The language of infectious disease: A light-hearted review

Abstract

This eclectic review of various aspects of the ID language was never intended to be comprehensive. It was written to demonstrate some evolutionary changes in our language, to point out a few of the quirks and idiosyncrasies, to highlight the colorful slang and euphemisms, to make suggestions for new terminology, and to have some fun in the process of doing so. Unbankable rewards of work in the ID field include the trill of the hunt for ethiologic microbes, the power to prevent or cure otherwise lethal infection, and the excitement of meeting the challenges of emerging infectious agents and resistance to antimicrobial drugs. The richness of our language is the frosting on the ID cake. We should savor it also.