On Tue, 10 Oct 2000, Charles M. Huffman wrote:
> [snip] Why is it spelled "button" (pronounced, but'n)
> in the textbooks?
>[snip]
> I remain curious why the word is spelled button if the correct term is
> bouton.
Well, the dictionary I quoted had it as "bouton", and so does
Kalat, and Kandel also (and he just won the Nobel Prize, so we'd
better listen up). But Pinel calls it a "button". So, some do,
some don't.
Two observations:
1) Those who call it "bouton" should pronounce it "boot-ON"
2) Those who call it "button" should pronounce it "button".
And why two names? Kalat (new 7th ed., p. 33) notes that multiple
names for structures in the nervous system are common, and
amusingly quotes Candace Pert (who probably thinks _she_ should
have received the Nobel Prize) that "Scientists would rather use
each other's toothbrushes than each other's terminology".
It's like calling something "aubergine" or "eggplant". Whatever
you call it, it's the same stuff. But it does sound as though it
would taste better in French. Maybe it's the same with anatomy.
-Stephen
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