Placebo's name
what does the word placebo mean and where does it come from?
Main Entry: pla-ce-bo
Pronunciation: plah-'see-(,)bo
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -bos
Etymology: Latin, 'I shall please'
Date: 1785
Definitions:
1) "something tending to soothe"
2) a : "a usually pharmacologically inert preparation prescribed more for the mental relief of the patient than for its actual effect on a disorder" b : "an inert or innocuous substance used especially in controlled experiments testing the efficacy of another substance (as a drug)"
definitions taken from Merriam-Webster 11th Collegiate Dictionary
why did they choose the name Placebo?
"The name was a jokey addition to the list of bands named after drugs - Codeine, Morphine etc. How about a drug which cannot work, something," claims Molko, "which you only think makes you feel better."
taken from a Q magazine article
"And though placebo means 'I will please' in Latin, their only criterion for their monicker was that it be a name they could imagine 40,000 people screaming."
taken from a Rolling Stone magazine article
Also, before Placebo, the band was called Ashtray Heart, a phrase they borrowed from a Captain Beefheart song.
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