Science’s Silly Lexicon: Wacky Words to Brighten Your Day (and Casually Drop Into Conversation)

Most people would agree that science is a serious field, as studying the inner workings of the physical and natural world demands precision and relentless inquiry. One person’s findings become the foundation of another person’s next decade of work, and if that foundation is revealed to be faulty, you’re out of luck. You can’t wing a research experiment. You can’t just be ‘pretty sure’ you added an aliquot from vial A and not accidentally from vial B. You can’t just synthesize a drug that you think might work, or calculate the amount of fuel necessary to send a spaceship to Mars and cross your fingers that it will be enough. Precision matters and the work is serious. 

With that being said, STEM students and professionals deserve to let loose sometimes and have fun where we can. As a devout believer in the religion of Silly, I have immense appreciation for my predecessors in science who have chosen to permeate the studies of life with the wackiest of words, and I hope to share the joy that some of these words have given me with the rest of the science community. In this aim, I contacted some Georgetown University professors to inquire about their favorite wacky words, and I bring them to you here today. I hope we can all find ways to spontaneously incorporate these words into our daily lexicon; to brighten the lives of others and bask in the joy of scientific nomenclature.

Image Credit: Doctor holding human ear model to learn and treat hearing loss in patient. By manassanant.

---

Habenula perforata

Perhaps it is no coincidence that some of science’s wackiest words involve the study of the ear; the researchers of the auditory system have ensured that their studies be audibly exciting. Dr. Thomas Coate, an Associate Professor and Co-Director of Undergraduate Studies at Georgetown University’s Department of Biology, also happens to study what I’ve recently discovered to be a wacky-word treasure trove — the cochlea. This spiral-shaped, fluid-filled structure in the inner ear is unsurprisingly complicated and intricate. The cochlea is not only fascinating to study for its elaborate anatomical structure or crucial function in mediating human communication, but also for the neverending linguistic excitement it offers. 

Upon performing a quick search for ‘labeled cochlea’ you might find yourself pleasantly surprised, as I was, to learn of the ‘scala vestibuli,’ ‘tectorial membrane,’ or ‘spiral ganglion.’ One structure that artists often neglect from these diagrams, though, which perhaps only a cochlea expert like Dr. Coate himself would be acquainted with, is the ‘habenula perforata.’ In the grand scheme of the ear, these small perforations may appear insignificant, but their importance should not be underestimated. 

To reference the long-standing question Dr. Coate asked in my introductory Neurobiology course, “if a tree falls in an empty forest, does it make a sound?” In short, the answer is both yes and no. Sound, in its essence, is the periodic vibration of air molecules within a specific frequency range perceptible to the human brain. As such, sound waves can exist outside of human perception as vibrations of air, but the act of ‘hearing’ these oscillations requires a brain to process them. Returning to the habenula perforata, these perforations within the bony structure of the cochlea provide an opening for auditory nerve fibers to pass into the inner ear and innervate the hair cells that detect sound. If not for this seamless connection between our detection of sound as a physical sensation and the subsequent neural processing performed by our brain, we could not actually hear.

"1406 Cochlea" by OpenStax is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

---

Epiboly

Students who have taken an introductory biology course may recognize some of the embryonic development stages, namely morula, blastula, gastrulation, and neurulation, but these fun terms, it turns out, are just the beginning. Dr. Elena Silva, a professor in the Department of Biology at Georgetown University, studies neurodevelopment in the frog Xenopus laevis and the acorn worm Saccoglossus kowalevski (yes, full names included on purpose ;)). One of her favorite words in development, epiboly (pronounced epíbolee), describes the process of cell division, flattening, and expansion that occurs during the embryonic stage of gastrulation in order to enclose the embryo with a layer of cells called surface ectoderm. The surface ectoderm eventually gives rise to epidermis (the outer layer of skin), hair and nails, inner ear structures (perhaps including the habenula perforata?) and more. Epiboly is a highly important process that enables humans to develop the right structures in the right places at the right time.

"Zebrafish Yolk" by National Institutes of Health (NIH) is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0.

---

Tribbles

Although many terms receive their wackiness from the way they sound, a few scientists have actively sought to imbue their work with fun concepts from outside the science world. You may have heard about Sonic Hedgehog — the signaling molecule involved in the development of the central nervous system — but have you heard about Tribbles? To quote Professor Mun Chun Chan of Georgetown University’s Department of Biology, these creatures, which originate from the original Star Trek series, “are cute balls of fur that squeak, and everyone loves them… except Klingons.” Although Tribbles only used to only belong to the world of science fiction, when researchers Jörg Großhans and Eric Wieschaus discovered that a genetic mutation caused fly larvae to develop into furballs in May, 2000, they aptly named the corresponding protein after the Star Trek species. For further amusement, later papers studying this protein continued to reference its Star Trek origins, with several papers titled after the episode in which they first appeared: “The Trouble with Tribbles” (Season 2, Episode 15 if you’re interested).

---

Norbornane

Although the previous three words were gracious contributions from my professors, I couldn’t end without paying my respects to a personal favorite of mine. In addition to admiring some biology-related words, I wanted to shed light on the wackiness that exists in what many find to be a highly intimidating field — organic chemistry. 

While taking Organic Chemistry I, one word struck me particularly. It struck my exam performance as well, which, to tell you the truth, is how I first encountered the molecule ‘norbornane.’ If you’re familiar with the Phineas and Ferb meme in which Doofenshmirtz says “if I had a nickel for every time [insert event], I’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice,” you’ll understand my sentiment when after exam two, I was again deducted points for a problem pertaining to a seven-carbon bicyclic structure. Determined to never again let this carbon species defeat me, I went on a Google hunt for ‘hexene ring bridged bicyclic structure triangle,’ and was so delighted to discover the name of my nemesis — norbornane — that I named my plant after it. When my plant later died (unintentionally, of course), I grieved, but also took it as a sign that I had finally conquered my foe. Norbornane is used in various synthetic processes, and to those who have not yet taken organic chemistry, it is also commonly used by professors to trick students on stereochemistry-related problems. So beware!

"File:Norbornane-2D-skeletal.svg" by WhiteTimberwolf, Ben Mills (PNG version) is marked with CC0 1.0.

---

Example Ways to Incorporate These Words Into Your Daily Language:

These words may seem niche and irrelevant to your daily life, but I urge you to consider a different perspective. Oftentimes in my science lectures, the contrast between minute two, in which the professor is introducing the "key points" of the day's lecture, and minute 38, in which we are knee-deep into the study of a reaction pathway or biological process, can be extremely discouraging. It is in those moments, though, after moving past the surface-level material and truly entering the intricacies of life’s mechanisms, that we can really see its beauties, both metaphorically and literally. The four words I’ve highlighted may not be part of your everyday language, but they represent individual concepts that took years of research and inquiry to discover, and if you are open to learning about them, they’re right at your fingertips. 

Besides my love for learning wacky words, I truly enjoy finding creative ways to incorporate them into my daily language. The following are some hypothetical situations that I have contrived to help demonstrate how you can do the same.

“Are you even listening to me? It’s like words are going in one ear and coming out the other. Do you lack a habenula perforata?”

“I was so confused by today’s lecture! The professor was speaking but that information definitely did not reach my habenula perforata because I have no idea what she said.”

“Wow, I have so much work to do— I’m so all over the place I feel like I’m undergoing epiboly!”

“I’m so excited to finish college, pursue my career, and reach my fate! I’m like a developing embryonic cell— I’m undergoing epiboly, and I’m just about to reach my destination and discover my potential!”

“It’s so cold outside! Someone CRISPR a Tribbles mutation into me because I would really like to become a ball of fur!”

For Norbornane, I don’t have any great examples, but I can confidently say from experience that it makes an excellent plant name. I could see it being used for a fish, as well.