It would have been a pleasant surprise if Jim used Chip for Slim’s physician. Didn’t Chip study to be a doctor? Looks like he’s fallen off the edge of the Earth! Bring him back.
That doctor is correct but most population will not give up over eating. Slim does not realize his health issues being over weight. Even me I am overweight and know it but a day to day struggle. I have managed three pound loss very slowly four pounds.
It’s true that “-itis” usually means “inflammation,” but not always. It’s actually a Greek suffix that makes a noun into an adjective, so it has a meaning like “connected with or pertaining to.” With the Greek word ’nosos" (disease) we got a phrase like “arthritis nosos” (disease pertaining to the joints).
After it was borrowed into English, two meanings developed, a narrower one, like “inflammation” and a wider one, like “a condition likened to a disease.” The first meaning of “disease or inflammation” we are familiar with from countless medical terms. The second one can be found in many nonce words (words made up at the time they are spoken) to give us words like “televisionitis” or “localitis” (obsession with one’s locality).
It’s the send one of these that we find in today’s strip, “eating like a horse” not being an actual medical condition, of course, but it’s a problem that’s likens to a disease, so he has a large disease-like problem of eating that pertains to horses. The “mangia” part is pseudo-Latin, actually more French or Italian-like and refers to eating.
It’s a perfectly good pseudo-scientific comical phrase.
Mineola about 9 years ago
It would have been a pleasant surprise if Jim used Chip for Slim’s physician. Didn’t Chip study to be a doctor? Looks like he’s fallen off the edge of the Earth! Bring him back.
cpalmeresq about 9 years ago
“Open your mouth and say, OINK”. I think I’d change doctors!
Stevero about 9 years ago
Could this be Chipper? He is now about 66.
ewalnut about 9 years ago
Slim is pretty healthy for his age, fat or not.
jollyjack about 9 years ago
JS has a limited amount of faces that he uses.
kab2rb about 9 years ago
That doctor is correct but most population will not give up over eating. Slim does not realize his health issues being over weight. Even me I am overweight and know it but a day to day struggle. I have managed three pound loss very slowly four pounds.
farnsworth68 about 9 years ago
The son of Skeezix & Nina was born on April 1, 1945. I’m embarrassed to realize I know that…
Neil Wick about 9 years ago
It’s true that “-itis” usually means “inflammation,” but not always. It’s actually a Greek suffix that makes a noun into an adjective, so it has a meaning like “connected with or pertaining to.” With the Greek word ’nosos" (disease) we got a phrase like “arthritis nosos” (disease pertaining to the joints).
After it was borrowed into English, two meanings developed, a narrower one, like “inflammation” and a wider one, like “a condition likened to a disease.” The first meaning of “disease or inflammation” we are familiar with from countless medical terms. The second one can be found in many nonce words (words made up at the time they are spoken) to give us words like “televisionitis” or “localitis” (obsession with one’s locality).
It’s the send one of these that we find in today’s strip, “eating like a horse” not being an actual medical condition, of course, but it’s a problem that’s likens to a disease, so he has a large disease-like problem of eating that pertains to horses. The “mangia” part is pseudo-Latin, actually more French or Italian-like and refers to eating.
It’s a perfectly good pseudo-scientific comical phrase.