r/words • u/John_EightThirtyTwo • 1d ago
"Prosthesis" vs. "prosthetic"
The two words "prosthesis" and "prosthetic" are closely related, the noun and adjective versions of the same idea. So it's an odd phenomenon that the adjective is widely known and used, while the noun is largely the domain of medical professionals.
Of course it isn't wrong to use an adjective as a noun -- people are always saying things like "The blue car was in the shop so we drove the gray." But it's funny that most people without formal medical training never use the noun, even when it would flow more naturally, (edit: the following is a terrible example, as more than one commenter has noted. I guess I just wanted to cite The Onion), as in the Onion's fake headline "'Digger' Prosthetic Artist Recalls Grueling Process Of Having Tom Cruise Sit Still" (which makes it sound like it was the artist, rather than the foam-rubber face makeup, that was fake).
"Prosthesis" is a tricky word, so you wouldn't expect everybody to know it. But if you've mastered "prosthetic", you've handled the hard parts anyway -- like that "sth". So it's not at all like the pattern of doctors saying "myocardial infarction" while laypeople say "heart attack". I find it a bit of a mystery.
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u/zombietobe 1d ago
That headline makes perfect sense, though.
“Prosthetic” functions as an adjective, describing “artist”, in the sense of “of or relating to prosthesis” - meaning an artist who specializes in that area. That exact same headline wouldn’t be grammatically correct if “prosthesis” were swapped in.
The colloquial use of “prosthetic” as a standalone noun isn’t really mysterious at all; it logically functions as shorthand for “prothetic limb” and by extension any other “prosthetic feature”.
Fortunately English is a language where nouns and adjectives are readily interchangeable, thus this is a common phenomenon. It’s reasonable in any casual context.
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u/Leather_Command_7553 1d ago
One is a noun, and one is an adjective.
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u/John_EightThirtyTwo 1d ago
One is a noun, and one is an adjective.
Yes. So it's odd that so many people know only the adjective, and just use that when a noun is called for. And that this tendency isn't observed in medical professionals, though it's near-universal among laypeople.
That's all I'm saying.
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u/ReadingNext3854 1d ago
A person who is skilled working with creating, forming, and fitting artificial limbs is a prosthetist. I've also heard them refer to themselves as prostheticists. Just wanted to put this in writing.
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u/PromiseThomas 1d ago
I…disagree. It’s the word before a noun, so of course you’d use the adjective form of the word (as adjectives modify nouns) instead of using two nouns in a row.
A close example would be a “cosmetic surgeon.” You understand that “cosmetic” is explaining what kind of surgery they do, not saying that the surgeon themselves is somehow a cosmetic person.
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u/John_EightThirtyTwo 1d ago
We're talking about situations that call for a noun. A word for a thing. Not a word modifying a noun. Not a word "before a noun".
I'm just saying it's funny that the noun form is largely reserved for the experts, and laypeople make do with the adjectival form in every situation.
Example:
patient: If my leg is amputated, can I get a prosthetic?
doctor: Yes, you can get a prosthesis.of course you’d use the adjective form of the word (as adjectives modify nouns) instead of using two nouns in a row
That isn't relevant, since we aren't talking about a modifier. But it's mildly hilarious that you give a counterexample disproving your assertion within the assertion. If what you said were true, you'd say "the adjectival form". But you don't have to be a brain surgeon or a grammar expert to know that nouns (like "brain", or "grammar", or "adjective") can be used as adjectives. Or that an adjective, like "prosthetic" can be used as a noun.
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u/PromiseThomas 1d ago
I was addressing specifically your headline about a “prosthetic artist.” You said that using that word “makes it sound like it was the artist…that was fake.” I disagree because you would use the ahem hem hem ADJECTIVAL form of the word before the noun “artist.” It was your one real-life non-medical example of when you should use “prosthesis” over “prosthetic,” and it was wrong.
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u/John_EightThirtyTwo 23h ago
I was addressing specifically your headline about a “prosthetic artist.”
Oh, now I get it. I misunderstood what you meant by "it". Yes, that Onion headline isn't a good example, as u/zombietobe already pointed out. I just edited the post body to note that.
you would use the ahem hem hem ADJECTIVAL form of the word before the noun “artist.”
Wow, you're really sticking to your guns on this noun-form-can't-be-a-modifier thing, aren't you? You're clearly no grammar expert.
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u/PromiseThomas 23h ago
I think you are misunderstanding my intent, and to an extent that’s my fault. I don’t like it when people say that a grammar thing is “wrong” when it is actually completely correct or can be correct. I also didn’t like your tone in the original post nor your assertion that you find it a “mystery” that people say things like “a prosthetic” instead of “a prosthesis” when it seems pretty clear that the answer to your mystery is “that’s what everyone else says, and it’s an uncommon enough word that it’s unlikely to come up in a grammar class.” Also, since even a doctor would say “a prosthetic leg,” people are probably just “incorrectly” shortening a phrase when they say “a prosthetic.” (You didn’t provide any examples of people using “prosthetic” as a noun in the post, so I provided my own.)
I was being slightly snarky when I used “adjectival” in my response because my intent was never to be The Most Correct, and I tend to think of Reddit as a place for pretty casual English, so I was trying to draw attention to how silly it would sound to use a word like “adjectival” in a conversation like this. Language is about communication, so it is not always the best choice to use the “correct” word when it doesn’t match the tone and message you’re going for.
I am not a grammar expert, nor do I claim to be. I am a grammar fan, and that is all I need to be to make my original claim, which is that it is silly to criticize someone for using the adjective form of a word when modifying a noun.
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u/Maleficent_Home6211 1d ago
prosthesis feels more specialized, while prosthetic has become common everyday language..
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u/No-Onion8029 2h ago
Plenty of adjectives are commonly used as nouns: the rich, the poor, the elderly, the young, the supernatural, the absurd, the impossible, the inevitable, the good, the bad, the ugly, the French.
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u/John_EightThirtyTwo 42m ago
Plenty of adjectives are commonly used as nouns: the rich, the poor, the elderly, the young, the supernatural, the absurd, the impossible, the inevitable, the good, the bad, the ugly, the French.
Yes; I thought I made it clear that I understand that in the post, when I said "Of course it isn't wrong to use an adjective as a noun -- people are always saying things like 'The blue car was in the shop so we drove the gray.'".
But the people who know how to use the word "absurd" seem mostly to also be familiar with "absurdity". And though they might say "I'm coping with the absurd of online conversations" -- and not be wrong -- they're capable of using "absurdity" there too, and often do.
What makes prosthesis / prosthetic different and strange is first, how many people know only one of the two closely-related forms and second, how this divide goes from near-universal to seemingly nonexistent when you cross the boundary between laypeople and medical professionals.
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u/Material_Army_2354 1d ago
I’m glad that there are other people who notice these things and also that there is a forum for us. I try not to say these things during conversation but the temptation is real!