epiglottitis

c_b, aye. That misunderstanding was perpetuated by my parents, though. (I was in my early teens when I came across “uvula” and had a bit of an ohhhh moment.)

Cerebral palsy. I think there are other palsies too.

To me, catarrh just sounds like a really, really warped guitar.

Yes, they are very serious. It's strange to me they have such cute-sounding names. In fact a relative of someone I work with was just taken to the E.R. with pleurisy the other day.

Quinsy could well be tonsillitis, in the past sense of the term. I think medical terms in historical periods were far more vague, to us, than we think of medical terms being today. Quinsy probably encompassed "really sore throat," which could mean tonsillitis or epiglottitis, or even other conditions with similar symptoms.

These all definitely sound more serious than the marthambles or catarrh though.

p.s. sionnach, what's ablepsy? I'm lost without WeirdNet.

I've always thought that quinsy was tonsillitis. But maybe it was just used as a general term for inflammation of the throat.

Quinsy might sound quaint. But then so do palsy and dropsy, both of which are actually fairly serious ailments.

The other 'ending in sy' diseases, pleurisy and ablepsy, do have a more obviously medical sound to them.

Say Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

I think "quinsy" is kind of a quaint-sounding term; it doesn't sound like what it means. But I don't think the epiglottis is the dangly bit at the back of your throat--the dangly bit is the uvula. Isn't it?

Who said it was a good thing?

Since when was romanticising imflammation of the dangly bit at the back of your throat causing a subsequent choking death a good thing?

Quinsy sounds ever so much more romantic. ;-)

this is what George Washington died of. Also known as (at the time) quinsy.