A comprehensive collective nouns list for multiple sclerosis
What collective nouns would you use to describe MS?
For someone like me, who is retired and has three preteen children, the days surrounding Christmas and New Year’s feel like a liminal space. With no school or job to be at and no real schedule to keep, the days seem to run together without anything to orient them.
They’re also very short in the Northern Hemisphere right now, but the sun’s position might still give me some approximation of time — if I’d bothered to go outside in the last couple days.
I’m currently wearing the same pajamas I had on yesterday, and I just ate some breakfast casserole, so I think it’s morning, but during the holiday season, neither of those is a good indicator of time. I was just in the kitchen and could’ve looked at the clock on the stove, but I didn’t. Instead, I’m going to park my wheelchair in a cozy, out-of-the-way spot and look up obscure things on the internet.
Today’s obscure thing was inspired by looking out the window at my bird feeder and seeing a group of finches. I found myself wondering what the collective noun for finches is, so I had to look it up. In case you’re curious (and even if you aren’t), a group of finches is called a charm or a trembling, among others. Naturally, I couldn’t stop, so I continued reading about all sorts of names for different animal groups: a murder of crows, a skulk of foxes, a crash of rhinoceroses (which I’m unlikely to see at my bird feeder) … that sort of thing.
Then, because it’s how I’m wired these days, I immediately thought of multiple sclerosis (MS). After brainstorming with friends who also have this annoying disease, we came up with a few collective nouns for some of the symptoms of MS. Here’s what we’ve come up with so far:
A shock of Lhermitte’s sign
A crush of fatigue
A blurring of vision
A haze of cog fog
A scrape of wheelchairs
A clench of hands
A pinch of gait belts
A glare of strangers
A tug of therapists
A puddling of Uhthoff’s syndrome
A frown of neurologists
A concern of caregivers
A torque of falls
An irrelevance of wants
A confine or din of MRIs
A trickle of incontinence
A suffering of spasms
A slump of rollators
A stump of canes
A clutch or bind of MS hugs
A trip or drag of foot drop
A blaze of paresthesia
A hive of crawling sensations
An awkwardness or reluctance of questions
A backlog of constipation (sorry)
A mystery of bruises
A deluge of despair
A drowning of disappointment
A stagger of movement
A waggle of tremors
A surplus of spasticity
An unkindness of multiple sclerosis
This list is by no means complete, so I’m hoping you’ll add to it either in the comments below or at the Multiple Sclerosis News Today Forums. I know there will be a lot of “I should have thought of that one!” moments, but I can’t wait to see what you come up with.
Happy holidays, everyone!
Note: Multiple Sclerosis News Today is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Multiple Sclerosis News Today or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to multiple sclerosis.
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