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#164193 12/11/06 03:04 PM
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Anu wrote: "I wish I had a heroic tale to
tell, ... such as I broke it skydiving."
Well, I can do so. I broke my right humerus and my right scapula (which actually was shattered into 30 or so pieces) skydiving. Never have your parachute accidentally open at 270 km/h...
(Have a look at: [url=http://www.thur.de/~carsten/Fallschirm/zerfetztes_gurtzeug.html]Torn rig[/url] or here: [url=http://www.thur.de/~carsten/Fallschirm/rechter_oberarm.html]X-rays[/url]

So I can understand the aches and pains you have to bear. I hope your surgeon did a better job so your collar bone will heal pretty fast.

BTW: There are two words for almost any bone of the body. A Latin and a Germanic one (sternum = breast bone etc) Anyone can tell me the corresponding term for "humerus"? "Upper arm bone" doesn't look smart and is too long a term for being widely used.

BlueS, Carsten


Bye, Carsten
#164194 12/11/06 05:24 PM
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Quote:

There are two words for almost any bone of the body. A Latin and a Germanic one




I think your thesis may need a little work - almost (nearly all?) is certainly too strong. For example, the common name in English for the clavicle is the collarbone - both Latin. Phalanx (finger and toe bone) is Greek. Etc.

People would usually say "He broke his upper arm" if they wanted to be specific - bone is an understood part of "He broke his arm".

#164195 12/11/06 11:32 PM
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Just a few that I can remember from my anthro days:

Navicular, hamate, pisiform, lunate and a bunch more that I don't off hand remember. No common name for these beyond ankle and wrist bones.

#164196 12/11/06 11:56 PM
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from wikipedia:

Since 'Humerus' is the homonym of 'humorous', the bone is almost always referred to in popular culture as 'the funny bone'.


TEd
#164197 12/12/06 10:55 AM
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Parm my beg to differmints: I've always conceived of the funny bone as the elbow, not expicitly a bone but a conjucntion of bones. Or either that or just the distal end of the humerus. AHD identifies it as the point where the ulnar nerve runs close to the surface. Derivation is from the tingling sensation resulting from a blow received there. Anybody gets whacked sharply on the triceps would not make any reference to a funny bone.

#164198 12/12/06 07:56 PM
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So the solution is elegant. Go into wikipedia and change it. That's what wikipedia is all about, innit?


TEd
#164199 12/20/06 11:45 PM
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Quote:

Navicular, hamate, pisiform, lunate and a bunch more that I don't off hand remember. No common name for these beyond ankle and wrist bones.



Carpals and tarsals.

oh, common not collective.

#164200 12/22/06 01:11 AM
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What is the origin of that odd expression: "I have a bone to pick with you"?
Anyone have an idea?


"I am certain there is too much certainty in the world" -Michael Crichton
#164201 12/22/06 03:40 AM
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according to the AHD of idioms, it's got to do with a dog worrying a bone.

#164202 12/22/06 07:07 PM
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Thanks for the reference.
I am confused, though.
"A dog worrying a bone" - is that a fight by two over the same bone? Is it, the bone being worried[/] by the dog's presence?
How does that relate to the definition?

Am I jest plain stew-pid?


"I am certain there is too much certainty in the world" -Michael Crichton
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