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Literary notes about Inflammatory (AI summary)

Throughout literature, the word "inflammatory" has been employed in varying contexts to evoke both physical and metaphorical intensity. For instance, in Vanity Fair [1], it is used to describe severe symptoms of fever that force a character to relocate, thereby emphasizing the physical effects of disease and decay. In contrast, Plato's Timaeus [2] attributes the term to bodies that, due to their "lightness," ascend to the head and disrupt everything in their path—a usage that broadens the meaning, hinting at a disruptive, almost volatile, force in the natural world. These examples demonstrate the term's versatility, as it shifts from a literal description of medical affliction to a more figurative depiction of dynamic, penetrating influence.
  1. Fever and inflammatory symptoms set in, and Mrs. Bute was forced to leave Sussex for Hampshire.
    — from Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
  2. Inflammatory bodies, which by their lightness are carried up into the head, cutting all that comes in their way, are termed pungent.
    — from Timaeus by Plato

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