[4/25 disclaimer. In the constant upheavals of my life and the world around me, I’m now just picking random stuff to post about, from the 60 or 70 items in my ever-expanding queue — whatever catches my fancy at the moment. Don’t try to make sense of it as a whole.]
Regularly playing on MSNBC, the tv commercial “No Time to Wait”, featuring an earnest and friendly Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (now 78 years old) telling us
I have AFib (/éfɪb/ atrial fibrillation, the irregular heart rhythm)
which I heard as
I have aphids /éfɪdz/
(You can watch the commercial here.)
A screen shot from the commercial; Kareem is holding a basketball just in case you’ve forgotten who he is
It’s immensely pleasing to me that he’s still alive and is doing good things.
The commercial is produced by the Bristol Myers Squibb-Pfizer Alliance, to raise awareness of conditions requiring prompt medical attention.
As for aphids, from NOAD:
noun aphid: a minute bug that feeds by sucking sap from plants. It reproduces rapidly, often producing live young without mating, and may live in large colonies that cause extensive damage to crops.
It’s no doubt relevant that I’m a plant person, and that some roses around the corner from my house, roses that I see regularly on my walks around the block, are terribly afflicted by aphids. (There are several insects that are ferocious predators on aphids, and I keep wanting to get some to help the neighborhood flora.)
The image of Kareem bedeviled by aphids is affecting, but nevertheless funny.