# "Candida" As A Feminine Name....... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 19, 2001, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/candida-as-a-feminine-name/65949 "2001-05-19T23:51:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2001, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/candida-as-a-feminine-name/65949/1 "2001-05-19T23:51:50Z")
Doesn’t it have the same meaning in every language? (An infection inside the mouth - like thrush). So why would someone write a song about it? (Oldie: Tony Orlando & Dawn). Just something I have always wondered about. I know, I know… I need a life! 😃 Thanks Quasi ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/candida-as-a-feminine-name/65949/2 "2001-05-20T00:01:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Quasimodem \* > \*\*Doesn’t it have the same meaning in every language? (An infection inside the mouth - like thrush). So why would someone write a song about it? (Oldie: Tony Orlando & Dawn). Just something I have always wondered about. > > I know, I know… I need a life! 😃 > > Thanks > > Quasi \*\* The infection is named candida because of the appearance of white fungus in the mouth (it **is** thrush, AFAIK)…candida means pure or white in Latin. It’s the same root as candidate (because Romans running for public office wore white clothing to give an impression of purity) and candid. So the name Candida, or Candide (as per Voltaire) means “Pure” or “White”. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/candida-as-a-feminine-name/65949/3 "2001-05-20T00:50:27Z")
As Gilda Radner (in her Emily Latilla voice) would say… “Never mind.” 😃 Does anyone miss Gilda as much as I do? I know that Gene misses her. Just a bit of trivia: Their favorite tune was _Oh, Babe, What Would You Say?_ by Hurricane Smith. I read once that Gene danced Gilda around the floor to that tune just like the late Fred Astaire would have. May she rest in peace. Thanks for your answer, jayjay! I always enjoy reading your posts! Quasi ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/candida-as-a-feminine-name/65949/4 "2001-05-20T01:15:25Z")
Sam root as “candid”. I believe Candido (for men) and Candida (for women) are not uncommon names in Latin cultures. On the other hand why would anyone be called “Dick”? ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/candida-as-a-feminine-name/65949/5 "2001-05-20T01:34:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sailor \* > \*\* > On the other hand why would anyone be called “Dick”? \*\* Sailor, I _really_ think that the name “Dick” is on its way out because of it’s slang sexual connotation. (I \*hope]/i] it is anyway.) I myself have trouble using it if I am trying to get a guy’s attention whose name this just happens to be. It sounds something like this: “Hey… DICK!” (usually followed by a wry grin) I don’t know, man. I don’t know. What have we done to the English language? I remember when a pussy was just a cat. 😉 Quasi ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/candida-as-a-feminine-name/65949/6 "2001-05-20T01:36:19Z")
Sorry for the italics, y’all. Got in a hurry again! 😃 Q ---
**Author:** ![mischievous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mischievous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mischievous)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/candida-as-a-feminine-name/65949/7 "2001-05-20T05:23:18Z")
Yeah, that all makes sense, but Candida is also the yeast species that infect women’s, um, private places. I wouldn’t name a woman that. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/candida-as-a-feminine-name/65949/8 "2001-05-20T16:30:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Quasimodem \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by sailor \* > > \*\* > > On the other hand why would anyone be called “Dick”? \*\* > > Sailor, I _really_ think that the name “Dick” is on its way out because of it’s slang sexual connotation. (I _hope_ it is anyway.) I myself have trouble using it if I am trying to get a guy’s attention whose name this just happens to be. It sounds something like this: “Hey… > DICK!” (usually followed by a wry grin) > > Quasi \*\* Hey ! I happen to be called Dick. I’m Francophone, so no big deal when I learned the OTHER meaning of _Dick_ (my father name was Richard, I am called Dick to differentiate us easier since I was 3, I do **not** respond to Richard), so it just made me snicker. Then I started to hang out with Anglos. THEY pointed out what the true irony was. You see, my last name is… Topping 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Skelji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Skelji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skelji)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/candida-as-a-feminine-name/65949/9 "2001-05-20T16:46:05Z")
Hey **quasi** , I was just thinking about that the other day, when I was flipping stations on the radio and I heard _Candida_. Maybe Tony Orlando was inspired one day when he woke up to the crack of Dawn. [sub]groan[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/candida-as-a-feminine-name/65949/10 "2001-05-20T16:51:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dire Wolf \* > \*\*Hey quasi, I was just thinking about that the other day, when I was flipping stations on the radio and I heard _Candida_. Maybe Tony Orlando was inspired one day when he woke up to the crack of Dawn. [sub]groan[/sub] > > \*\* _sigh_ This thread managed to talk about fungus infections in two different places in the body and didn’t make me ill. Until that joke. :eek: jayjay ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/candida-as-a-feminine-name/65949/11 "2001-05-20T18:29:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sailor \* > \*\*On the other hand why would anyone be called “Dick”? \*\* You mean like my Uncle Dick? It’s no wonder when he goes by his full name it’s ‘Richard Payne’ ---
**Author:** ![nikjohns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/53a042/32.png) [@nikjohns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikjohns)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/candida-as-a-feminine-name/65949/12 "2001-05-20T18:40:15Z")
slightly better name than [Eczema](http://www.snopes2.com/spoons/fracture/names.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Danalan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@Danalan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danalan)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/candida-as-a-feminine-name/65949/13 "2001-05-20T23:23:31Z")
Gee, I wondered if I’d ever get to post this. Should have known better. Back in the day, when I was a Navy Corpsman, we’d occaisionally get a case of oral thrush come through the department. If it was a woman, we’d send them to the shore hospital for specialized anti-biotics. If it was a man, we’d give them a anti-yeast vaginal suppository to dissolve in their mouth. We’d repeat that every day for five days (didn’t have the one-time treatment back then). It always worked great, unless the guy found out what it was he had in his mouth. Then we’d have to send him to the shore hospital too. They said it tasted terrible, too.