What is the connection between malignant neoplasms and crabs?

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The more common term for malignant neoplasms, cancer, is Latin for crab, and the word "carcinogen," meaning a cancer-causing agent, comes from the Greek word for crab, "karkinos." What is the connection between these two seemingly unrelated things?
Cancer, both the disease and the astronomical constellation, derive from the Latin cancer or cancrum, meaning crab. The astrological sign, of course, is said to resemble a crab and the disease was so named by the ancient Greek physician Galen (129-200 A.D.) who noted the similarity between a certain type of tumor with a crab as well—the swollen veins around the tumor resembling the legs of a crab.

Old English adopted cancer directly from Latin and used it for a variety of spreading sores and ulcers. This early sense survives in the modern word canker. From c.1000 in a manuscript called Læce Boc (Leech Book), collected in Oswald Cockayne’s Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft of Early England, Vol. II, 1865:

Gemeng wið þam dustum, clæm on ðone cancer.
(Mix with the dust, smear on the cancer.)

And from Wyclif’s 2 Timothy, 1382:

The word of hem crepith as a kankir

The word was being applied specifically to the disease we today call cancer by the beginning of the 17th century. From Philemon Holland’s translation of Pliny’s Historie of the World:

Cancer is a swelling or sore comming of melancholy bloud, about which the veins appeare of a blacke or swert colour, spread in manner of a Creifish clees.

The astronomical sense of cancer is from the Latin name for the constellation of the crab. The name was known to the Anglo-Saxons, but only as a Latin name and was not assimilated into English until the Middle English period. It appears in Ælfric’s De Temporibus Anni, written c.993, in a list of the constellations of the Zodiac:

Feorða • Cancer • þæt is Crabba
(Fourth, Cancer, that is the crab.)

The Anglicized name appears c.1391 in Chaucer’s Treatise on the Astrolabe:

In this heved of cancer is the grettist declinacioun northward of the sonne...this signe of cancre is clepid the tropik of Somer.
(At this first point (head) of cancer is the greatest declination northward of the sun…this sign of cancer is named the tropic of summer.)

(Source: Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Edition)  (+ info)

How do I stop mouth breathing and start nose breathing?

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I always breath through my mouth because when I was little I had huge tonsils that blocked my nasal passage making me have to breath through my mouth. So I still breath through my mouth and I want to start breathing through my nose but whenever I do this I get uncomfortable and have to end up going back to mouth.
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What is more attractive: a wide or narrow mouth on a girl?

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I always thought the majority considered a narrow but full mouth (ie rosebud) on a female, but it appears as though more of the universally 'attractive' females have wider mouths.

By narrow mouth I don't mean thin lips, i mean the actual width of the mouth.

What do you all think is considered a more attractive mouth shape?
Hmm, my mouth is medium width, I wouldn't mind it being a little wider

Not a big fan of the rosebud thing  (+ info)

How do I keep my mouth healthy while using smokless tabbaco?

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I dip often, mostly skoal. is there any tooth paste, mouth wash, or any other products to keep my mouth healty? Are thier any techniques for dipping to keep healthier? which brand is better for your mouth?
no. thats how you get mouth cancer 10x faster than smoking a regular cigarette.  (+ info)

My mouth is itchy from fresh pineapple, can i freeze it or cook it somehow to remove the itchyness from it?

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I just ate my first fresh pineapple it was sooo tasty! but.. now my mouth is all itchy and its sooo annoying I belive i have allergy to it, but i can eat canned pineapple. I was wondering how do i prepere a pineapple properly for eating? Can I freeze it to remove the itchiness? or do i need to cook it somehow?
Did you cut the hard piece in the middle, that seems to be what upsets most people,If you can eat canned it should'nt be a problem. Try cutting that hard piece off and see what happens.You can cook pineapple but it's tastier fresh.  (+ info)

What can I put in my mouth to replace food yet keep my mouth busy?

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I want to lose weight but have that hand to mouth thing problem. I don't smoke thank goodness, but I do like to eat. What can I do to keep my mouth busy? Gum makes my stomach hurt.
chew tobacco  (+ info)

How long is your mouth numb after a dentistry injection ?

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Tomorrow i am going to the dentist and i will be given a numbing injection for my mouth. I was just wondering, how long is your mouth numb after you have the injection? Just because i don't know whether i should go to school or not afterwards. Also, if they do a filling and the numbing injection has stopped working, can you still feel the pain from the post drilling?
The anestetic effect should work for 2-4 hours. You should be fine to go back to school but you may find yourself dribbling!!  (+ info)

What is the best mouth wash for your overall dental and oral health?

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Which mouth wash is best for your dental health? I ask specifically which is best for your overall health, because I know there are products which target bad breath. Some of them do that very well, but are they the best for your overall dental health?

So, which mouth wash is best overall?
I like listerine. My husband prefers crest. Our dentist recommends crest as well.  (+ info)

How do I develop more saliva in my mouth?

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A few you ago, I started developing dry mouth or something. I not making enough saliva in my mouth to break down all of my food. What's wrong? How do make enough saliva in my mouth the break down my food. Do I need to take some enzyme or something?
Chew some gum. Saliva will start occurring.  (+ info)

How do I get rid of the excess white stringy mucus my mouth is making?

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For the past few weeks my mouth seems to be making an excess mucus. It is stringy and white. I have no idea what is causing it or how to get rid of it. Nothing has changed to indicate a cause. I have been rinsing my mouth with mouth wash and although this cleans my mouth out, it doesn't stop my mouth from producing it.
might be your lungs
have you been exposed to asbestos?  (+ info)

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