My highlight of the week was the announcement of a scientific breakthrough. What delighted me the most was not the ground-breaking advancement in medical science but the use of two extraordinary phrases in the same headline.
We've all had a bout of diarrhea at one time or another, but "unshakeable diarrhea" sounds absolutely awful. Can you imagine having constant diarrhea for weeks or months on end? Apparently, there are people afflicted with such a malady, and it's no laughing matter for them. In fact, excessive diarrhea can be life-threatening by causing severe dehydration and renal failure.
Aside - I recall an incident that was a low point in my amateur comedy career. I was a teaching assistant for introductory algebra in college and had a student named Rhea. I joked one time that if we had another student in class with the same name, we would have di-Rhea. She was none too pleased, and when I heard myself saying the joke, I should have known it was a stinker.
So what is the breakthrough to help cure these unfortunate souls? Here's the next gloriously delightful phrase: "fecal slurry." Yep, the FDA has officially approved a poop transplant.
The gut microbiome is very important, and if yours gets out of wack, you will have some health problems. While it sounds disgusting, transplanting poop from an individual with a healthy microbiome to someone with severe microbiome issues can actually help.
So, bravo to medical science and the writer who came up with a fantastic headline with "fecal slurry" and "unshakeable diarrhea" in the same sentence. This one will enter my Headline Hall of Fame along with one that appeared shortly after Daniel Radcliffe, the actor who portrayed Harry Potter, turned 18. A British tabloid reporter asked about Daniel's sexual preferences leading to the immortal headline Harry Potter Likes a Harry Twatter.
We've all had a bout of diarrhea at one time or another, but "unshakeable diarrhea" sounds absolutely awful. Can you imagine having constant diarrhea for weeks or months on end? Apparently, there are people afflicted with such a malady, and it's no laughing matter for them. In fact, excessive diarrhea can be life-threatening by causing severe dehydration and renal failure.
Aside - I recall an incident that was a low point in my amateur comedy career. I was a teaching assistant for introductory algebra in college and had a student named Rhea. I joked one time that if we had another student in class with the same name, we would have di-Rhea. She was none too pleased, and when I heard myself saying the joke, I should have known it was a stinker.
So what is the breakthrough to help cure these unfortunate souls? Here's the next gloriously delightful phrase: "fecal slurry." Yep, the FDA has officially approved a poop transplant.
The gut microbiome is very important, and if yours gets out of wack, you will have some health problems. While it sounds disgusting, transplanting poop from an individual with a healthy microbiome to someone with severe microbiome issues can actually help.
So, bravo to medical science and the writer who came up with a fantastic headline with "fecal slurry" and "unshakeable diarrhea" in the same sentence. This one will enter my Headline Hall of Fame along with one that appeared shortly after Daniel Radcliffe, the actor who portrayed Harry Potter, turned 18. A British tabloid reporter asked about Daniel's sexual preferences leading to the immortal headline Harry Potter Likes a Harry Twatter.
I wonder sometimes why the subject of poop is so hilarious.