No, that's not a typo for ethereal sound, but the name of a medical instrument (and sometime sex toy) for dilating the urethra. Now, even though I am a fan of the animated series King of the Hill one of whose plot points is the character Hank's narrow urethra (almost always whispered), I'd never heard of these instruments or their extra-medical usage. (oh, the sheltered life of a philologist.)
The etymology of this kind of sound (not the vibrating air or body of water) traces back to the French sonde 'sounding line'. Urethra goes back to Greek ourethra < ourein 'to urinate', cf. Latin urino.
jheem, my sauerbraten crowd is here, and one of them enjoyed what you had written in the sauerbraten thread, so I decided to show them a little more of your work. We came to this thread, they read your comments above with interest, and one of them said (and I quote):
"I thought it meant the sound of peeing."
"I thought it meant the sound of peeing."
Mingo ergo sum :- "Mars Needs Women."
Thanks, WW. I hope your friends enjoyed the Sauerbraten and Kartoffelkösse.
I actually keep a set of these (at WORK, perves!) - they can be used to dilate any ostia (holes) and sometimes will do the job with nothing else will. Also keep a set of cervical 'sounds' (acutally just called dilators) for similar use.
I never have acutally used them to dilate a cervix or urethra...
I never have actually used them to dilate a cervix or urethra...
...but wouldn't that be on account of you're an ER doc, and not a gynecologist or a urologist?! It's more likely that one of those specialists will be called in when the nominal use is appropriate.
Just trying to sound you out. :-)
For everybody - just to pretend for a moment that this is a board concerned with words - how many more uses are there for "sound"?
sound v. - probe for depth, which is how this started
...also n. - the instrument used for that purpose
sound v. - give an impression (no, that doesn't sound right)
sound v. - make a noise
sound n. - what you hear
sound n. - a body of water with I'm-not-quite-sure-what distinguishing characteristics
sound adj. - whole, healthy
et al.
>just to pretend for a moment that this is a board concerned with words
Sorry! got carried away...
How about the meaning as in "sound you out" - not sure that is directly covered in your listings.
R
Or, is that meaning the first one? Are you probing someone for depth?
I think this may be the case...
Not to fret. We claim we start with words, and we usually end with words, and in between we often digress some considerable distance (to mix a metaphor).
My list was meant to be a starting point, not an exhaustive answer. Figurative usages may have a lot of overlap.
And let's not forget AWAD 3/28/05 - antanaclasis:
"Your argument is sound, nothing but sound." B. Franklin
R