Multilingual Observation｜Few “Cure” a Cold: How Languages Talk about Healing

[Body Language - Cold Trilogy Part 2]

Last time, I observed the vocal habits of various languages after losing my voice to a cold.

This time, I will share another observation record related to colds.

When you catch a cold, thinking "I should take some cold medicine" is perfectly natural in Japan.
However, in other countries, the idea of "curing it with medicine" might not exist, or the term "cold medicine" itself might not be common.
The concept of "taking medicine when you have a cold" and how words are formed seem to differ by culture. it seems.

Japanese/Chinese

With the combination of "cold + medicine," the meaning is clear at a glance. It is easy for anyone to guess.
In Chinese, "感冒藥" (cold medicine) also clearly shows the word structure. Both in Japanese and Chinese, there is a word for medicine to cure a cold = cold medicine.

English (and similarly French, Spanish, Italian, etc.)

While people sometimes say "cold medicine" or "flu medicine," the idea of "curing a 'cold' with 'medicine'" is not very strong to begin with. It is more like "medicine to 'relieve' 'each symptom'." For example, cough syrup/cough drops for a cough, decongestant (including nasal sprays) for a runny nose, and Tylenol (acetaminophen) for a fever.
*By the way, the stance is "rest well to cure a cold." "There’s no cure for a cold" is a common saying.

Indonesian (and similarly Thai)

Terms like "obat flu" do exist in Indonesian. However, the basic style is to use different medicines for each symptom, such as "obat batuk" (cough medicine) or "obat demam / panas" (fever reducer).
*Both Indonesia and Thailand share the same stance as Western countries: "rest well to cure a cold."

Looking at it this way, the way the concept of a "cold" is grouped together differs by language, or in other words, by culture. There seems to be a significant difference between cultures in how much they perceive a "cold" as a "unified thing."
And that is also reflected in how words are formed—that is, the structure of words/phrases.
Let's observe the structure of words and phrases from here on.

Japanese/Chinese

With cold + medicine, the word structure is visible = easy to guess

English

"cold medicine" is easy to understand, but "flu" is harder to grasp the meaning of, and you won't know it unless you memorize it

French (and similarly Spanish, Italian)

Long phrases like "médicament contre la grippe"

Indonesian (and similarly Thai)

"obat (medicine) + flu (both influenza and cold)" makes the word structure visible

There are also differences in word structure and phrases. Furthermore, since the term "cold medicine" is not common in the first place, in those cases, people deal with each symptom accordingly.

I was able to realize, while having a cold, that differences in how words are formed overlap with the culture of "how to heal." A blessing in disguise, perhaps lol?

[Cold Trilogy Part 3]
I also shared my observation notes on “pain” the following day, so please take a look at that as well if you have time.

* Multilingual Observation Table of Contents ↓