#2-Strange names for body parts

Have you ever stubbed your hallux? And do you know where your axilla is? And if you stuck your nares under water, what would happen?

Amaze your friends with weird body knowledge! It’s called anatomy.

On this page, I have written down the strange (and true!) names for lots of parts of the body.

  1. iris—colored part of the eye.
  2. pinna—visible part of the ear.
  3. canthus—corners on either side of the eye, right where the upper and lower lids come together.
  4. glabella—flat area just above the nose, in between the eyebrows.
  5. naris—nostril (plural = nares).
  6. frenum—skinny band of tissue that connects the floor of the mouth to the underside of the tongue.
  7. gnathion—lowest point of the chin.
  8. pate—top of the head, crown.

  1. clavicle—collar bone
  2. axilla—armpit
  3. thorax—the part of the chest where the ribs are
  4. condyle—knuckle
  5. navel—bellybutton
  6. coccyx—tailbone (in the back)
  7. patella—kneecap
  8. hallux—big toe

You can comment on these weird names—and add your own—but please remember my parents, grandparents, and Aunt Brenda read all the comments, so don’t be rude or nasty.

Comments from my Readers & Friends

  2. Wenis is extremely funny to say especially if they don’t know what you’re talking about.
    Wenis- the skin on the elbow.

    • Wenis is not a real word. It’s funny, but it’s a made-up word. My Granpa told me it started to be used in the 1990s exactly because it sounds like you-know-what.

  4. My brother’s a genius, and so is my dad, but I know nothing about this stuff and it all seems very weird to me. But I do know some of the words you put like iris, pate, and clavicle.

    • You picked three especially excellent words.
      “Iris” is also the name of a flower.
      “Pate” is pronounced “payt”…but the same spelling can also be pronounced “pah-TAY”…which means mashed liver paste!
      And “clavicle” sounds like the name of a musical instrument: “clavichord.”

  5. Nothing particularly strange here to me… at least not compared to the End Bulbs of Krause. Now that really is a weird name for a body part.

  7. I know almost all these words because my dad teaches me all this stuff about human anatomy. I think it’s very cool.

  13. Chelidon is a name for the inside of your elbow, and it can also be called the cubital fossa.

  16. There’s one thing u didn’t put up there…… Your wenis which is your fat on your elbow (TRUE FACT)