Consider this: They don't call it the common flu. They don't call it the common measles. Or the common chicken pox. Or the common athlete's foot.
Your dentist has never told you that you have the common cavity or abscessed molar. Your optometrist has never said, "Yep, you've got your common cataract.
In fact, the only condition that anyone ever considers common is, of course, a cold.
But, even then the words common and cold aren't always in lock-step. For instance,
I have never called in to work and told my supervisor that I can't come in today because I have a common cold. I have never told anyone that a relative or friend couldn't make it to the funeral, wedding, birthday party or whatever because they're in bed with the common cold.
No, the only time common and cold are in the same sentence is when someone tells you, "There- is-no-cure-for -the-common-cold". (Usually they say this in smug, self-satisfied too-bad-you're screwed tones, and act as if they are the first person ever to relate this cosmic, profound, irrefutable pearl of wisdom.)
But, does this mean that there are other colds out there that are curable? The "special" colds? The "exclusive, limited membership" colds? The "one time only, deluxe, super colossal steal-of-the-century colds?
No. It just means that there is no cure for a cold. And that is why it's so common. Duh.
(Editors note: We apologize for this semi-coherent rant. It seems we have come down with, for lack of a better word, a common cold)
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