Tricorder and tricord

[Benjamin Barrett]

In "Physics of the Future: how science will shape human destiny and our daily lives by the year 2100," Michio Kaku's predictions of the future include the miniaturization of the MRI machine to the size of a cell phone. His discussion includes mention of the tricorder (http://ow.ly/8cMe3), a word not found in the OED or AHD.

On December 16, the Seattle Times reported on an "all-in-one diagnostic tool." The article says:

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Medical researchers already have developed some of the tests they want to include in the all-in-one device, but more need to be developed, while pulling them together in one battery-powered "tricorder" will be the biggest challenge, said Dr. Peter Singer, chief executive officer of Grand Challenges Canada.
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The tricorder comes from the original Star Trek series (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tricorder), and the word has had amazing staying power. According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tricorder, tricorder technology improved between the original series and Next Generation, with modifications including a large touchscreen interface.

Smart phone users can download apps that simulate a tricorder. You can also purchase "real" tricorders, such as the one at http://www.stim.com/Stim-x/0996September/Sparky/tricorder.html that measures electromagnetic waves, weather, colors and light; it also gives you the stardate time.

Additionally, there are medical devices called tricorders, such as the one at http://www.labx.com/v2/spiderdealer2/vistaSearchDetails.cfm?LVid=11065179, which seems to measure blood flow.

Whether the word will be adopted as a general term for hand-held medical devices is yet to be seen, but the word surely deserves a place in our English dictionaries.

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As expected, the word has become a verb as well by way of back formation. Most hits are fan fiction or duplicates, but numbers 2 and 3 are not.

1. "Lifewish," Emma Woodhouse, 2 Aug 1996 (http://www.alara.net/trek/alt_fan_q/adult/Lifewish.txt)

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After turning their tricorded coordinates over to Torres' Engineering team, the two men reported to Sickbay for their post-away team scans.
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2. "There's a reason it's called a RIVERboat," Mitch (Kahn?), 3 July 2005 (http://mitchkahn.blogspot.com/2005/07/theres-reason-its-called-riverboat.html)

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With my handy-dandy Crackberry I tricorded the distance at a scant 30 miles from the airport.
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3. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdawg/3514453250/

This refers to someone who has had some sort of bioscan performed. Comments are from 32 months ago, c. April 2009

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Tim reacts to being Tricorded
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4. http://kylemehr.avx.pl/fanfic/viewstory.php?sid=17&chapter=5

Fan fiction apparently from 2010

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I went to retrieve a tricorder—a scanner, as they called it here—and tricorded, err, scanned the replicator.
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5. "The Zoalus," Prosetto, 3 Apr 2011 (http://martianinstarfleet.wordpress.com/the-zoalus/)

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Sal wished that he could have tricorded them so that he could examine them in detail now.
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6. http://archiveofourown.org/works/196550; 8 May 2011

Star Trek fan fiction:

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“Did I get tricorded?”
“You totally did.”
“Did you get tricorded?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s it feel like?”
Kyle thinks for a moment. “It’s like going through an electrical storm with your shield up. A really lightweight static charge.”
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A curious use of "tricord" shows up in March 2008, meaning to record a screen:

"EcoQuest-2-Lost-Secret-of-the-Rainforest," Part 5, Adam (http://lparchive.org/EcoQuest-2-Lost-Secret-of-the-Rainforest/Update%205/)

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Also, I tricorded some Leaf-cutter ants on the tree, but I'm not going to bother uploading a picture of that....
I tricorded a bunch of shit and it won't fit into a gif, so here's a little list:
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He also uses it in part 6 (http://lparchive.org/EcoQuest-2-Lost-Secret-of-the-Rainforest/Update%206/):

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I tricorded the Darter bird in the bottom corner, along with the Liana and the Canopy.
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A separate meaning of "tricorded" (adjective) also exists, unrelated to medical technology:

"Saints and their symbols: recognizing saints in art and in popular images," Fernando Lanzi, Gioia Lanz, Liturgical Press, 2004, p. 107 (http://ow.ly/8cN1c)

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Other attributes are a baby in a crib, that is a reminder of the boy who acclaimed him, and a tricorded whip, which is perhaps also an allusion to the Trinity, which he defneded against the Arian heresy.
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Benjamin Barrett
Seattle, WA

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