# This man needed cancer like a hole in the head

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-man-needed-cancer-like-a-hole-in-the-head/685779>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [April 10, 2014, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-man-needed-cancer-like-a-hole-in-the-head/685779 "2014-04-10T04:16:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-man-needed-cancer-like-a-hole-in-the-head/685779/21 "2014-04-15T00:32:32Z")

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> [@Inna\_Minnit](#):
>
> What is cotton wool? Those are two very different things. And most “cotton balls” really aren’t cotton they are synthetic.

> [@troubledwater](#):
>
> That’s what the British and Australians call cotton balls. I have a vague memory that the terminology has something to do with the fact that prior to the industrial revolution in Britain, their primary fibers were linen and wool, so wool is part of the frame of reference for cotton.

Actually we have cotton balls and, quite separately, cotton wool - which is [the same stuff but in bulk (looks like candy floss)](http://sanacupuncturesupplies.com.au/treatment-room/cotton-wool.html).

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**Author:** ![troubledwater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@troubledwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troubledwater)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-man-needed-cancer-like-a-hole-in-the-head/685779/22 "2014-04-15T01:33:58Z")

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Dang, I knew when I posted I’d have missed some nuance. I don’t even know what an American would call the bulk stuff (to distinguish it from cotton balls). I don’t think I’ve seen it sold that way at the drugstore in years.

Sorry for the weird hijack. But unlike the stupidity chronicled in the OP, this issue is resolvable.

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**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-man-needed-cancer-like-a-hole-in-the-head/685779/23 "2014-04-15T20:46:56Z")

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Back to the OP, did the poor guy actually have cancer?

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**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-man-needed-cancer-like-a-hole-in-the-head/685779/24 "2014-04-16T00:53:34Z")

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I haven’t seen any more info on it anywhere, but that article says

> [@](#):
>
> a lesion on his face, which he believed was cancerous.

which to me says, essentially, ‘no’.

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