wet From the Tables Wiped Before. Air Ducts lined with Dust and Daddy-Long Legs. More baby Spiders.



dreams said...

"There's nothing wrong with that usage."

A few years ago I heard a TV celebrity refer to the Kentucky Derby as the infamous race, there isn't any infamy related to the race and what she clearly meant was the famous race.

"Infamous | Define Infamous at Dictionary.com
dictionary.reference.com/browse/infamous Cached
adjective 1. having an extremely bad reputation: an infamous city. 2. deserving of or causing an evil reputation; shamefully malign; detestable: an infamous deed. 3 ..."

rcommal said...

Pogo: Ha!

chickelit said...

@betamax3000: You cracked Rod Serling up three times reading that script: chirbit

Anonymous said...

OCD Robot says:

The Bathroom Door Knob. The Change in your Pocket handled Before by Strangers with Sweaty Palms, the Dollar Bill one step removed from the Stripper's G-String. ATM buttons, slightly Sticky. Cell Phone with Ear Grease used for Texting. More baby Spiders.

Anonymous said...

I believe these are the same people who first gave us "clean" as a noun.

Known Unknown said...

I use the word "health" as a verb. Basically, it means I've been eating like shit and I need to "health it up."

That said, the ad is stupid.

Known Unknown said...

OCD Robot = Howard Hughes Robot.

Anonymous said...

OCD Robot says:

Unwashed Strangers who Occupied your Plastic Bus Seat before you. Unwashed Strangers on the Bus Seat next to you. The Bus Windows closed, the Air Recirculating in Slow Dreary Clouds of Cologne and Whiskey Sweat. Fingernail clippings. More baby Spiders.

Anonymous said...

OCD Robot says:

Produce in the Supermarket Handled Previously by Unknown People, then set back for You To Pick. Shopping Cart handles. Weird slicks on the Cashier's conveyor belt. Reusable Bags with Remnants of the Visit Before. Entering your Discount Card on the Rubbery Keypad. Cashier licks Fingers before counting out your Change. Groceries put in the same Car Trunk that was Used to Take Home Steer manure for the Garden. More baby Spiders.

rhhardin said...

There's a sociological battle going on in a local men's room.

Not everybody washes their hands, though it's less of an issue for males than females.

Accordingly, some who do wash their hands retain the paper towel and use it to open the door on the way out.

Hence the problem, what to do with the paper towel.

I do what many do, toss it behind the door where the waste can should be.

A daily pile of towels there eventually, after a long delay, produces a waste can.

This week the waste can is gone, and the pile of towels is back.

Last time it was a couple months before the waste can staff relented, sensing defeat. Why empty two waste cans when you can empty only one? Because you have to pick up the towels.

How long will it be this time?

Anonymous said...

OCD Robot says:

Big City Starbucks Restroom. Sink previously used by Homeless Men to wash their Face, their Hair, their Socks, their Underwear. Sink Handles. No Fan, No Ventilation. Unflushed Toilet. More baby Spiders.

Jason (the commenter) said...

rhhardin: Hence the problem, what to do with the paper towel.

Proper etiquette dictates you leave it hanging from the back of your shoe.

George M. Spencer said...

Whoa!

While Mom is "healthing" her children are DESTROYING the $3,000! sofa!

DESTROYING it.

Thank you, Lysol

George M. Spencer said...

Whoa!

While Mom is "healthing" her children are DESTROYING the $3,000! sofa!

DESTROYING it.

Thank you, Lysol

Anonymous said...

There is a higher incidence of GI issues in children whose homes are too clean. Go easy on the disinfectant cleansers.

I eat those bacteria in probiotics, yum.

Anonymous said...

Re: El Pollo Raylan said...

You cracked Rod Serling up three times reading that script: chirbit

I enjoyed That!

jimbino said...

The 'g' in fungi is pronounced like the 'g' in gigabyte or gigahertz. Nobody but the prof in Back to the Future seems to get it right.

When anyone says with a hard-g how many "gigs" of memory his computer has, I always comment with a hard-g "How gigantic!"

Anonymous said...

OCD Robot says:

Hipsters on the Avenue. Unkempt Beards with food particles from that sketchy Thai Restaurant with the Tattooed Waiters. Self-Aware Moustaches still sticky with Lipstick from that Questionable Girl the Night Before. No shower. Crabs. Dreadlocks thick with mites and lice brush your Shoulder as He Walks by. Skinny Jeans on sweaty Spring days, and the rashes that undoubtedly Will Follow. Ass Crack, sweaty also. Barefoot Girls on the sidewalk in front of the Bar where A Drunk Vomited the Night Before; plus, Hobo Urine. Dog Excrement. Dirty Toes. Infected Piercings. The Sleeping Bag of the Guy who Sleeps in Front of the Optometrist Shop. More Baby Spiders.

Anonymous said...

OCD Robot is Aware of All of These Things: the Battle Cannot Be Won. The Same Stick Deodorant applied Each Day and the occasional Armpit Hair from the Day Before. The lead Sheet of Toilet Paper, Handled and Torn by the Previous User Before they Washed Their Hands. Shared Toe-Nail Clippers. Kissing. Sex.

Anonymous said...

OCD Robot says:

The Water with which You Wash Your Face and Brush Your Teeth contains Treated Sewage: You Can Never Be Truly Clean.

Anonymous said...

And More Baby Spiders.

MrCharlie2 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

OCD Robot says:

You can Never Protect All of Your Orifices, All of the Time.

Anonymous said...

Hey Chickie, that's an Inga Zone! Thanks! Loved it:)

Anonymous said...

OCD Robot says:

Someone Tried On that Bathing Suit before You Did.

Anonymous said...

OCD Robot says:

Lysol only Kills 99% of the Germs: Those are The Easy Ones. Germs are Like Sperm: it only Takes One to Make it to its Destination.

Aridog said...

@betamax3000 ... your string of comments here is priceless. I have been in a foul mood most of the day, but you have me laughing now. Thanks.

I resisted until this one:

Weird slicks on the Cashier's conveyor belt

Anonymous said...

Fiddling while Rome burns.

GAs at $4.00/gallon.

Unemployment above 7.5%

Libya in flames

1st Amendment in shreds.

But it's ok, we got lysol, says Easy Annie A.

Enjoy the decline!

Chip Ahoy said...

How to say gesso.

Quintessential = quint essential, fifth essence
Quintessence = quin tessence, fif thessence.

They call it fungi because it's spongy.

I like the smell of clorox. I cleaned a large mirror with vinegar and it worked, and it smelled so good I served a salad on it. <-- 30% exaggeration detected.

lemondog said...

The Water with which You Wash Your Face and Brush Your Teeth contains Treated Sewage: You Can Never Be Truly Clean.

For Starbucks aficionados:

Starbucks Busted for Brewing with ‘Toilet’ Water in Hong Kong

RonF said...

1) The more antiseptic/antibiotic compounds you use in daily life, the more likely you are to encourage the growth of organisms in your house that are resistant to antiseptics and antibiotics.

2) My wife's theory was that every kid had to eat their pound of dirt before they were 4. Based on the quite robust constitutions of my children and how rife with allergies, etc., the kids I see in my Scout Troop are, I figure she was proved right.

sinz52 said...

"If you are going to spray, wear a mask."

On several occasions, I mistook a can of Lysol for a can of air freshener, and sprayed Lysol into the air in my living room.

My sinuses ached for a week afterward.

Amartel said...

I guess "we call it healthing" is better than "we call it pretending to clean the house." I might have considered a mercy truth-in-advertising appreciation purchase for the latter, but that's just me.

There's several little sticky crumb-crunchers running loose in the background in this ad. One of then is Asian. I wonder if there will be hate mail. Also, I notice ads for anti-bacterial stuff always have a kid in them. Are we supposed to be protecting the children or protecting ourselves from them. Anyone who's had kids knows the answer to that one.

Rusty said...

Speaking of funguys. Very bad year for Morel funguys. only found a few.