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Bayer And the English Language
May. 11th, 2010 10:07 pm
Everyone knows that "Aspirin" while used as a generic term of acetylsalicylic acid (A.S.A.) is actually Bayer's brand-name for the drug. But did you know that Bayer introduced another product in 1898, intended as a non-addictive substitute for morphine? The chemical was diacetylmorphine or diamorphine. The hope that this synthetic morphine derivative was not going to be addictive was obviously a failure and the drug was banned, but the brand name has persisted in the English language as the common name for the drug. The brand name was "Heroin."So what do you know? Bayer added not one, but two words to the English language.
