Influenza

There is a deadly strain of swine flu upon us.

Influenza (n) - From the Italian meaning "to flow in" and refers to illness flowing in from the stars. In other words, you are coughing and sneezing and have a crippling temperature because your astrological chart is all screwed up. From the same root as the word influence (obviously).

La Gripa (n) - The Spanish name for the flu. The 19th century common name for the flu in English was the Grippe. The root here is the word grasp and refers to the choking feeling the flu gives us. Interestingly, Influenza is the older word. The Grippe took over as the common word briefly, less than two centuries, before the word faded in English in the 20th century.

México cerró escuelas, museos, bibliotecas, y teatros estatales a todo lo largo y ancho de su populosa capital con el fin de controlar una epidemia de influenza porcina que según las autoridades ha cobrado la vida de por lo menos 20 personas --y quizás más de 60-- a la vez que ha infectado a casi otras mil personas. ~ Source

Translation: Mexico has closed schools, museums, libraries, and theaters throughout the capital to control the swine flu epidemic that, according to authorities, has killed at least 20 people - perhaps more than 60 - while infecting almost a thousand others.

The death toll is now 68 people in Mexico City in one week.

From Word of the Day.