[David Balius]

Sometime during the 20th century the focus of the medical profession shifted from the cure of diseases to the monetization of them. Most, if not all of this phenomenon can be laid at the feet of big pharma, which used man’s basic greed to affect this profound change in men and women that entered the medical profession with the best intent, only to be subverted by the love of money. The IMA represents that remnant who still hold to the original intention of the profession. God bless them!

[IMA-GregT]

@db4him ❤❤ The great thing about this is it’s all of us here on the froum too. Just a brilliant, brilliant bunch.

[IMA-GregT]

“Elixir of Vitriol” how absolutely wonderful. Had to look up the etymology of Vitriol just to know how it’s meaning had changed over time.

Vitriol comes from Medieval Latin vitriolum, ultimately from Latin vitrum meaning “glass,” because the mineral sulfates it named had a glassy appearance. The word first referred to sulfate salts such as green vitriol and later to sulfuric acid, which was called “oil of vitriol”.

Word history

The path is roughly: Latin vitrum (“glass”) → Medieval Latin vitriolum → Old French vitriol → English vitriol. The original sense was a mineral or salt, not abuse.

Figurative meaning

The modern sense of “bitter, harsh, caustic criticism” developed from the corrosive nature of sulfuric acid and related vitriols. That figurative use is recorded by the 18th–19th centuries.

Related forms

Vitriolic means “caustic” or “harshly critical,” and it follows the same historical connection to corrosive vitriol.

I’m reading The Bravo by James Fenimore Cooper, first published in 1831, and set in Venice. He said it’s his most American Book. (Certainly, to my mind, these days not only American though) All about corruption, class tension, and tyranny in oligarchic states. How things change and how they always stay the same. And the language is just beautiful.

And now I’ve learned that Vitriol has another meaning too. Thank you.