Advertisement

fun anatomy words

topic posted Sat, December 30, 2006 - 1:24 PM by  Heather
Share/Save/Bookmark
Advertisement
As I'm recently returning to college for nursing, I had to take the dreaded Anatomy and Physiology, which I actually enjoyed, but that's a whole 'nother story. Anyway. I noticed a plethora of amusing words in the field.

One of my favorites is epididymis. It's one of those words that you certainly don't get to use often, but it just sounds cool.

What are some more words that others enjoy?
posted by:
Heather
Advertisement
Advertisement
  • Re: fun anatomy words

    Sun, December 31, 2006 - 5:33 AM
    When I took anatomy and physiology in grad school for speech pathology, I always loved "arcuate fasciculus"...the pathway in the brain that is thought to connect Broca's area to Wernicke's area. I slipped it into conversation whenever i could LOL I'm such a geek!
    • Re: fun anatomy words

      Sun, December 31, 2006 - 9:00 AM
      Ya know, that stupid career interest test in high school said I should be a speech pathologist. Of course, I wound up with a degree in political science and working as a travel agent, go figure. I now realize I would probably enjoy speech pathology, but it's just so much time and money to enter the field. I'm going for my RN now. But I've always been fascinated by all aspects of language, how we speak, how we use words, how the brain processes all of it. If I had all the time and money in the world, I would probably study neurolinguistics. I didn't even realize that was a field of study until recently and I wonder if it even existed when I was entering college the first time around. My new hero is Steven Pinker after reading one of his books on linguistics and a few articles. So, yeah, I'm a geek, too.
      • Re: fun anatomy words

        Sun, December 31, 2006 - 12:50 PM
        <<My new hero is Steven Pinker after reading one of his books on linguistics and a few articles.>>

        Thanks for this, Heather. I'm going to look him up.

        Uvula.
        Meatus.
        Acute angina. --Oh, wait.
  • Re: fun anatomy words

    Sun, December 31, 2006 - 3:59 PM
    in the same general region:

    pudenda
    • Re: fun anatomy words

      Mon, January 1, 2007 - 3:21 PM
      I like pudenda (amongst other words)…


      axilla: armpit (axilla just disguises what it actually means).
      patella: the bone that is esentially your knee cap.
      canal of Schlemm: Love the name, it's the part of the eye ('a circular canal in the eye that drains aqueous humor from the anterior chamber of the eye into the anterior ciliary veins', to be exact).
      epiglottis: A leaflike structure positioned above the larynx. It covers the glottis during swallowing.
      fibula: a leg bone, I think and of course…
      areola: nipple. (actually, nipple is a great word for comic value.
      • Re: fun anatomy words

        Mon, January 1, 2007 - 7:48 PM
        And tits doesn't even belong on the list. Sorry for a bad joke, but you reminded me of George Carlin and the 7 words you can't say on television or radio. Heehee.
        • Re: fun anatomy words

          Fri, April 20, 2012 - 10:30 AM
          >>>tits doesn't even belong on the list.<<<

          And shouldn't belong on any list. "Tits" is merely a corrupted spelling of a perfectly correct Anglo-Saxon word, "teats" or "teat" in the singular form. True it's pronounced as though it were spelled "tit" but that's only because modern English spelling is often different from Old English, aka Anglo-Saxon.

          To recap, the word is spelled "teat" and pronounced as "tit", most people these days are completely unaware. And, I might add, it's the only correct word for the female milk-delivery structures in all mammals. All other words are either slang: "jugs", "boobs", etc. Or they are medical jargon "mammaries" from "mammary glands" which are the milk-producing structures inside the teats. Often words describing the general anatomical area are used as substitutes "breast", for example, a word that many consider to be the correct term actually refers to the entire front of the chest both in males and in females, as does "bosom" identical in meaning with "breast."

          So much confusion and variant nomenclature over an anatomical structure must reflect the fact that most people feel uneasy or ashamed of teats, probably because they remind us that we used to be very small, ignorant and greedy for mama's milk. Many of us still are, but that's a matter for Freud, Jung and Adler to argue over.

          I hope this has been helpful and informative, on the English language if not on human anatomy.

          With love under will,

          Bob, Adastra,
          The Wizzard of Jacksonville
          • Re: fun anatomy words

            Mon, April 23, 2012 - 12:13 PM
            <So much confusion and variant nomenclature over an anatomical structure must reflect the fact that most people feel uneasy or ashamed of teats, probably because they remind us that we used to be very small, ignorant and greedy for mama's milk>

            Actually, I think it's more of a "don't remind me what they're ACTUALLY for" kind of thing.

            People who are attracted to them aren't necessarily looking for children (and milk) to result from the encounter.
            "That's not what I use 'em for," I heard said quite often.
  • Al
    Al
    offline 22

    Re: fun anatomy words

    Thu, January 11, 2007 - 5:04 AM
    I've always loved clavicle, but supernumerary kidney made me laugh when the docs told me I had one - say it three times fast with me now, SUPERNUMERARY KIDNEY! Hee!
  • Re: fun anatomy words

    Tue, January 16, 2007 - 8:00 AM
    vas deferens

    Interosseous Membrane

    cartilage

    phalanges

    rectum - damn near killed em' (bad joke)

    epiglottis
    • Re: fun anatomy words

      Tue, January 16, 2007 - 10:01 AM
      The far flung islets of Langerhans; the hormone-producing cells of the pancreas.
      • Re: fun anatomy words

        Fri, April 20, 2012 - 10:33 AM
        I've always been partial to "larynx" myself. Though "sphincter" always brings a smile. There are so many and they are all so useful. And I bet the only one that comes to mind for most is the anal sphincter. It's only one of many, folks and folkesses.

        With love under will,

        Bob, Adastra,
        The Wizzard of Jacksonville

Recent topics in "Word Freaks"

Topic Author Replies Last Post
Stephen Spielberg's Word Tricks. Adastra 6 April 26, 2013
Contradictions DuckAmuck 4 April 20, 2013
"Stink" JM 5 March 9, 2013
Words that have a remarkable etymology dr mork 0 January 25, 2013