I thought it came from "sawbones" which is already an antiquated word so never sat right with me as the explanation. So I was happy for a new origin. It also sounded very Dr. McCoy.
"Into Darkness" Novelization Announced
- Thread starter Devon
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Yes, I was under the impression that back in the day military doctors were nicknamed Bones, which was derived from sawbones.
And honestly, that explanation sat fine with me and will continue to be what I tell people when they ask where the nickname comes from, Trek XI be damned.
It doesn't contradict it at all. It adds to it!
Most nicknames stick for a reason. They can mean more than just one thing to people. Sometimes nicknames fall by the wayside, sometimes they inexplicably stick.
For example, one of my nicknames is "Eenie", because a young girl I used to babysit couldn't pronounce "Ian". But... it also made my family recall the old "Rocky and Bullwinkle Show" of decades ago, specifically the skit where Bullwinkle is trying to do magic and says, "Eenie weenie, jelly beanie." So the "Eenie" nickname stuck because it meant more than just one thing to us.
A few years later, after I'd became an adventurous adult and moved out of home, a different friend perverted my nickname to "Easy". To her, it was an hilarious in-joke about a conversation we'd once had about people we knew only becoming sexually active after moving away from home. No one else ever got the joke.
Kirk brings together his very first conversation with the doctor and the old "sawbones" reputation of doctors in general: a new nickname is born that sticks.
By the way, according to the writers' guide for "The Cage" pilot and the series premise, Dr Boyce was also nicknamed "Bones".
No, Urban improvised the line in his audition and JJ and the writers loved it and added the line to the script.
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