- У... ўн йилча илмий тадқиқот ишлари билан шуғулланиб, куйдирги, бўғма, қутуриш каби даҳшатли касалликларга дунёда биринчи бўлиб даво топди. (“Фан ва турмуш”) ("He ... spent a decade researching and was the first in the world to be cured of such terrible diseases as anthrax, suffocation, and rabies." ("Science and Life" Uzbek magazine)
It is understood from the above example that the lexeme “куйдирги/anthrax” is generalized to the archisema “bad disease” with the sema “medical disease name”. In modern Uzbek nomenclature, medical term as "куйдирги/anthrax" has synonyms as "антракс/ anthrax" and “Сибир яраси/Siberian wound”.
Also, the lexeme "anthrax" is often used along with other lexemes, in the form of phrase: куйдирги чиқмоқ - to disappear (in the sense of a curse). For example:
-Аммо бахтига куйдирги чиққан эканми, худди шу кабинетга Жўрабеков момақалдироқдай гумбурлаб кириб келди (С.Анорбоев, “Оқсой”). (But, unfortunately, Jurabekov entered the same office like a thunderbolt (S. Anorbaev, "Aksay").
-Менинг ўз отим бор! Ўз отимга куйдирги чиққан эмас! (А.Қаххор, “Pain”) (I have my own name! My name is not disappeared! (A. Kakhor, “Pain”)
-Ҳа сени ... Тилиннга куйдирги чиққур!! (С.Анорбоев, “Оқсой”) (Well... Burn your tongue!! (S. Anorboev, "Oksay")
-Бу сўзларни оғизга олганда, ҳали ҳам тилингизга куйдирги чиқмаган экан (А.Мухтор, “Тонг билан учрашув”) (When you said these words, you still don't have a burning sensation in your tongue (A. Mukhtor, "Meeting with the morning").
In addition, in Uzbek colloquial speech, the phrase "куйдирги бўлмоқ/ to be anthrax" is used to mean "to be a person who does something bad and make his relatives worry". Often, the lexeme “куйдирги /anthrax” itself is used to describe a person who is impolite.
In English, terms such as "Siberian plague", "Plague", "Anthrax" are synonyms. According to historical sources, the disease lasted for a long time in Europe, and R. Hiime's book "Handling collective fear in folklore" describes “anthrax” in the following way:
The plague disease came to the house threshold as a goat, sometimes as a bird, sometimes was known to look like a magpie. Whoever mentioned its name- fell down and that was it. Who did not utter a word- survived.
In this example, the picturesque expression of the lexeme "anthrax" has a figurative connection with a goat, a bird, a squirrel. It turns out that according to the British worldview, “anthrax” denotes "aggressive as a goat" and "noisy as a thrush."
As people did not understand what the disease was and then died, they used euphemisms such as “Black death”, “Scared” and “The Great Dying” to describe the disease. The original name of the disease is tabooed:
For most, the Black Death is the end. For a brave few, it heralds a new beginning. (M.Walters, The Last Hours)
“Вабо/Plague” is another infectious disease that has a long history as “anthrax”. It is known that this disease is one of the most dangerous intestinal diseases accompanied by dehydration [2, 430]:
-Очлик орқасидан вабо келди. Оч, бир бурда нонга муҳтож, қип-яланғоч бўлиб қолган халқ битталаб, ўнталаб эмас, юзталаб, қишлоқлаб ўла бошлади. (С.Айний, “Қуллар”) (The plague followed the famine. The people who had become hungry, need a piece of burdock bread, starving, and consequently not ten, but hundreds of people began to die (S. Ayni, “Slaves”)
In the past the words "вабо/plague", “ўлат/ plague” and “қора ўлат/black plague" were used equally in a vernacular speech of Uzbek people. These terms define “epidemic”, “disaster”, “catastrophe” and “calamity”:
-Дастлаб кичик-кичик безориликлардан бошланган бу ҳаракат, бора-бора чунонам қанот ёйиб тарқала бошладики, энди уни жиловлайдиган, бу офатнинг белини синдирадиган куч йўқ, у қора ўлат каби тарқала бошлаган. (Х.Абдуллаев, “Мавлоно Завқий”) (This movement, which began with small riots, gradually spread, and now there is no power to restrain it, to break the back of this disaster, it began to spread like a black plague. (Kh.Abdullaev, “Mavlono Zavqiy”)
Nowadays, the medical synonyms “вабо”, “холера” and “ўлат” are synonymous.
In the history and worldview of the Uzbek nation, the plague has left such an indelible mark that even today the lexeme is used. In the example below, the lexeme “уруш/war” is connotatively equated with the lexeme “вабо/plague”. Here, the integral sema is "a disaster":
-Уруш! Инсоният бошига қандай мусибатлар солмади бу лаънати вабо. (М.Самадов, “Карим партизан”) (War! How this cursed plague did not befall the head of mankind. (M.Samadov, “Karim partizan”)
In English, the equivalent of this medical term is "cholera", and euphemisms such as “Asiatic cholera “, “Gutter”, "Rice water " have been used in its place. These euphemisms arose according to the sign and etymology of plague:
Asiatic cholera is a disease caused by the Vibrio cholera. (“Annual review of medicine” journal)
There is also a stereotype in both cultures that a person who is sick is interpreted as a person who is cursed by God if he has done bad things. In this view, "sickness" for the patient is a punishment from God. Thus, the lexeme "disease" includes meanings as not only "pain", "pathological process", but also the "punishment".