Hanger & NovaCare Merge

[OnwardMike at aol.com]

In a message dated 4/6/99 10:07:03 AM Pacific Daylight Time, 
phoenix2 at magicnet.net first quotes Wayne, in part, and then writes, in part:

<< RENARDWC at ctrvax.Vanderbilt.Edu wrote:
 
 > .....al from OANDP-L about consolidation. It is
 > important, believe it or not, and the ramifications will effect ALL of
 > us who use prosthetics.
 
 Yes, and even all of us who use prostheses (!)  :-) >>

Although I hate to reinitiate this discussion, George, I must note that Wayne 
is as correct as you are.  The first meaning, in my dictionary, of the noun 
"prosthetics" is "the branch of surgery or of dentistry that deals with the 
replacement of missing parts with artificial structures."

So Wayne could have been referring to prosthetics as one might refer to 
dentistry, meaning those who use *the services of those who practice* 
prosthetics.... or dentistry (with the phrase between the asterisks, above, 
understood but not stated.

So one can both use the device -- a prosthesis -- or the services of the 
discipline that produces the device -- prosthetics.  In fact, now that I 
think about it, Wayne is even more correct than you are, since the context 
for his post was the merger of Hanger and NovaCare -- a discussion more about 
service providers than about the devices they provide.

"How many nits can a nitwit pick, if a nitwit nit-picks nits?"  I, of course, 
am the nitwit, not you, George.  :)

Michael B.