The nervous system and neurology

The twenty-fifth entry is a condução nervosa, and the English for it gives no trouble — « nerve conduction » — but the noun sitting underneath is one of the hardest-working words in the language. « A conductor » in English is the person who stands in front of an orchestra with a baton. It is also the person who walked down a bus collecting fares. And it is the wire or the metal that lets a current through: copper is a good conductor, rubber is not. One spelling, three trades, and nothing in the sentence warns you which one has arrived. Portuguese refuses to pool them. The orchestra is led by o maestro, the fares were taken by o cobrador, and only the physical sense is o condutor — which in turn does a job « conductor » never does, since o condutor is also the person at the wheel of a car. Add « conduct », the noun for the way somebody behaves, and one family covers a podium, a fare box, a cable and a school report. Reading condução, keep the current and drop the baton.