Conference thebay::joyoflex

    Philtrum
    
    	-John Bishop

Ahh thank you.  Now I admit my embarrassment at the fact that this was the
answer given on the radio program, but the spelling wasn't mentioned.  I had been
searching under "F". 

    Next time I get in a fist fight and get a split lip I'm going to call
    my Doc and tell her that I have a "broken philtrum" or some such; and I
    will try this out on my son who is a second year med school student. 
    
    I suppose one might also find the term useful in other environments, as
    when one is out for a romantic dinner with a special friend, and gazing
    at her/his face one might assay, "Your philtrum looks so lovely
    in this candlelight." 
    
    Bruce
    

    Happened to me -- I needed six stitches to put it back together.

Another baffling bit of biological bric-a-brac is the thin flap of tissue 
connecting one's tongue to the floor of one's mouth. I think I remember what 
it is, but have at it.

One that I do remember is the bead-like bump of mucosal flesh inhabiting the 
inside corner of one's eye. Have at that as well.

Wook

    Might as well throw in the smooth area between the eyebrows just above
    the nose.
    
    Sid

    G'day,
    
     many years ago when Hughie Green was compere of 'Double your Money' on
    commercial television, a medical student made it to the �64,000
    question.....
    
    
    
    What is the name of the muscle in the skin that causes goose-pimples to
    be raised?
    
    
    (goose pimples = ducky-bumps for those west of the pond)
    
    derek

I _think_ a/the phrenulum (sp) is the bit that attaches your tongue to your 
mouth. I _know_ that the phrenulum is the bit of tissue beneath the upper lip, 
attached to the gum.


Chele

    Re .7:
    
    Erector comes into it somewhere - erector <something>. Or maybe just
    erector.
    
    And while we're at it, take n, a publicity campaign for the SOED
    many years ago said there was a word for the precise spot on your back
    where you can't yourself reach - you know, the bit that itches. Anyone
    know what that is? (I don't, but my wife played a lowly part in the
    campaign and wants to know.)
    
    b

    Frenum--any strip of skin or mucous membrane which checks the motion
    of a part of the body (from local big dictionary).
    
    No doubt each particular one has a qualified name, along the lines of
    "lingual frenum" (a guess).
    
    		-John Bishop

    While we're at it... There is a section of skin, between the lower
    lip and that crease above the chin, on which beard hairs will grow.
    What is the term for a `beard' which consists of only that patch?
    
    							Ann B.

    That beard is called an imperial.
    
    Some schizophrenics invent words.  One I happen to know of invented the
    word "spunnel" for the smooth spot above the nose and between the
    brows.
    
    

>    Some schizophrenics invent words.  One I happen to know of invented the
>    word "spunnel" for the smooth spot above the nose and between the
>    brows.
    
    While I'm not sure I understand the relationship between schizophrenia
    and inventing words, I do know that "spunnel" is not the commonly
    accepted term.  The answer is:
    
    
    
    glabella

    ... at least there was in the '60s taxonomy thereof.  Hebephrenic
    schizophrenics' major presenting symptom is that they speak what was
    called "word salad," i.e., utterances comprised of valid words with
    slim to no syntax underneath them.  I surmise that this might get down
    to the phonemic level in some similar cases, hence "spunnel."
    
    For a set of examples produced more contemporaneously, see the recent
    spate of entries in 255.*, Linguistic Tom Swifties.
    
    I'm having my medication re-titrated, and I hope to stop bothering you
    all real soon now.  I can't speak for the REST of you dopes who have
    followed me down the slippery slope...
    
    :-)
    

Isn't hebephrenic a Black English description of of an anxious man?

    Nope, it be of a fella who believes that the study of head-bumps
    predicts personality traits.
    

    I have this lovely definition of hebephrenic, but it's terribly unPC. 
    If you're offended by ethnic slang, don't read on.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    Hebephrenic describes a person whose head is shaped like a Jew's.

    Very good!!  I had that first part in my sights already but couldn't
    work out a r�le for the "phrenic."
    
    ... Now I can return those particular cell assemblies that were working
    on that conundrum to more useful tasks.  We thank you for your support!
    

    My sister-in-law refers to the furrow on one's top lip as "Cupid's bow"
    -- is that the bonus answer to .0? She is a speech pathologist, so I
    presume that's the term she uses professionally (at least when talking
    to patients).
    
    					Val

    "Cupid's bow" refers to the line of the upper lip, which looks
    like an oriental-style bow.  See most representations of Cupid
    in Disney, etc.
    
    		-John Bishop