THE FRENCH DISEASE
There are words proscribed by society as improper and unacceptable, taboo, and which, nevertheless, we have to name and refer to. Such is the case of the word syphilis, a venereal disease that, it seems, is making a comeback. In former times, it was referred to in polite society as The French Disease , morbo gallico . As the French had also stigmatized the word, they blamed Italians and called it le mal de Naples . Italians retaliated with il mal francese . Spaniards blamed the French also: el mal francés . It was a curse that ravaged Europe for centuries. In his book The World of Yesterday , Stephen Zweig explains its impact upon the youth of his time.