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View Full Version : Why did Captain Kirk refer to Dr. McCoy as "Bones?"

west3man
11-01-2005, 10:03 AM
Was this ever explained in the movies or on the television show?
BoosterBronze
11-01-2005, 10:04 AM
Bones, or "sawbones" are old military slang for Doctors.
Dennis K
11-01-2005, 11:14 AM
Bones, or "sawbones" are old military slang for Doctors.

Hence the name of the current show on Fox as well.
kalorama
11-01-2005, 11:31 AM
That's part of it, but the Fox show actually is about bones in a more direct, nonmetaphorical way. The lead character is a forensic investigator who examines skeletal remains for clues.
StoneGold
11-01-2005, 11:32 AM
A homosexual encounter Kirk had with McCoy in their days together at the academy.
Arrjay
11-01-2005, 11:34 AM
nonmetaphorical

I think you mean literal.
kalorama
11-01-2005, 11:36 AM
I think you mean literal.
They both mean essentially the same thing, and both are equally valid grammatically, so it really doesn't matter, does it?
Michael P
11-01-2005, 11:39 AM
Well, there is the small issue of "nonmetaphorical" not being an actual word.
kalorama
11-01-2005, 11:49 AM
Well, there is the small issue of "nonmetaphorical" not being an actual word.

Not really an issue at all, because that's not the case. "Non" is a commonly used prefix that implies a negative state and can be applied to most adjectives for specific, correct grammatical usage. If the resulting compund word is used frequently enough it enters the common lexicon as a separate word (e.g., nondemoninational, nonentity). But use of the prefix is in no way limited only to those instances when the resulting compound is recognized as a specific, separate word.
Rob Imes
11-01-2005, 03:22 PM
Wasn't the doctor in the unaired pilot episode also nicknamed "Bones." I agree that it's short for "Sawbones," meaning a doctor.
Nate Grey
11-01-2005, 03:26 PM
Bones, or "sawbones" are old military slang for Doctors.

Wow, I NEVER knew that.

I thought it was cool TNG and DS9 had the captains give at least one of their officers nicknames, too. Picard called Rikker "Number One" and Sisko called Dax "Old Man." Don't think Janeway used any nicknames on Voyager; could have sworn she called Tuvok "Counsel" at least once, though.
Gaz
11-01-2005, 04:14 PM
Wow, I NEVER knew that.

I thought it was cool TNG and DS9 had the captains give at least one of their officers nicknames, too. Picard called Rikker "Number One" and Sisko called Dax "Old Man." Don't think Janeway used any nicknames on Voyager; could have sworn she called Tuvok "Counsel" at least once, though.
Janeway was just on first name terms with everyone.
Although, Sisko felt more like he could be friends with his people. There's one episode where him and Odo just sit at a coffee place and small talk, and that's all they do...
Nate Grey
11-01-2005, 04:17 PM
Janeway was just on first name terms with everyone.
Although, Sisko felt more like he could be friends with his people. There's one episode where him and Odo just sit at a coffee place and small talk, and that's all they do...

Now that I think about it, was it Sisko or O'Brian that called Odo "Constable"? I think it annoyed Odo for a while but he got used to it.
Gaz
11-01-2005, 04:28 PM
Now that I think about it, was it Sisko or O'Brian that called Odo "Constable"? I think it annoyed Odo for a while but he got used to it.
Pretty much everyone called him that, being as he had no official rank.
Shellhead
11-01-2005, 04:31 PM
Not really an issue at all, because that's not the case. "Non" is a commonly used prefix that implies a negative state and can be applied to most adjectives for specific, correct grammatical usage. If the resulting compund word is used frequently enough it enters the common lexicon as a separate word (e.g., nondemoninational, nonentity). But use of the prefix is in no way limited only to those instances when the resulting compound is recognized as a specific, separate word.

I bet you cheat when you play Scrabble.
Nate Grey
11-01-2005, 04:31 PM
Pretty much everyone called him that, being as he had no official rank.

I see...well, both him and O'Brien were "chiefs" of what they did, but weren't they both technically citizens? Yet O'Brien wore a Starfleet uniform and Odo the uniform of the Bajoran military. If citizens work in capacity with the military they can wear the uniforms?

EDIT: Sorry, DS9's military structure always confused me, didn't mean to derail the thread.
Gaz
11-01-2005, 04:39 PM
I see...well, both him and O'Brien were "chiefs" of what they did, but weren't they both technically citizens? Yet O'Brien wore a Starfleet uniform and Odo the uniform of the Bajoran military. If citizens work in capacity with the military they can wear the uniforms?

EDIT: Sorry, DS9's military structure always confused me, didn't mean to derail the thread.
O'Brien was a non-comissioned member of starfleet, with the rank of chief petty officer.
Odo seemed to have an honorary or field type comission, where he got given the post because he'd been doing it anyway.
IamtheRock3
11-01-2005, 05:23 PM
all ways thought it because it look like he weighed like 80 pounds
Nate Grey
11-01-2005, 05:26 PM
all ways thought it because it look like he weighed like 80 pounds

Actually, me too. I thought it was short for Bag of Bones.
The Batman
11-01-2005, 10:19 PM
wasn't Odo's position through the Bajorian government? he wore the same uniforms as the Bajorian security officers, or at least took the sahpe of the same uniforms as them. as for Bones, i always thought it was a nickname that Kirk gave him because he was either a doctor or because he was really, really skinny.
Paradox
11-02-2005, 03:28 AM
Nate Grey finds another:

Picard called Rikker "Number One"...

This is the same kind of nickname, that refers to one's rank or occupation. Back in the day (and maybe even now...I don't know) it wasn't uncommon for a first mate (which is essentially Ryker's position) to be referred to as "number one". It's not personally Ryker's nickname, but the nickname of anyone filling that position.
Gaz
11-02-2005, 03:48 AM
This is the same kind of nickname, that refers to one's rank or occupation. Back in the day (and maybe even now...I don't know) it wasn't uncommon for a first mate (which is essentially Ryker's position) to be referred to as "number one". It's not personally Ryker's nickname, but the nickname of anyone filling that position.
Yeah, only "Old Man" was character specific, in that it was only Dax's nickname.
west3man
11-02-2005, 03:56 AM
Neat stuff. Thanks, everyone.

*tries to remember*
Jared
11-02-2005, 05:25 PM
Archer called T'pol "Big'uns"
Mr. Croup
11-02-2005, 09:39 PM
Yeah, only "Old Man" was character specific, in that it was only Dax's nickname.

And that he had known Dax when it was paired with Curzon.

Crusher was short for "bonecrusher".
Gaz
11-03-2005, 01:46 AM
And that he had known Dax when it was paired with Curzon.

Crusher was short for "bonecrusher".
Well,yeah, that's WHY it was only applicable to Dax.
DLFerguson
11-03-2005, 06:00 AM
Now that I think about it, was it Sisko or O'Brian that called Odo "Constable"? I think it annoyed Odo for a while but he got used to it.

It was Sisko who gave Odo that title. Odo was Chief Security Officer on DS9 having been given the job first by The Cardassians and then after they left the station The Bajorans asked him to carry on in that capacity. When Sisko first started calling Odo "Constable" Odo though Sisko was making fun of him and his position on the station until Sisko explained where the title came from and why he applied it to Odo. He used it so often that eventually everybody on DS9 used the honorific.