Concept in Definition ABC

The word lacra does not have a precise origin, but it is very likely that it comes from the word lacre, which is a red paste that when melted is used to close a letter or to seal a document and in this way your authenticity. If we take into account that the sealing wax bears a mark that serves to identify to someone, we already have an orientation to understand the meaning of the word scourge.

By scourge can be understood three different things: the marks or sequels of a disease or a defect moral that leave some mark on the person who has it, to refer disparagingly to a type of person and, finally, to allude to that which represents an evil for society.

Aftermath of a physical ailment or an immoral attitude

Certain diseases leave some type of sign in those who suffer from them and these signs or traces are known as blots. In the same way, defects of moral order also leave some type of visible sign (for example, in the look or in the gesture).

To refer to people

It is said that a person is a scourge when he has a behavior that harms himself and others. In this sense, it is used to refer to people without any job and that they do not contribute anything to society, to lazy people or to those who take advantage of others and act as if they were parasites. In Spanish, we use synonyms such as vague, useless, lazy or lazy. The use of the word has other equally negative meanings in some Latin American countries (for example, in Argentina is synonymous with stingy, in Ecuador it is equivalent to a bad person and in Colombia it is used to refer to people indiscreet).

Social lapses

To refer to those vices or attitudes harmful to society, the word scourge is used and the concept of "social scourge" has been coined. For something to receive this derogatory qualification it has to be either undesirable behavior or a social problem of the first order. In this sense, alcoholism, drug addiction, the terrorism, corruption, mobbing, child malnutrition or violence street are some of the social problems that are considered a social scourge.

It must be borne in mind that this type of reality is more than a problem and has consequences for society as a whole.

Photos: Fotolia - Syda Productions / Elnur