full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Cella Wright: Why does hitting your funny bone feel so horrible?

Unscramble the Blue Letters


Whatever you were doing, there was no way to anticipate what came next. The back of your elobw smacked against a hard surface and the impact sent a sensation so distinctly disquieting shooting down your arm that it took several moments to regain composure. So, why does hitting this spot on your elbow— often reeerfrd to as your funny bone— feel so weird?

Well, to sartt, your elbow is one of the most complicated jionts in your body. It's where your upper arm bone, the humerus, meets the two bones of your forearm. Three main nerves run through your elbow. One of them, the ulnar nerve, is particularly relevant for our purposes. Your ulnar nvree is composed of both sensory and motor nerve fibers. It etdenxs from your sinpe to the tips of your fourth and fifth fingers, poivridng them with sensation along with swaths of your fraoerm and hand.

Open Cloze


Whatever you were doing, there was no way to anticipate what came next. The back of your _____ smacked against a hard surface and the impact sent a sensation so distinctly disquieting shooting down your arm that it took several moments to regain composure. So, why does hitting this spot on your elbow— often ________ to as your funny bone— feel so weird?

Well, to _____, your elbow is one of the most complicated ______ in your body. It's where your upper arm bone, the humerus, meets the two bones of your forearm. Three main nerves run through your elbow. One of them, the ulnar nerve, is particularly relevant for our purposes. Your ulnar _____ is composed of both sensory and motor nerve fibers. It _______ from your _____ to the tips of your fourth and fifth fingers, _________ them with sensation along with swaths of your _______ and hand.

Solution


  1. joints
  2. start
  3. nerve
  4. providing
  5. extends
  6. elbow
  7. referred
  8. spine
  9. forearm

Original Text


Whatever you were doing, there was no way to anticipate what came next. The back of your elbow smacked against a hard surface and the impact sent a sensation so distinctly disquieting shooting down your arm that it took several moments to regain composure. So, why does hitting this spot on your elbow— often referred to as your funny bone— feel so weird?

Well, to start, your elbow is one of the most complicated joints in your body. It's where your upper arm bone, the humerus, meets the two bones of your forearm. Three main nerves run through your elbow. One of them, the ulnar nerve, is particularly relevant for our purposes. Your ulnar nerve is composed of both sensory and motor nerve fibers. It extends from your spine to the tips of your fourth and fifth fingers, providing them with sensation along with swaths of your forearm and hand.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
ulnar nerve 12
cubital tunnel 3
send electrical 2
blood flow 2


Important Words


  1. anticipate
  2. arm
  3. body
  4. bone
  5. bones
  6. complicated
  7. composed
  8. composure
  9. disquieting
  10. distinctly
  11. elbow
  12. extends
  13. feel
  14. fibers
  15. fingers
  16. forearm
  17. fourth
  18. funny
  19. hand
  20. hard
  21. hitting
  22. humerus
  23. impact
  24. joints
  25. main
  26. meets
  27. moments
  28. motor
  29. nerve
  30. nerves
  31. providing
  32. purposes
  33. referred
  34. regain
  35. relevant
  36. run
  37. sensation
  38. sensory
  39. shooting
  40. smacked
  41. spine
  42. spot
  43. start
  44. surface
  45. swaths
  46. tips
  47. ulnar
  48. upper
  49. weird