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So, yesterday I was wandering around and something went by that referred to a "decapitated arm." Ever since then the hamster of the wordly part of my mind has been chewing on it.
A decapitated arm?
Let's see. Body minus head = decapitated body. Arm minus body = disembodied arm.
Arm minus head? Um, what would aliens who have heads coming off of their arms call that? If Zaphod Beeblebrox, for instance, went a step further in his cosmetic improvements and added an extra mini-head to his arm and then some governmental authority pronounced upon him the sentence of decapitation and he used that one for the one to be whacked off and then had to describe the condition of his arm later when a passerby innocently inquired why he had it bandaged up in a sling...?
Body minus bowels = disemboweled. Bowels minus body = ...er, detached? With bowels in place, I suppose a body could be described as being 'emboweled,' not that I've had occasion to note to a reader whether or not a character has that feature currently functioning in their body.
I can't say I can quite see using 'disembodied' for bowels. (*cue creepy sound effect* Madame Fluffhat shrieked in terror upon beholding the ghostly glowing disembodied bowels floating above the table.) Do bowels count as one (collective) body part the way an arm includes fingers or would it only work with specific portions (i.e. a disembodied liver)?
Tongue minus head = disembodied also? Is there a word for a head minus a tongue aside from "mute"? Would it be delinguated? I think we have to fall back on the inelegant but succinct "tongueless" there, similar to the way we would note a piece usually there is missing (The alien slapped down a wide, toeless foot), but it lacks the connotation that the missing piece was forcibly removed.
Which takes me back to the arm. What would you use to describe a disembodied arm that also has the connotation that it was disembodied by force, rather than just floating about as a glowing blue ghostly arm? Decapitated does have that sense, but what fits other parts when they are off on involuntary field trips of their own?
A decapitated arm?
Let's see. Body minus head = decapitated body. Arm minus body = disembodied arm.
Arm minus head? Um, what would aliens who have heads coming off of their arms call that? If Zaphod Beeblebrox, for instance, went a step further in his cosmetic improvements and added an extra mini-head to his arm and then some governmental authority pronounced upon him the sentence of decapitation and he used that one for the one to be whacked off and then had to describe the condition of his arm later when a passerby innocently inquired why he had it bandaged up in a sling...?
Body minus bowels = disemboweled. Bowels minus body = ...er, detached? With bowels in place, I suppose a body could be described as being 'emboweled,' not that I've had occasion to note to a reader whether or not a character has that feature currently functioning in their body.
I can't say I can quite see using 'disembodied' for bowels. (*cue creepy sound effect* Madame Fluffhat shrieked in terror upon beholding the ghostly glowing disembodied bowels floating above the table.) Do bowels count as one (collective) body part the way an arm includes fingers or would it only work with specific portions (i.e. a disembodied liver)?
Tongue minus head = disembodied also? Is there a word for a head minus a tongue aside from "mute"? Would it be delinguated? I think we have to fall back on the inelegant but succinct "tongueless" there, similar to the way we would note a piece usually there is missing (The alien slapped down a wide, toeless foot), but it lacks the connotation that the missing piece was forcibly removed.
Which takes me back to the arm. What would you use to describe a disembodied arm that also has the connotation that it was disembodied by force, rather than just floating about as a glowing blue ghostly arm? Decapitated does have that sense, but what fits other parts when they are off on involuntary field trips of their own?
