Speaking of health, and words, and games, all of which I have spoken of at various points in the past, I have a minor gripe with the term used for healing medication in the video game Dragon Age.
It has long troubled me, and now, after months of brooding, I can no longer keep my uneasiness to myself.
See, they call their main healing effect a "poultice," and a poultice is a sort of salve or mush that you smear on yourself. This is well and good, but their visual for the use of a "poultice" is that of a character raising a vial to the mouth and drinking.
This suggests that what they actually have is a healing "potion." A potion, as you may know, is a liquid, commonly consumed by drinking. It's a perfectly good word for a classic magical healing concept.
Poultice, on the other hand, is a perfectly good word for a less-commonly-used healing concept. If you want to give some love to a less-common word, I'm all for it, but be aware of what it actually means.
And if you mean people to be using a potion, just call it a potion. There's nothing wrong with potions.
That is all.
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