What's In a Name?

The Mexican or Swine Flu that has caused so much panic now has a name: H1N1. Although if I understand what I'm reading, This particular strain of flu is a sub-type of H1N1. The 1917-19 epidemic was a strain of H1N1, but not exactly the same. H1N1 was considered behind half of the ordinary seasonal flu in 2006.

But as soon as the WHO gave it a name, the news media had to pick up on it. Mexico was getting a bit bugged (pun, get it?) by the name Mexican Flu since it absolutely killed their tourist business. Pig farmers were unhappy with the term Swine Flu because some people were avoiding pork products.

But if H1N1 is only a class of flu and not the designation for this strain within that class, isn't using H1N1 actually imprecise? Mexican Flu identifies the place of its first known outbreak, just as the 1917-19 epidemic was called the Spanish Flu. (Although researchers believe that it originated elsewhere and had its initial big outbreak among WWI soldiers in France. Military control over the media in France kept the news out. The first that the world heard of the outbreak was from Spain. Hence the name.)

I have always been amused at the desire for faux-precision in terms. Recently I saw this sign. Didn't we used to call this a Blind Curve? Surely, the sign-makers were not motivated by some desire to not insult the blind. I think it is the quest for unnecessary precision at work again. No, the curve itself does not lack sight--it is trying to describe a curve that you can't see around so you should be careful. But everyone understood Blind Curve. To be honest, this sign makes me stop and think a second, "What in the world are they talking about?"

Precision in language is a good thing. I have to be aware of it all the time when doing exegesis and theology. But sometimes precision becomes ridiculous.