[SPAM] neck or throat?
Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2007 2:12 am
Unfortunately English in common use is not exact about a number of words we use to describe the body.
The neck is 'that part of a human or animal joining the head to the body, including the part of the backbone between the skull and the shoulders'. However it is also 'the narrowest part of any object or organ' (the neck of the violin, the neck of the uterus, etc.).
The throat may be 'the front part of the neck', or 'the upper part of the passage leading from the mouth and nose to the stomach and lungs, including the pharynx, the upper larynx, trachea, and esophagus'.
You'll also see the someone come in with a 'stomach ache' - when it has nothing to do with the organ we call the stomach - but can be an ache or pain anywhere below the diaphragm.
The neck is 'that part of a human or animal joining the head to the body, including the part of the backbone between the skull and the shoulders'. However it is also 'the narrowest part of any object or organ' (the neck of the violin, the neck of the uterus, etc.).
The throat may be 'the front part of the neck', or 'the upper part of the passage leading from the mouth and nose to the stomach and lungs, including the pharynx, the upper larynx, trachea, and esophagus'.
You'll also see the someone come in with a 'stomach ache' - when it has nothing to do with the organ we call the stomach - but can be an ache or pain anywhere below the diaphragm.