Talk:Nucleus pulposus

What
What does pulposus mean in latin?

It means "flesh." Source: JohnJohn 01:44, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

To translate pulposus as flesh is not useful because flesh has multiple meanings and come from the Old High German fleish meaning meat, which is not appropriate in this context. "Flesh" is appropriate only in the metaphoric sense of the soft editable parts of a nut or melon. In other words pulp. Pulposus is past participle of pulpa and means having pulp. Since the English word pulp comes from the Latin pulpa, nothing is gained by making a detour through German and flesh. Greensburger 17:01, 28 April 2007 (UTC)


 * The nucleus is jelly-like in its youth, and becomes pulpy (like over-boiled oatmeal) in old age. Therefore the term "nucleus pulposus" is correct only in old age. Santamoly (talk) 05:50, 27 June 2012 (UTC)