I don’t have many regrets in my 66-plus years of living. I do have a few, but nothing that has made my life seem incomplete or regretful. When I do contemplate all things regretful, I sometimes find myself considering career choices more than anything else. I’m not so regretful that I ended up in education, but I do think about those by-passed careers that I never assessed in my youth.
Lately I’ve been acutely aware of names that are given to various things… think place names, product names, paint color names, and in particular medicine/pharmaceutical names. Although one would think these names seem rather willy-nilly in their evolution, there truly is a process in how they come to be—depending on the particular subject-matter (see below).
In hindsight, I think there was real potential in my ability to provide names in some of the above areas—thus, my regret.
Walk into any store that sells paint. Check out all those options when it comes to basic white paint—there’s pearl, alabaster, lace, linen, porcelain, rice, snowball, and coconut to just name a few—not so basic, is it? Even if there is a difference when you line up the samples next to each other, no one is ever going to walk into your freshly painted home and say something like, “Oh, I love how you decided to go with the chiffon-white over the salt-white.
After that, have a drive around any decent sized town and notice all the various sub-division or street names that often have little to do with the developments’ locations, geography, or history. I have to wonder how many planned neighborhoods have generic, non-descriptive names like Pleasant Hills, Whispering Pines, Shady Oaks, or Prairie Highlands.
On any given day I will watch the sports highlight broadcast of CBS Sports HQ. This is a free, live-streaming program and perhaps not the best out there, but it typically scratches my sports itch. In between the actual sports coverage is the usual slathering of commercials, and as of late a high percentage of pharmaceutical commercials promoting drugs with names like Atomoxetine, Bimzelx, Cefixime, Horizant, Brukinsa, Pluvicto, Margetuximab, Skyrizi, and Wynzora.
Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like a lot of these manufacturers like to include “x’s” and “z’s” in their product names. Go ahead, try pronouncing them, or better yet, include them in your child’s next spelling bee.
This naming business for the most part is harmless and some readers here might say this is hardly worthy of discussion. Yet, beyond the benign naming of these drugs is a more solemn undercurrent as the pharmaceutical industry is becoming more and more prolific. Today’s pharmaceutical commercials are rather ubiquitous and for the most part, tolerated and/or accepted. Is it possible that the commercials pushing the numerous drugs with their invented names, branded logos, and color schemes have become substitutes for the cigarette commercials of another time?
On one hand, it’s a proven fact that humans live longer thanks to the ongoing research in the pharmaceutical industry. Yet, despite the light-heartedness of these commercials, there is this underlying possibility of adversity lurking just below the surface. The commercials promoting these products come across as they always have—take this pill and your troubles are gone. And in a distilled characterization of Americans, that’s what they are all about—correct this problem in my life while I carry on with as little adjustments as possible.
Even in these positive promotions, included are the obligatory disclaimers that confirm the risks of using these products—all of it spoken while the visual provided by the actors give us a sense of immunity from anything that could be harmful in the product. Nevertheless, we know these drugs can generate their own health issues. Consider this lengthy disclaimer for Bimzelx, a drug used to combat moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. When reading such disclaimers, one has to ask if we are simply trading in one ailment for another.
In conclusion, perhaps Michael Stanley said it best in his song “Chemistry” from the 1981 album North Coast
I’m just a product of World War Two
So I never really knew any better
Out in the suburbs where things were new
All the dreams of our folks ran together
But on the way to their destination
They second mortgaged their expectations
All of this in God’s favorite nation
If you’re feeling down just take two
(Chorus)
‘Cause we got…
Chemistry… don’t think about it
Chemistry… can’t live without it
Chemistry… better living through
Chemistry… for you and me
We started early on make-believe
It’s a part of the American dream
And I know people who just won’t believe
If it’s not on a TV screen
We’re gonna see that you feel all right
A little something get you through the night
And we don’t care if your Black or White
Don’t you worry ’cause the first one’s free
Let’s take advantage of the situation
Let the man at the counter prescribe salvation
Are there holes in your life that you’re trying to fill
’Cause if you got a problem, boy we got a pill
—Michael Stanley
Paint Names Explained
Street Names Explained
Drug Names Explained