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Ritalin Or Ridalin?

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Cal Clinkscales

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Dec 2, 2001, 4:24:07 AM12/2/01
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Hello,

Please help me settle a debate.

In regard to the drug Ritalin, is "Ridalin" considered to be an acceptable and
alternate spelling?

I say no. The other person says yes.

Thanks.

Cal

Scott

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Dec 2, 2001, 9:24:03 AM12/2/01
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In article <20011202042407...@mb-mp.aol.com>,
calclin...@aol.com (Cal Clinkscales) wrote:

> In regard to the drug Ritalin, is "Ridalin" considered to be an acceptable and
> alternate spelling?
>
> I say no. The other person says yes.


Ritalin is a registered trademark of Novartis Pharmaceuticals
Corporation (formerly, Ciba-Geigy Corporation), and as such there are no
alternative spellings.

John W Hall

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Dec 2, 2001, 9:35:48 AM12/2/01
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On 02 Dec 2001 09:24:07 GMT, calclin...@aol.com (Cal Clinkscales)
wrote:

>...In regard to the drug Ritalin, is "Ridalin" considered to be an acceptable and
>alternate spelling?...

This is just another example of the deterioration of the English
language. People learn by listening, not much nowadays by reading.
(years ago the errors introduced by listening were later corrected by
reading)
So when they HEAR 'ridalin' they LEARN 'ridalin'.
Same with metal/medal winter/winner writer/rider etc.

In some cases most people can differentiate by context, but people who
don't read (well-written material) much don't have useful context
information. In the case of Proper Nouns there usually are no context
clues.

--
John W Hall, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Helping People Prosper in the Information Age.

John W Hall

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Dec 2, 2001, 9:40:46 AM12/2/01
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On 02 Dec 2001 09:24:07 GMT, calclin...@aol.com (Cal Clinkscales)
wrote:

>In regard to the drug Ritalin, is "Ridalin" considered to be an acceptable and
>alternate spelling?

Also, incorrect spelling is a great handicap when trying to search for
information on the Web, or in a dictionary, so the end result has more
significance than merely upsetting a few of us cantankerous old
geezers.

(Thinks - is 'old' superfluous here? What is the accepted definition
of 'geezer'? Time to visit a current dictionary.)

Martin Ambuhl

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Dec 2, 2001, 3:20:21 PM12/2/01
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"Ritalin" is a tradmark. There are no acceptable or alternate
spellings. If the goal is to avoid the trademark, use
"methylphenidate".

mei...@invalid.com

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Dec 3, 2001, 12:00:22 AM12/3/01
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In alt.english.usage on Sun, 02 Dec 2001 20:20:21 GMT Martin Ambuhl
<mam...@earthlink.net> posted:

Yes, other than the chemical name I don't think there are alternate
names for any/many drugs. Confusing drug names is a good way to get
oneself poisoned or killed.

Born west of Pittsburgh Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis, 7 years
Chicago, 6 years
Brooklyn NY 12 years
Baltimore 17 years

John W Hall

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Dec 7, 2001, 12:57:59 PM12/7/01
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On 02 Dec 2001 09:24:07 GMT, calclin...@aol.com (Cal Clinkscales)
wrote:

This is not intended to be rude, but is that really your name, or the
nom-de-guerre of a pet armadillo?

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