Message-ID: <21708634.1075858938110.JavaMail.evans@thyme> Date: Sun, 28 Oct 2001 21:11:05 -0800 (PST) From: wsmith@wordsmith.org To: linguaphile@wordsmith.org Subject: A.Word.A.Day--debridement Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-From: Wordsmith @ENRON X-To: linguaphile@wordsmith.org X-cc: X-bcc: X-Folder: \SSCOTT5 (Non-Privileged)\Scott, Susan M.\Inbox X-Origin: Scott-S X-FileName: SSCOTT5 (Non-Privileged).pst debridement (di-BREED-ment, day-) noun Surgical removal of dead, infected tissue or foreign matter from a wound. [From French debridement, from debrider (to unbridle), from Middle French desbrider (de- + brider).] "Voluminous clinical studies also indicate that hypnosis can reduce the acute pain experienced by patients undergoing burn-wound debridement, children enduring bone marrow aspirations and women in labor." Michael R Nash, The Truth And the Hype of Hypnosis, Scientific American (New York), Jul 2001. Here is a pop-quiz: how many light-years does it take for an astronomer to change a light bulb? Answer, of course, is none. She knows a light-year is a unit of distance, not time. The red-herring word `year' in this term tries to mislead us. This week brings together words whose meaning is not the first thing that comes to mind. -Anu ............................................................................ Be master of your petty annoyances and conserve your energies for the big, worthwhile things. It isn't the mountain ahead that wears you out - it's the grain of sand in your shoe. -Robert Service, writer (1874-1958) This is a reader-supported publication. If you'd like to contribute, visit http://wordsmith.org/awad/friends.html . Send your comments about words (or anything else) to anu@wordsmith.org. To unsubscribe, subscribe, or to change address, visit http://wordsmith.org/awad/subscriber.html Pronunciation: http://wordsmith.org/words/debridement.wav http://wordsmith.org/words/debridement.ram