Linguistic Lint
Category: Books & Writing...
Posted Wednesday, March 10, 2004 at 10:44 AM [GMT-6]

Deb Thompson over at Write Lightning poses some questions in today's post, the answers to which will likely be found only on The Other Side.

I can't help her with the bread-hanging-out-of-your-mouth question (which, really, is probably a dental issue more than anything else), but a quick perusal of Gray's Anatomy seems to indicate that there are, indeed, words to describe the back of the hand and the top of the foot ("carpus" and "tarsus," respectively). The problem is that those terms are not sufficiently familiar as to be useful in everyday conversation/blogging.

This seems like a perfect opportunity for Deb to cement her place in the jargon hall of fame by coining terms for these name-challenged items. And, speaking of that, is there a name for people who come up with names for previously unnamed things?