195: heroin and heroine Jun 21, 2015

The words 'heroin' and 'heroine' look and sound awfully similar, which can lead to a few awkward situations. The word 'heroin' comes from the German word 'heroin', which derives from Latin 'heros', and both [the German and Latin] mean ‘hero’. The drug was named such because of its effects on the user's self-esteem.