terminology

I was sitting at my desk when I heard one of our tech's mutter behind me:
"There's no way I'm an extra small!"

I turned around and found that she was trying to order a new type of nitrile glove. The manufacturer had sent a handy-dandy insert that you can use to measure your hand, lining it up with the correct glove size. I glanced at the insert briefly, and then did a double-take.

"Does that say thumb crotch??"

It did, indeed, say thumb crotch. Did you know that your thumb had a crotch? I did not. Apparently the thumb crotch is the area of your hand, that little flap of skin, between your thumb and forefinger where the fingers connect to the main hand. Who knew? You need to know this because you must line up your thumb crotch correctly on the insert to get your measurement.

According to the diagram, the tech was indeed an extra small. I measured a small. I think the whole thing is highly suspect. I also think I'm going to get odd search engine queries from this entry.

When I was a kid I thought mitosis was a hilarious word. My-toe-sis! It sounds like a foot disease. On the more medical side is the word phlebotomist, for a person who draws blood. Or phleb. Can you imagine saying, "I'm going to get some phleb drawn!"

What other weird terminology does the scientific field possess?