post-mortem human subjects

[Paul Frank]

Here's a trivium for you: If you Google "post-mortem human subjects"
(NIOED*) you'll get 26,000 googlits. Also called "PMHS". These are
cadavers used in crash tests. NASA is fond of this euphemism, as I've
just learned from Mary Roach's wonderful Packing for Mars: The Curious
Science of Life in the Void.

*NIOED: Not in OED as far as I can tell. I'm going to start using this
abbreviation. Or maybe not.

Paul

P.S. How come people don't singularize the word "trivia"?

Paul Frank
Translator
Chinese, German, French, Italian > English
Espace de l'Europe 16
Neuchâtel, Switzerland
paulfrank at bfs.admin.ch
paulfrank at post.harvard.edu

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