Conference Told Whisky Can Protect Against Cancer

May 11, 2005

  • May 11, 2005 at 7:05 am
    Funkie says:
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    Who said that all we hear is bad news?

    Let’s hear it for anti-oxidants.

  • May 12, 2005 at 2:31 am
    Gaelic Speaker says:
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    Where the hell did you get “usquebaugh” from. That is NOT Gaelic!

  • May 12, 2005 at 4:59 am
    Chris Wheeler says:
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    There are four ‘decent’ whisk(e)y producing countries–Canada,Ireland, Scotland and the US. Each has its own process and ingredients. Ireland and the US use the ‘e’ in the spelling whilst Canada and Scotland do not. So you have a partially wrong Gaelic spelling of whisk(e)y and have made an assertion about the spelling of whiskey which is incorrect. Usquebaugh is the Pocket Oxford interpretation of Whiskey in Gaelic (presumably Scots). Certain the Irish spelling is Uisce Beatha. Uisce meaning life. Since both countries claim to be the original home of whisk(e)y, it is safest to acknowledge both spellings.

    Best regards
    Chris, a Canadian living in Dublin

  • May 12, 2005 at 11:38 am
    www.bartleby.com says:
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    “Whiskey is a shortened form of usquebaugh, which English borrowed from Irish Gaelic uisce beatha and Scottish Gaelic uisge beatha. This compound descends from Old Irish uisce, â€Åâ€Ŕwater,” and bethad, â€Åâ€Ŕof life,” and meaning literally â€Åâ€Ŕwater of life.” (It thus meant the same thing as the name of another drink, aquavit, which comes from Latin aqua vtae, â€Åâ€Ŕwater of life.”) Uisce comes from the Indo-European suffixed form *ud-skio—. Finally, the name of another alcoholic drink, vodka, comes into English from Russian, where it means literally â€Åâ€Ŕlittle water,” as it is a diminutive of voda, â€Åâ€Ŕwater”—a euphemism if ever there was one. Voda comes from the same Indo-European form as English water, but is differently suffixed: *wod-. Whiskey, water, and vodka—etymology can mix a potent cocktail”

    source:
    The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

  • May 13, 2005 at 11:19 am
    Charles E. Boyle says:
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    First off, let me express my appreciation to all those who posted comments on this article. The IJ would be at a loss without your continued interest.

    There are, however, several points that need to be cleared up:
    1) The report was limited to the findings reported by Dr. Swan at the EuroMedLab Conference. His study covered only Scottish single malt whiskies. It did not cover blended whiskies or other single malts and related beverages produced in other countries.

    Neither myself, nor, I presume, Dr. Swan, meant to imply that any of the other fine whiskies produced in Ireland, the U.S., Canada, Japan and even Brittany do not also contain ellagic acid. This question simply hasn’t been studied. For those of you with a taste for whisky and a thirst for knowledge, additional research on the subject would seem to be in order. I look forward to your reports. If anyone wants to send me a bottle of Jameson’s 12-year- old, I’ll begin the research immediately.

    2)Oncology – as affected by the ingestion of Scottish single malt whisky – was the subject of the article, not the etymology of the word whisky – or even whiskey. While the Welsh and the Bretons speak a form of the Gaelic language that each can still understand, the Scots and the Irish versions of the language separated thousands of years ago. Therefore the Scottish spelling – as supplied by the Website: http://www.scottishwhisky.com – was cited as the origin of the modern term, at least as far as the Scots are concerned. The Random House Dictionary gives both references – “uisge-beatha” and “usquebaugh.”

    Lastly, we should remember that many, if not most, traditional beverages have long been considered as having medicinal properties. Even Coca-Cola started life as a medical tonic, so the idea isn’t that far-fetched. No less an authority on alcohol that W.C. Fields observed that he “always kept a bottle of snake bite remedy handy — in case I am bitten by a serpent —– which I also keep handy.”

    The best to you all, Charlie Boyle
    International Editor, The Insurance Journal



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