>>>In article <hkknsvgjn378d42e90rv9gs7h3m2nb3...@4ax.com>,
>>>Bill Snyder  <bsny...@airmail.net> wrote:
>>>>On 1 Dec 2003 15:14:58 -0800, peterweze...@hotmail.com (peter wezeman)
>>>>wrote:

>>>>>I was wondering what would be the proper scientific term for the
>>>>>common "brain eater" with which we are so familiar. According to my
>>>>>medical terminology book either "cerebrophage" or "encephalophage"
>>>>>would be correct. The results of my survey so far indicate that
>>>>>people consider "encephalophage" to be the "scarier" of the two
>>>>>(if that is a consideration). Do you at rasfw prefer one or the
>>>>>other, or perhaps something else completely? I would like to hear
>>>>>what it would be called using French, Germanic (yes, I read Anderson's
>>>>>_Uncleftish Beholding_, it's great), Slavic, or other roots.

>Both "brain" and "eat" are fine examples of words that derive from
>Old English, with cognates and such in the Low German, Frisian and
>Teutonic; the OED has quotes going back to c1000.

>>>>Arguably we ought to be calling it ______'s Syndrome in honor of
>>>>whoever originated the term -- if there's any hope of finding out who
>>>>that was.  

>>>    That would be me, I think.

>>Ah.  Probably I should deduced that.  But I fear Dorothy has the right
>>of it, James; we'd never convince people that something called
>>"Nicoll's Syndrome" related to mental deterioration rather than
>>gangrenous razor cuts, exploding chickens, and radioactive paving
>>stones.

>Yet consider the precedent of Wolfgang Pauli:  There is the physical
>principle that Pauli *described* (Pauli exclusion principle), and
>there is the effect caused by Pauli's physical *presence* (Pauli effect)

>   http://www.geocities.com/ilian73/pauli.html

>Obviously, Nicoll's Syndrome (describing encephalophage victims)
>can and must be distinguished from Nicoll Events (typically
>nonfatal pain and damage synchronistic incidents).