serophobia
Jan. 22nd, 2026 07:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prettygoodwordserophobia (ser-uh-FOH-bee-uh) - n., fear of, dislike of, or prejudice against people testing positive for a given pathogen, especially HIV.
So commonly HIV that many dictionaries give only that in their definition. Coined from sero-, combining form of serum (from Latin serum, whey) + phobia, fear of (from Ancient Greek phóbos, fear). And some day I need to dive into that whey > serum connection in more detail.
---L.
So commonly HIV that many dictionaries give only that in their definition. Coined from sero-, combining form of serum (from Latin serum, whey) + phobia, fear of (from Ancient Greek phóbos, fear). And some day I need to dive into that whey > serum connection in more detail.
---L.
no subject
Date: 2026-01-22 02:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-01-22 04:45 pm (UTC)Having had witnessed the 80s, I recall people even choosing not to shake hands, with the scourge of AIDS — the terminal form of HiV having an impact and being visible.
Princess Diana shaking hands in ‘87 helped break that stigma.
no subject
Date: 2026-01-22 05:02 pm (UTC)It's way more commonly used specifically regarding HIV positive, but I've seen it used for e.g. herpes. Though come to think of it, iirc that was in a technical / scholarly context.