#766 Outcome

The other day I wrote about a supermarket conundrum. Conundrums are in the family Jeopardy aisle. Seriously, I had wondered the following: If I found stationary in the office supply aisle where would I find moving products?
A friend of mine, let’s call him Rick, wrote that he thought the moving products could be found in the laxative aisle. He then pointed out he thought “lax” was a term meaning not doing anything. So why would he want to buy a product that was doing nothing.
Spoken like a true wordmaster.
I replied that perhaps the marketers at Ex-lax knew what they were doing when they named their mover. “Ex” means the reverse of, or how something was formerly. Ex-football player for football player, exfoliate for foliage, exaggerate for aggerates, wait a minute...
Anyhow, Ex-lax seems like it means the reverse of lax. Or at least putting lax behind you. Like maybe you were once married to old Mr. Lax and now you’re moving on.
Still, like my friend, I’ve always wondered about the idea of calling a bowel mover a laxative. The implication is that it is relaxing the bowel. As if it was some kind of muscular tightness that’s at stake.
And that’s a myth. Laxatives are not paralytics or muscle relaxants, like Valium for voiding or curare for the colon.
Or anesthesia for the anus.
Most simply alter the colon chemically so it adds more water, loosening the feces, not the bowel. Then it’s a rush and flush potty party.
Others act differently. One product uses an ancient herbal ingredient know as Senna, a distant relative of the hair treatment henna. Dieter’s teas use Senna, because it both suppresses appetite and triggers bowel action. The diet double-whammy—starve and purge.
Senna is the main ingredient of Ex-lax. It works by actually stimulating the bowel, making its peristaltic contractions occur more frequently. Like a self-squeezing toothpaste tube.
In this action, it is indeed ex-lax or the reverse of relaxation.
It literally gets your bowel moving.
America, ya gotta love it.