BBC: Black Death 'is lying in wait'
The Black Death, which killed 23m people in the middle ages, could be lying dormant and could strike again, say researchers.
You have to hand it to those medieval chaps, The Black Death is a totally awesome name for a disease. I think it's the definite article that does it: The Black Death. It wasn't any old Black Death, you see; it was The Black Death.
Actually, no, I'm wrong—it's the adjective that does it: The Black Death. Bloody sinister, or what?
No, I'm wrong again—it's the noun that does it: The Black Death. No messing.
Well, let's face it, whichever way you looked at it, you knew exactly what you were getting with The Black Death. It was exactly the sort of the pandemic that would lie in wait.
All of which makes you realise just how totally crap we are at coming up with names for new medical conditions these days: Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, indeed, New-variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, Gulf War Syndrome, AIDS, Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy—all of their names, let's be honest, total pants.
Mind you, Mad Cow Disease does have a certain ring to it.
