Etymology post!

[mellicious]

Remember back when I posted the word cryptorchidism and I was all interested in why "orchid" was a root word for testes? Well, apparently I am not the only one interested in that - there's actually a whole "fun facts" box about it in the anatomy book, including exactly who's responsible. Here it is, verbatim:

Do You Know . . .
Why Aristotle called the testicle the orchis?
The root of the orchid plant is olive shaped; in Greek the shape is called an orchis. Noticing the similarity between the shape of the orchid root and the testicles. Aristotle dubbed the testicle orchis. The word orchis is still used in medical terms. For example, orchitis refers to inflammation of the testicles, and orchiectomy refers to the surgical removal of the testicles. The word testis comes from the Latin and means to bear witness to. The word testes shares the same Latin root as the word testify. In ancient Rome, only men could bear witness, or testify. To show the importance of their testimony, the held their testicles as they spoke.

Huh. Well, that's interesting.

Comments

[karen-d.livejournal.com]

Those ancient Romans were a wacky bunch of guys.

[profrobert.livejournal.com]

You *so* did not want to commit perjury in ancient Rome.

I've been watching St. Elsewhere reruns on the American Life Network (they're running that, L.A. Law and Hill Street Blues on most weeknights in order), and I recently saw the episode where Peter White was shot. You may remember (or not) that he was the Ski Mask Rapist, and that Shirley Daniels murdered him in retaliation for his assaults on Cathy Martin. Anyway, she shot him first in the groin and then in the chest. While he was still on the operating table, one of the surgeons mentioned they'd done a bilateral orchiectomy (a condign result for a serial rapist, though the staff didn't know it at the time). It was something I'd missed when I first saw the episode in the '80s. It wasn't referred to again, probaly because White died later in the episode, but it just one of the many little things the writers would slip into scripts.

[mmancuso.livejournal.com]

In ancient Rome, only men could bear witness, or testify. To show the importance of their testimony, the held their testicles as they spoke.

I am amused. Naturally I thought to take this... er... ball and run with it:

1. This still does adequately what far too many men in are testifying to, repeatedly and in public. The frequent adjusting one sees might simply be, as it were, tapping the mic to make sure it's on, no doubt in order to submit testimoony instantanously. Though the over zealous give their testimony in pre-trial.... embarassing.

2. "Darling, I don't believe you. Tell me again...."

3. "Hey baby, I swear you're the one for me. See?"