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The Origin and Meaning of the Word Pest

By: Tony Jacobs

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In modern parlance, the word pest, as in pest control has come to refer to a myriad of house invading creatures including mice, roaches, termites, bedbugs, fleas and other insects, wild birds, wild animals, spiders and snakes. But when we go back in time, we find the word had a different twist. It didn't refer to the animals we call pests today, but to the deadly filth and disease which they carry. Thus pest control means ridding the home of the noisome critters which carry deadly diseases.

Lets examine the facts. Checking on Etymon's online etymology dictionary, we find that the term pest appears first and foremost in various imprecations, such as "a pest (or a plague) upon you." Going back in time to 1539, we find that the word peste in Middle French, had the same meaning as its antecedent pestis in Latin, and meant deadly contagious disease.

Etymological derivations of other pest related words indicate that "pestis" also meant "plague." Pestilence, derived from the 13th century Old French word pestilence, and from the Latin pestilential means plague, noun of action from pestilentem (nom. pestilens). In this derivation, Entymon notes that pestilens derives from pestis, which can also mean plague.

How do these historical associations relate to modern use of the phrase "pest control?" Lest look at some examples. Mouse control is considered a branch of modern pest control Yet a mouse, in and of itself, does not cause any contagious disease or plague. While rats and fleas both bite, they are not, in and of themselves causes of contagious diseases.| Both rats and fleas are noxious animals, which in and of themselves are not contagious. }However, they do transmit the once deadly plague. Bats, another frightful household pest are not in and of themselves deadly. However, they carry rabies. Not only their bite, but in some cases their well aimed spit can transmit this incurable virally transmitted disease

Now, this historical survey can give us a better understanding of the term pest control, first seen in use about 200 years ago. Pest control means controlling pests, (deadly viruses and microbes which cause disease), by removing from the domestic environment the animals and other creatures which carry these disease causing organisms. But in modern parlance, the original associations is often lost, and people relate the term pest to the creatures and animals that spread filth and disease.

It must be noted that while the phrase pest control is approximately 200 years old, it has come to have new connotations. Classically, for example pest control and mice control are not synonymous. It might be proper to say that mice removal is a form of pest control because we are removing disease carrying rodents from our home. However, we could control mice by putting them in a cage, as is done in a laboratory, and this might not remove the pests they carry from our environment, which is our true intent. Termites do not carry disease, and yet "termite control" is considered to be a form of "pest control" in modern parlance. So this usage suggests that the words pests, like many other words, has taken on an enlarged meaning.

Likewise, vaccination, isolation and testing might classically be considered forms of pest control, but in general the profession of pest control has come to refer to the removal of small creatures between the size of mites to large animals, that carry filth and disease into the home.

Thanks to A# 1 Pest control for sponsoring this article. A # 1 is a %LINK1% company that provides %LINK2% to the Baltimore Metro area.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

A # 1 Pest Control is a Baltimore pest control company. We specialize in Rat Control Pigeon Control and extermination and removal of all types of domestic pests.

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