the.com/knuckles
the body's built-in percussion section, cracking out a symphony nobody asked for
means The knuckles are the rounded joints of your fingers where the bones meet, the bumps that stand up when you make a fist.
from From Middle English 'knokel,' a diminutive meaning 'little bone' or 'small joint,' related to the broader Germanic family of 'knock'-type words for small rounded lumps — you can hear its cousins in Dutch 'knokkel' and German 'Knöchel' (ankle/bone). Originally it could mean any joint, including the knee or knuckle of an animal's leg, before it settled onto the hand.
- crack source
- Popping nitrogen bubbles in joint fluid, not bones
- no arthritis
- Decades of cracking shown harmless in studies
- refractory period
- Can't crack again for about 20 minutes
- white-knuckle
- Fear drains blood from gripping fingers
- sega icon
- A red echidna borrowed the name in 1994
knuckles the echidna — sonic the hedgehog character since 1994, guardian of the master emerald
bare knuckle boxing — jack johnson defeated jim jeffries in 1910, heavyweight champion fight in reno, nevada
knuckle sandwich — slang term for a punch in the face, popularized in 1960s american culture