I was interviewed for the fab podcast Decoder Ring, talking about pharmaceutical naming. My bit starts about 30 minutes in, but the rest of this ep is too good to skip. Linguistics! Aliens! Drugs!
I talked about names like Lunesta, Viagra, Ozempic, and Skyrizi, along with the process for developing pharmaceutical names and how difficult it is – and is becoming even more so every year.
Here’s the official podcast description:
In this episode we’re opening our mailbag to answer three fascinating questions from our listeners. How did “ass,” a word for donkeys and butts, become what linguists call an “intensifier” for just about everything? How do pharmaceuticals get their wacky names? And why do we all seem to think that aliens from outer space would travel to Earth just to kidnap our cows?
In this episode, you’ll hear from linguistics professor Nicole Holliday, historians Greg Eghigian and Mike Goleman, and professional “namer” Laurel Sutton.
You can listen here:
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