Why is Chickenpox called Chickenpox?
There are many explanations offered for the origin of the name chickenpox: * the specks that appear looked as though the skin was picked by chickens, * the disease was named after chick peas, from a supposed similarity in size of the seed to the lesions * Samuel Johnson suggested that the disease was “no very great danger,” thus a “chicken” version of the pox * the term reflects a corruption of the Old English word, “giccin”, which meant “itching” As “pox” also means curse, in medieval times some believed it was a plague brought on to curse children by the use of black magic.
