Wednesday 26 May 2010

Formication and Fornication


Formication should never be confused with fornication. One is the delusional belief that you have insects crawling all over (and under) your skin: the other is a Sin.

If the two sensations are combined you should consult either a doctor, a priest, or a lepidopterist.

BARNADINE: Thou hast committed...
BARABAS: Fornication? But that was in another country: and besides, the wench is dead.
   - Marlowe The Jew Of Malta


Fornication and formication

4 comments:

  1. I can hardly wait to use this. it is ants-in-the-kitchen season in the so. of France.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Technical point - what if you are having sexual intercourse with someone (to whom you are not married) on top of a wipe-clean laminate surface - surely that MUST be formica-tion?

    ReplyDelete
  3. I tried doing that. Imagine my disappointment to discover that formica is a proprietary name that doesn't appear to have anything to do with the Latin formica meaning ant. So I'm going straight to hell through an etymological error.

    ReplyDelete