[Histonet] Re: Clostridium difficile - what do you do

[Bob Richmond]

It's "difficile" rather than *difficilis because it's a third
declension singular neuter adjective, in apposition with
"Clostridium", a second declension neuter.

A reference to the Oxford-BBC Guide to Pronunciation suggests that my
pronunciation is the correct one in English. Every European language
has a "received pronunciation" of Latin, the English one being the
weirdest, of course. The English one is never taught - you pick it up
- I learned it from my mother.  John Kiernan mentions a "school" or
"classical" pronunciation - sometimes called "the Roman system" which
you use only when you're reading classical Latin out loud when you're
studying Latin.

http://www.linguism.co.uk/language/the-oxford-bbc-guide-to-pronunciation
"‘di-fiss-i-li’ [accent on "fiss" - there's a boldface in the
original] is good anglicized Latin, and easy enough to say."

The critical problem actually is where the accent on the word falls.

As my final authority I offer none other than Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
who wrote an exquisite motet on the German schoolboy joke "difficile
lectu michi mars". If you listen to this YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ps_JbyrN3zQ
you'll hear four syllables, with the accent on the second syllable
(you can read the music along with it in the YouTube). (The "c" is
pronounced "ts" or "ch" - I'm not sure which - because they're using a
German or Italian received pronunciation of Latin.) Here I think
"difficile" is an adverb modifying the participial verb "lectu" (in
reading). "Michi" (to me - spelt 'mihi' in classical Latin), "Mars"
(Mars, for "military matters" is the subject.

Now here's the schoolboy joke: "lectu michi Mars" sounds like German
"leck Du mich im Arsch", for which a cognate English translation would
be "lick thou me in [my] ass".

Which I guess gets us back to the customary habitat of Clostridium difficile.

Bob Richmond
Samurai Pathologist (and occasional lexicographer, Dr. Johnson's
harmless drudge)
Knoxville TN
************************************************************
On Sat, Dec 3, 2011 at 3:23 PM, John Kiernan <jkiernan <@t> uwo.ca> wrote:
> The school Latin pronunciation (classical rather than ecclesiastical) would
> be dif-ik-il-ay, but changing the k to s would be a reasonable
> anglicization, as is often done to make Latin names of plants and animals
> euphonious to anglophones. The name of this bacterium seems to be
> grammatically wrong because the nominative form is difficilis in all 3
> cases. Difficile could mean "difficultly" but specific epithets are usually
> adjectives not adverbs.
>
> Newscasters nearly always say C. difficile with the last syllable rhyming
> with eel, as if it were a French word. This practice is is as ignorant as
> "the data is ...", or "what is the criteria for ...", or "a bacteria".
> Hrrrmph!
>
> Cheers,   John Kiernan
> = = =
> On 03/12/11, Bob Richmond <rsrichmond <@t> gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I have no idea - possibly no special precautions - I'd address this
> question - about Clostridium difficile - to the right person at the
> CDC. They'll know.
>
> While on the subject, how do you pronounce "difficile"? I say
> dih-FISS-illy - mostly on the basis of how Mozart pronounced it in his
> comic motet "Difficile lectu michi mars" (and never mind what that
> means in German).
>
> Bob Richmond
> Samurai Pathologist
> Knoxville TN
> ******************************
> We are about to embark on a project involving C.diff infected GI tissue.
>
> We have processes in place for PPE, decontamination/ disinfection
> etc... but I am looking for any evidence whether or not formalin
> fixation or subsequent tissue processing will inactivate the spores.
>
> Also, do you take any special precautions in handling/sectioning the
> tissue /slides after paraffin embedding.
>
> I am not coming up with much info with my web searches, so I am asking
> for help from any lab that works with C. diff.
>
> Brett M. Connolly, Ph.D.
> Imaging Research Fellow
> Merck & Co., Inc.
> PO Box 4, WP-44K
> West Point, PA 19486