A Missed Opportunity

[ermingarden]

I wish there had been just one more identified covid variant before Omicron, because if there had been, we’d all be talking about the “Pi” variant that emerged over Thanksgiving....

Comments

[chestnut_pod]

Also there would not be the many annoying posts I can already foresee coming down the pipe where people argue whether the British English, American English, or Proper Greek pronunciation of O is correct.

[ermingarden]

My stepfather has apparently been calling it the "omnicon" variant.

[shirebound]

LOL!

[elwendell]

I want to know what happened to all those intervening variants and hope we never have to reach the end of this particular alphabet run.

[ermingarden]

My understanding is that the intervening variants are just those that have been identified but weren't any more transmissible or virulent than what was already out there, so the public had no reason to hear about them.

(I do know they skipped "nu", the Greek letter right before omicron, when naming variants, which is good from a practical perspective but does mean we missed out on a potentially hilarious "Who's On First?" situation with the "Nu Variant".

[elwendell]

Lol! And now I have that sketch playing in my head. So, who was on first base?

[atamascolily]

As someone who studied Ancient Greek in college, it's especially hilarious because while nobody really agrees on the "correct" pronunciation for a dead language, we were taught that "pi" was pronounced "pee", which, um... awkward.

My question is, given how much we've already run through the Greek alphabet, what are they going to do when they get to the end? Are we going to have the "Alpha Beta" and the "Alpha Gamma" variants... or, in the worst case scenario, an "Alpha Beta Omega"? Or are we going to take a leaf out of the NWS and NOAA and start naming variants like hurricanes?

[ermingarden]

As someone who also studied Ancient Greek in college, I think of it like a different pronunciation system; "pī" in a classical context is inappropriate, but so is the classical "pee" in a scientific context. (Studying Latin and then going to law school forces you to develop a lot of tolerance for alternate pronunciations, let me tell you...classical vs, medieval pronunciation differences is one thing, but what lawyers do to Latin is on a whole new level.)

"Breaking News: The WHO has labeled Fred a 'variant of concern'..."

[atamascolily]

You are 100% correct that it's all about appropriate context, but my brain is stuck in middle school and I haven't been able to stop snickering at fraternity names ever since.

Also, heck yeah Ancient Greek! *high-five across the Internet* I have retained just enough to get myself in trouble and not enough to actually accomplish anything, but it's amazing how certain minutiae sticks with you.