India, May 15 -- Some English words seem to make no sense, until one realises that, in a sinister way, they do; their dark roots largely hidden, but visible with just the slightest digging.

Extreme prejudice, for instance, gave us "hysteria", "gypped" and even "tipping point".

The misogyny inherent in "hysteria" can be traced all the way back to ancient Greece.

Hippocratic theory stated that a type of hystera (Greek for uterus) called the "wandering womb" moved around the body looking for sperm, disrupting other organs in the process. This condition was thought to be particularly prevalent among unmarried women, and was thought to cause strange behaviour. So, symptoms ranging from "excessive" emotion and irritability to anxiety, breath...