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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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You're certainly free to interpret bow-legged or even curving out, any way you like. The standard understanding, at least in the US, is that bow-legged is ().
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I refer to the Word-A-Day for February 9th, 2010: prevaricate, and the comment under etymology that (latin) varus meant (english) knock-knee. Medical folks know that (latin) valgus means knock-knee, and (latin) varus means bow-leg. Knock-knee refers to legs bent in, while bow-leg refers to legs curving out.
Regards!
M.D. My Collins Gem Latin Dictionary agrees with Anu. Valgus, 'bow-legged'. Varus, 'knocked-kneed'. AHD4 seems to more agree with you, giving, in its etymology of prevaricate, varicare, 'to straddle' and for [i]varus[/i it only says 'bent'.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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??
varicare, 'to straddle'; you know, like in riding a horse. ()
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Even though straddle seems close to saddle etymologically it has nothing to do with it.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Medical folks know that (latin) valgus means knock-knee, and (latin) varus means bow-leg. In Latin, valgus means 'bow-legged' ( link) and varus means 'knock-kneed' ( link). The online medical dictionaries I consulted preserve the original Latin meanings, but at least one said that the two words meanings were often reversed.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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>often reversed.
established by error in some old source and then incessantly inculcated, I suppose?
-joe (source errors 'Я us) friday
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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I don't know about Latin medicine but in Canadian medical terminology valgus is generally considered knock-kneed. Unless it is halux.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Tried to get wise about halux. But they had only this:
hal·lux (hlks) KEY
NOUN:
pl. hal·lu·ces (hly-sz, hl-) KEY
The innermost or first digit on the hind foot of certain mammals. The human hallux is commonly called the big toe.
A homologous digit of a bird, reptile, or amphibian. In birds, it is often directed backward.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Take the discussion down a joint or three: Hallux valgus is commonly known as a bunion. The two affected big-toe joints would bang into each other if you walked without shoes. Now move the image up to your knees. That's knock-kneed, for the analogous reason. The officiousofficial term is genu valgus. That's "genu" as genuflect (= "knee bend"). The bow-legged, concave-in, knee is genu varus. There is a twisted consistency in that medical terminology.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Yes, that's really clear to see. ( the X-ray )That is what we in every day language call X-legs.;-) I didn't know that toes can be so too.
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