View Single Post
Old 30th November 2021, 13:29   #6
grivas
I really should get out more.......
 
grivas's Avatar
 
Rover 75 CDT Club Tourer

Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Milky Way
Posts: 2,367
Thanks: 105
Thanked 513 Times in 382 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by paulh260260 View Post
From inews.com....

"Why is the new strain called Omicron?

Omicron is the Greek letter “O”, and is the 15th letter in the Greek alphabet.

The reason such a late letter has been used is twofold. Firstly, there are other variants that, while not classified as variants of concern, still have been named. For instance, there are Lambda and Mu variants, we just do not really hear about them, as they are barely prevalent.

Secondly, the WHO decided to skip ahead and not name any variants “Nu” or “Xi”.

WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic said Nu is too similar to the world “new”, while Xi has not been used because it is a common last name.

He added that the WHO aims to avoid “causing offence to any cultural, social, national, regional, professional or ethnic groups” when naming viruses."

So now we know!!
Thanks for the information, good to know that 'prospective variants' have 'aleady' been allocated Greek letters however these have not been problematic enough to be made 'public' as it were.

Just by way of information I suppose. The Greeks have been telling the rest of the world, who use our language, that they have been mispronouncing it, including the letters of the alphabet ( a Greek word!) for centuries!. No Greek will say Nu as in new, or Xi as in pie, so had the world taken the trouble to learn the language from which almost all other languages, certainly European ones, are based, then organisations such as the WHO wouldn't have to play political correctness in case it offends, so the letter following delta is epsilon, the 5th letter of the Greek alphabet, no confusion there, not even a hint of offense.
grivas is offline   Reply With Quote