Wednesday's Random Slang-o-rama: Aprosexia

This week's word is not really slang, but a medical term from the late 19th century that applies perfectly to today's world...

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According to The Little Book of Lost Words by Joe Gillard, aprosexia is defined as "a complete inability to focus or concentrate due to a distracted, wandering mind." I found a lovely reference to it, in the 1889 Annual of the Universal Medical Science and Analytical Index, Volume 4, to wit:

(You can read Dr. Guye's medical paper here, in the Sept. 28, 1889, issue of The British Medical Journal.) 

Whereas physicians from the past blamed this distracted state on "nasal disorders," nowadays it's ascribed to our fixation with social media, smart phones, Netflix... well, you get the idea.

Does this expression look familiar?
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

I'd investigate this fascinating word further, but I'm definitely suffering from aprosexia today, so I think I'll take a break and go find some chocolate to eat instead.

By Emily boston - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47278239