something made me wonder why the portion of the skull between the eyes
and the ears above the zygoma is called the temple. I was surprised to find
dictionary ascribes it to the pulse so readily palpated there, called - what else -
the temporal pulse, so handy for anaesthetists. I never had it called to my
attention until I started learning to give anaesthesia. I wonder how old the
name is.

Earliest citation in the B&M OED is from 1310. That old enough for ya, Dr. Bill?

Bill,

That is the coolest explanation of a word derivation I've heard in a long, long time!!! Thank you so much for telling us about the temporal temple's tempo!

Beating regards,
WordWatch

Dear Faldage: The only reason I can think of that the temporal pulse might have
been recorded so early is that at times it is visible. The only other one that is often
noticed is crossed knee bounding. I remember short story about doctor in court
being challenged to tell how long ten minutes was with no clock in sight. He knew
his heart rate, and could unobtrusively curl up a finger each time a minute was up.
Same deal, a psychiatrist feeding bullshit to his therapist, could tell when therapist
was interested in his phony revelations, by watching therapist's crossed knee bounce.
Still can't figure why pulse was correlated with time in 1399 or whenever that was.
They sure had no use for seconds, or even minutes.