You may remember something we posted this past November, an open letter to “The Letter ‘P’ in Pneumonia.”  Well it seems Pneumonia (it?)self has replied to the criticism and we’ve decided to post the retort here for everyone to see…

Dear Alan,

I’m sorry you find my preliminary P so worrisome. But surely you know enough about your own language to realize that “pneumono-” has its roots in ancient Greek to describe all things lung- and floatation-related. Without it, we would be lost, unable to describe such medical conditions in such a succinct way, instead having to say “that condition where there’s fluid in your lungs and they have become inflamed, probably because of the presence of some bacteria or virus.” If that all-important P was left off and you chose to spell me “neumenia,” people might start to think that, instead of a deadly disease, I am some sort of delightful musical condition where multiple notes are sung as one syllable.

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