On Nov 9, 2005, at 2:22 PM, Paul Tyerman wrote: > I'm sorry, but I have to ask....... what exactly is "Sulfa" (never > heard the word before) and for that matter what exactly is > "Sulfur"? The element is called Sulphur" without an F so I am > wondering what these other words are supposed to mean? My dictionary says that 'sulfur' and 'sulphur' are different spellings for the same word, and that 'sulphur' is chiefly used throughout the English-speaking world outside the USA. Since my dictionary is an American English dictionary, I take this to mean that 'sulfur' is used in the USA. There are also the two different spellings for the element Al: aluminum (North America, in this case both USA and Canada) aluminium (chiefly used throughout the English-speaking world except for North America) What does the IUPAC say about this one, especially since for all other true metallic elements, except for those with pre-modern names like gold, lead, mercury, etc., the standard ending is '-ium' rather than just '-um', hence the British spelling and pronunciation follows the rule. sulfa drug n. Any of a group of synthetic organic compounds, derived chiefly from sulfanilamide, chemically similar to PABA and capable of inhibiting bacterial growth and activity by interfering with the metabolic processes in bacteria that require PABA. Also called sulfonamide. sul·fon·a·mide n. 1 Any of a group of organic sulfur compounds containing the radical O2NH2 and including the sulfa drugs. 2 See sulfa drug. sulfur (USA Eng) azufre (Span) (sulfuro means sulfide) soufre (Fr) zolfo (Ital) Schwefel (Germ) enxôfre (Port) 硫黄 (いおう） (Jap) 황 (Kor) 硫磺 (Chin) сернистый (Russ) zwavel (Du) शुल्बारि (Hind) גָּפְרִית (Heb) كبريت (Ar) ธาตุกัมมะถัน (Thai) θειάφι (Gr) That was fun. --Lee Poulsen Pasadena area, California, USDA Zone 10a