American Pharmaceutical Review
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As I write this column, February is drawing to a close. February in the northeast is typically one of the snowiest months of the winter, but here, in the suburbs of NJ we have no snow on the ground and none in the forecast. If the forecast holds true, this February will be remembered as one of the least snowy on record.
This talk about snow got me thinking a little more about snow, and the rather widely accepted “fact” that the Inuit have 50 diff erent words for snow. I did some digging and this isn’t entirely true. They have several words for snow, but in their language, they have many modifi ers which are added to their words for snow resulting in many variations. I found this interesting description on The Canadian Encyclopedia website:
In his dictionary of the Inuktitut dialect of Nunavik (Arctic Québec), the linguist and missionary Lucien
Schneider (Ulirnaisugutiit: An Inuktitut-English Dictionary of Northern Quebec, Labrador and Eastern Arctic Dialects, 1985) cites a dozen basic words (those that are not derived from another word) referring to snow, and about ten words referring to ice. Examples include:
qanik - snow falling
aputi - snow on the ground
pukka - crystalline snow on the ground
aniu - snow used to make water
siku - ice in general
nilak - freshwater ice, for drinking
qinu - slushy ice by the sea
Of course, this led me to start thinking of other instances where something has many words to describe it.
Solid dosage drugs came to mind first. But the differences between a tablet, capsule, and pill are fairly evident.
Next, I started thinking about topicals. Jackpot! Here’s my quick list of topicals, and a short description, courtesy of the Medical Dictionary:
Cream: a semisolid dosage form being either an emulsion of oil and water or an aqueous microcrystalline dispersion of a long-chain fatty acid or alcohol.
Gel: a colloid in which the solid disperse phase forms a network in combination with that of the fluid continuous phase, resulting in a viscous semirigid sol.
Ointment: a semisolid preparation for external application to the skin or mucous membranes. Official ointments consist of medicinal substances incorporated in suitable vehicles (bases).
Salve: An analgesic or medicinal ointment.
Foam: a dispersion of a gas in a liquid or solid
Balm: An ointment, especially a fragrant one.
Fascinating isn’t it?
And just think what I would have come up with if I had been snowed in and was suffering from cabin fever.