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Doc C and Faldage have it lettered correctly, at least according to my present understanding.
When I was an extraordinarily naive first-year medical student buying my first stethoscope from Malin's Ethical Pharmacy on Fourteenth Street (south side) between First and Second Avenue, I saw on the shelf behind me a display of tubes of PreMarIn Vaginal Cream. Blushed quietly to myself and decided it must be a contraceptive cream and that the name had to come from "Pre-Marital Intercourse". Mused for a moment about how bold manufacturers were getting (this is the Sixties, remember, the earliest days of the Sexual Revolution)...
It wasn't until years later that I put together the generic name ("conjugated equine estrogens") and the source - pregnant mares' urine - and smiled, and blushed quietly to myself again at my innocence.
And it wasn't until more years had passed that it occurred to me that perhaps I had no real reason to accept the second explanation as having any greater validity than my original one...(except, of course, the Premarin isn't a contraceptive)
Just to be provocative: is that _really_ where the name comes from? Has it been "verified by competent authority," as Pooh-Bah said? As I realized, just because something makes sense doesn't necessarily mean it's correct! :-)
EDIT: For another look at that last statement, read "The Nine Mile Walk" by Harry Kemelman.
For a very abbreviated review, try
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8462/ninemile.htm
Entire Thread Subject Posted By Posted OUCH! Sparteye 03/05/02 06:17 PM Re: OUCH! TEd Remington 03/05/02 06:20 PM Re: OUCH! Bean 03/05/02 06:39 PM Re: OUCH! Hyla 03/05/02 06:39 PM Re: OUCH! Bean 03/05/02 06:44 PM Re: OUCH! AnnaStrophic 03/05/02 06:45 PM Re: OUCH! boronia 03/05/02 08:27 PM French "aie!" wofahulicodoc 03/05/02 11:21 PM En Espaņol consuelo 03/06/02 12:38 AM Re: French "aie!" belMarduk 03/11/02 02:34 AM M'aidez ? wofahulicodoc 03/11/02 10:05 PM Re: M'aidez ? belMarduk 03/11/02 10:08 PM Re: M'aidez ? wwh 03/11/02 10:17 PM Re: Premarin? Angel 03/12/02 01:02 AM Re: Premarin? doc_comfort 03/12/02 04:12 AM Re: Premarin? Jackie 03/12/02 12:53 PM Re: Premarin? Faldage 03/12/02 01:47 PM Re: Premarin? Sparteye 03/13/02 03:00 PM Re: Premarin? Faldage 03/13/02 03:27 PM Whence "Premarin"? wofahulicodoc 03/13/02 07:00 PM Re: OUCH! hev 03/06/02 01:21 AM Re: OUCH! stales 03/10/02 01:40 PM Re: OUCH! hev 03/11/02 12:53 AM Re: OUCH! jmh 03/06/02 07:21 AM Re: OUCH! NicholasW 03/06/02 11:54 AM Ouch, we're cooking! belligerentyouth 03/06/02 03:03 PM Re: OUCH! Sparteye 03/10/02 12:52 AM Autsch! belligerentyouth 03/11/02 10:25 PM Re: Autsch! belMarduk 03/11/02 10:39 PM Re: OUCH! stales 03/12/02 01:17 PM Re: OUCH! Wordwind 03/12/02 01:32 PM Re: OUCH! Capital Kiwi 03/12/02 06:01 PM Re: OUCH! belMarduk 03/13/02 02:25 AM Re: OUCH! milum 03/13/02 10:22 AM Re: OUCH!/swearing boronia 03/13/02 01:48 PM Re: OUCH! Sparteye 03/13/02 03:05 PM Re: OUCH! Bingley 04/01/02 07:57 AM
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