In Japanese, one word used for "ugly" is "busu" (「ブス」). (It really should go without saying that this is an offensive word, and not to be casually slung around other people!) How this word came to be is a rather fascinating look in the history of a notorious plant poison.

Japanese monkshood (commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Aco…) is a plant with showy flowers and a very toxic alkaloid. The poison in monkshood is potent enough that the Ainu used it to tip their arrows for hunting bears and other game. Dried monkshood root is called "busu" (「附子」); in a diluted form, it was often used for its anesthetic, numbing qualities.

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The words we use: Mental health literacy is expanding but not always improving

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