'X' is for 'X-ray' and 'X marks the spot' - abc-Wednesday, Round 6 - 'X' / Alphabe-Thursday -'X'

Roentgen's photo of Albert von Koelliker's
hand from January 23rd, 1896.

It is Tuesday, June 29th and both Mrs. Denise Nesbitt's abc-Wednesday and Mrs. Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday have the letter 'X' as this week's assignment. My first X-word is X-ray. Since here is a shortage of X-words, I suspect that many participants will choose this word as a solution to this challenge. I choose the word X-ray with mixed feelings, because it is an area of study for which I have absolutely no prerequisites. I was rotten in school when it came to the subject Physics. It will be interesting to see how others present their X-words!
But thanks to Wikipedia, maybe I will be able to get through this alright.

X-rays

If I were writing this post in Swedish, the subjects of rays used to make plates showing the insides of our bodies, would not belong to the X-words, but rather the R-words, as the Swedish language follows the German usage of the term 'Roentgen-picture' after Wilhelm Roentgen. Wikipedia explains here:

German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen is usually credited as the discoverer of X-rays because he was the first to systematically study them, though he is not the first to have observed their effects. He is also the one who gave them the name "X-rays", though many referred to these as "Roentgen rays" for several decades after their discovery.

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X-ray pictures are now standard procedure for many medical emergencies such as suspected broken bones, and are also an indispensable tool for dentists, who need to see what the roots of teeth look like.

I usually try to find a personal angle to my alphabet-word-stories, but this one is in many way a very difficult assignment. I have tried to find a small x-ray-picture of my teeth, but cannot locate it here at home. So there will not be any illustration here. My maternal grandfather was a dentist. When I was about eight years old, he told me about the uses and the dangers of X-rays, showing his equipment, the 'X-ray-gun' itself and the lead shields. It was and still is important for dentists to be careful about not being overly exposed to X-rays.

My mother told me this horrible story (that my grandfather deemed unsuitable for an eight-year-old) about a dentist, in the early days of X-ray-pictures, that had held the film plates in place in the mouths of his patients every day and over-exposed himself so much, that his index finger had to be amputated. This is why the X-ray-film-plates are enclosed in a plastic casing with a flap that you can bite down on. No one needs to hold it in place with a finger.

I am not going to explain the technical part of X-rays. I don't know enough about it. But for those who would like to know more about how X-rays work, please read what Wikipedia has on the subject here.

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My other X-word is 'X marks the spot', the X on treasure-maps that the children draw when they are playing pirates. This is a map that six-year-old Elisabet has just drawn for me.

Happy treasure-hunting!!!

Anna

First Commenter:
Alesa Warcan

For more X-words at Mrs. Nesbitt's abcWednesday please click here.
For more X-words at Mrs. Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday please click here.