Sometimes I sit by myself thinking. Sometimes I solve crossword puzzles. And sometimes I do both. The other day a disease (7 letters) turned out to be "
myalgia" (painful conditian in muscles), which made me think:
The suffix "algia" comes from Ancient Greek "algos" (pain, grief distress), and is used both as a symptom and a condition/disease. So we have "
arthralgia" (pain in joints), "
neuralgia" (pain due do neuropathology), "
polymyalgia rheumatica", a rheumatic disease affecting mutltiple muscles.
So.
What about
"nostalgia"? It derives from Ancient Greek: "nostos" (a return home) and was introduced in the 17th cenrury as a diagnosis for severe (unhealthy) homesickness. For some reason, according to
https://www.etymonline.com/word/nostalgia it was "
originally in reference to the Swiss and said to be peculiar to them and often fatal" Also: "
a military medical diagnosis principally, and was considered a serious medical problem by the North in the American Civil War " (2588 cases, 13 deaths).
Today (after 1920) the meaning has been transferred to the well known "
wistful yearning for the past".
Yet another example on how the use of words change over time, while still to some degree related to the original meaning.
pibbur who now understands why some watchers considers nostalgia harmful.