Having posted here for a long while and witnessing masses of hysterical men
posting away, I think your theory is pretty well shot...unless they're all
really something else????

"Bob Crantz" wrote in message
ink.net...


What is the origin of hysteria?

Those of you who think that hysteria and hysterectomy may be related are
correct. One who is hysterical has the roots of one's behavior in one's
womb, etymologically speaking. This seems to limit hysteria to people who
have wombs: women! That is originally what the word hysteric referred to,
"a neurotic condition in women" that was also known as "the vapours". It
was thought to be rooted in disturbances in the womb, an idea that went
all
the way back to ancient Greece. Of course, we now know that that is not
the
case, and hysteric can apply to anyone. It entered English in the
mid-17th
century from French hysterique. The ultimate source is Greek hustera
"womb".

The word hysteria was coined in the early 19th century as a noun form of
hysteric. The Latin uterus is related.