# My word of the day: variolation

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-word-of-the-day-variolation/823159>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [October 18, 2018, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-word-of-the-day-variolation/823159 "2018-10-18T18:45:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Steve\_McQwark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@Steve\_McQwark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_McQwark)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2018, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-word-of-the-day-variolation/823159/1 "2018-10-18T18:45:40Z")

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I saw a quote on Facebook from Benjamin Franklin about the importance of vaccination. It seemed too good to be real, so I researched it and found out the quote was legit. And, while researching, I learned a new word: variolation. It’s the process of inoculating an uninfected person with scabs or pus from a person infected with smallpox as a protection against the severe form. Apparently this had started in the mid-1500s in China and then spread to other areas. Sometimes they would blow a powder made of dried scabs into a person’s nose. Other times they would cut into a person’s skin and then place a scab into the cut and bind it there for a week.

I’m all for vaccinations, but thank goodness for hypodermic needles.

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**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2018, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-word-of-the-day-variolation/823159/2 "2018-10-18T19:07:40Z")

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The first time I ever heard of it was in an episode of _Last Man Standing_.