The origins of names for sexually transmitted infections (STIs)

The roots of a word often give a fascinating insight into the way people interpret the world around them. The names of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) are no different, how many of their origins did you know?

• STIs were once known as ‘venereal diseases’ (VD’s); derived from Venus, Roman goddess of love.
• Syphilis was named after the mythological Greek shepherd of the same name, who insulted the god Apollo and was cursed with a horrible disease as punishment.
• Gonorrhoea was named by great Greek physician Galen in A.D. 131, who named it ‘flow of seed’ after mistakenly deducing penile discharge as ‘seed’ flowing out.
• Gonorrhoea is also known colloquially as ‘the clap’, from the Middle English clapper for rabbit burrow – slang for brothel.
• Chlamydia comes from the Greek for ‘cloak’, as it was believed by early researchers to ‘cloak’ the nucleus of an infant cell.