Skip to main content

Tag: anatomy

Animals in Our Bones: Anatomy Terms from Animals

By now you would have listened to the Animalogy episodes about the words muscle, coccyx, and tragus — all parts of our body. All words from animals. Today, we have an entire episode on a number of other terms for parts of our anatomy that have animals hiding within. These and many more reflect how deeply rooted animals are in our consciousness, in our history, in our lives — and deep in our animal bones. 

Thank you, listeners and supporters! Supporters receive transcripts of each and every episode. 

Coccyx: Please Don’t Sit on the Cuckoo

Coccyx is a small triangle-shaped bone at the base of the spinal column in humans and other apes, such as gibbons, orangutans, gorillas, and chimpanzees.

Representing a vestigial tail and most commonly called the tailbone, coccyx was the name given to this part of our anatomy by ancient Greek physician Galen because of its resemblance to an animal, making the word an “animalogy.”

Can you guess the etymology? All is revealed in this episode of Animalogy, a podcast about language and the animal-related words and expressions we use every day.

There's an animal hiding in your tailbone! Listen to Animalogy podcast find out more. Click To Tweet

FIVE THINGS YOU CAN DO FOR ANIMALOGY: 

1.Subscribe to Animalogy on iTunes and Stitcher and download the episodes.

2. Leave a 5-star rating on iTunes. 

3. Leave a review on iTunes. High ratings, reviews, and downloads in the first month increase the chances of high placement on iTunes.

4. Become a monthly supporter of the podcast. For just .33 cents a day, you receive transcripts to each episode; for $1.00 a day, you get bonus episodes. Your support helps us reach the goal of making it a weekly, ad-free show.

5. Share the podcast with everyone you know! Use the share buttons below and above!