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#24171 03/22/01 09:25 PM
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Carpal Tunnel
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My kids were given an Uncle WIggly book when they started to read-- one in which Uncle Wiggly get an upset stomach, and takes some peppermint oil tonic to sooth his stomach-- I was very happy with this book, since one of our "home remedies" for car sickness was sucking on a peppermint candy--
But i had not heard of Uncle Wiggly until they received the book-- and never heard of any one who knew them or remembered the stories fondly till your post, Bill.


#24172 03/22/01 09:31 PM
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tar, baby!


#24173 03/22/01 09:51 PM
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wwh Offline
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Thank you, Uncle Remus.


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The discussion re epidemic (spread of disease among humans) and epizootic (spread of disease among animals) brings up a point I'd like your opinions on.
Autopsy refers to post mortem examination of humans.
Now, I learned a post mortem on an animal is properly called a necropsy.
However the SOED CD I have refers necropsy to autopsy and makes no mention of animals.
My Veterinarian concurs that necropsy is correct usage.
What about the complete OED ... any help out there?
wow


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I'll type fast in the hope of getting a word in before tsuwm, so forgive typos.

I think a necropsy is the postmortem examination of any creature, and that, if autopsy is really understood to mean a postmortem exam of a human, it would be a particular kind of necropsy. Necropsy may have just been adopted by the vet trade.

Oddly, in my little desk dictionary, autopsy is defined as "the act of seeing with one's own eyes." Perhaps it's related to seeing with one's own eyes how the deceased really died, rather than trusting the widow who collected on the huge life insurance policy or the guy with the smoking gun running away screaming "Finally, finally! Mwahahaha..."


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Dear Hyla: I would have made this a private post, except that I would not want anyone to think I would accept without friendly correction your hasty expression "vet trade." The veterinarians of today are every bit as well educated and trained as physicians, and just as vital in the research into the cause and cure of many diseases. They are justly regarded as a profession.


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>your hasty expression "vet trade."

see what happens in the "rush to compete" hyla?

as to the question of what the OED has to say, I'd quote it all, but the upshot is that autopsy and necropsy are pretty much interchangeable in their eyes (and in the citations). (the first sense of autopsy is "Seeing with one's own eyes, eye-witnessing; personal observation or inspection"; the first sense of necropsy is "a post-mortem examination, an autopsy" -- no special limitations.)


#24178 03/23/01 03:39 AM
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I've been wondering whether foot-and-mouth is the same disease as hoof-and-mouth. If so, why have I only heard of the latter in the last year? It does seem that all the animals that get it are hooved. (Or is it hoofed?)


#24179 03/23/01 04:31 AM
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hoof-and-mouth is synonymous with foot-and-mouth, could be regional differences -- or maybe hoof-and-mouth got a bad reputation from Paul Newman in "Hud" and Bill Cosby (obscure-comedy-bit-reference-of-the-week) -- or maybe we should just call it aftosa or aphthous fever.


#24180 03/23/01 09:26 AM
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Obviously the use of autopsy instead of necropsy and epidemic instead of epizooic is one of those rare instances where English uses one word when many would do ...



The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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