Thursday word: xyster

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

xyster (ZIS-tuhr) - n., a surgical instrument for scraping bones.


I don't know what it looks like and I do NOT want to. Just thinking about that definition makes my skin crawl, like the mental equivalent of hearing fingernails on a chalkboard. I don't want to know why a surgeon would WANT to scrape someone's bones while they are still alive. Nope. Nope nope nope. I can tell you the word comes from Greek xūstēr, scraper, from xūein, to scrape. But that's it.

Nope.

---L.

Comments

[med_cat]

You're funny ;)

Interesting name; I suspect the instrument looks like a curette and scraping might be necessary to clean out infected material, cysts, etc.

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

I finally looked it up -- it's actually more like a small rasp on a long handle.

*scrubs brain* *harder*

[med_cat]

I see ;)

Haha! Here I thought I'd invite you to visit my workplace, if you ever find yourself in the area, but perhaps it'd be better not! ;))

[fieryphoenix.livejournal.com]

My new supervillain name: Mister Xyster

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

Heh.

[med_cat]

There was a "Mister Twister, a businessmen and banker"...:P

(EDIT: and a Duchess Cascara Sagrada...;))

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

It's oddly apt, isn't it? The word itself is a bit of a scrape...

{pauses to shudder at the whole thing}

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

*shudders with you*