Thursday, February 08, 2007

What is a Pulmonia?

I got an inquiry from a blog reader wondering how Pulmonia translated into English, so I asked Javier, the guy who owns the Internet cafe that I'm using. Believe it or not, pulmonia actually translates as a sickness of the lungs. Evidentally, when a person is in the open a lot, as at sea, they are susceptible to contracting some sort of pulmonia. As Javier explained, the little golf-cart-like vehicles are called that because they are open and it's riders are subject to the wind. I was completely surprised! There may be another translation, or perhpas the meaning of the word has now evolved to include these little carts, but it sounds as if Javier put me onto the words origins.

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