Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Let's Rename Swine Flu As "Colbert Flu"

Posted by kdawson on from the or-maybe-a-treadmill-on-the-virus-surface dept.

Bruce Perens writes "The World Health Organization will no longer refer to Virus A(H1N1) as 'Swine Flu,' citing ethnic reactions to 'swine,' for example among middle-eastern cultures who feel that swine are unclean. Or, is it because meat packers are concerned that people might stop eating pork in fear of the virus? WHO suggests that the public select a new name for the virus. I suggest that we all start calling it The Colbert Flu, after the comedian and fake pundit who asked his audience to stuff a NASA poll so that a Space Station module would be named after him. What can we do to make the name stick?"

3 of 607 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Reddit had it right by SatanicPuppy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    +1 vote for Bacon Lung. That's awesome.

    --
    ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
  2. Here's an idea by shma · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How about we stop giving stupid suggestions their own Slashdot articles?

    --
    I came here for a good argument
  3. Re:Let's not by eln · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I don't get why anyone would object to "swine flu".

    Let me see if I understand the logic here: You think pigs are unclean, and therefore you object to naming a deadly virus that thrives in unclean environments after them. Wha?

    I could understand objecting to it if it were called "Puppy and Kitty Cat Flu", or if we were trying to name a new translation of the Koran the "Swine Koran", but this is just ridiculous.