"Why is any object we don't understand always called a thing?"

[xvicente]

Well, what else should we call it then, Bones?

 

[Maurice]

An object. A cloud. A force. Etc.

Next question.

 

[Angry Fanboy]

Angry Fanboy

Just can't beat a friendly reply can you?

 

[OneBuckFilms]

Data: Ah, an Object, Cloud, Item, UFO, Unkown, Projectile, Anoma..

Picard: data ...

Data: ...ly.

 

[sbk1234]

McCoy sure sounds extra cantankerous in that scene. But given the fact that he was in a really bad mood when he beamed aboard, essentially being impressed into service by Kirk and Starfleet, I figure he was just looking for ANYTHING to complain about.

 

[MikeS]

McCoy sure sounds extra cantankerous in that scene. But given the fact that he was in a really bad mood when he beamed aboard, essentially being impressed into service by Kirk and Starfleet, I figure he was just looking for ANYTHING to complain about.

Impressed? I think he was far from impressed if I read that scene correctly.

 

[sbk1234]

He THOUGHT he was impressed, although that was a bit of intended exaggeration of the word.
"Your revered Admiral Nogura invoked a little-known, seldom-used reserve activation clause. In simple language, they drafted me!"

 

[R. Star]

"Why is it you don't ever do anything useful on the bridge but bitch about the situation we're in?"

 

[inflatabledalek]

I'd guess McCoy was just a bit sick of people going "What is that thing on your face?"

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Using the word thing could suggest a belief that the referred-to object might cause problems. I always thought that that prejudice was what McCoy was objecting to.

Also, cf The Thing from Another World.

 

[Greg Cox]

Well, what else should we call it then, Bones?

He's a doctor, not a thesaurus, damnit!

 

[Grant]

McCoy sure sounds extra cantankerous in that scene. But given the fact that he was in a really bad mood when he beamed aboard, essentially being impressed into service by Kirk and Starfleet, I figure he was just looking for ANYTHING to complain about.

Agree

 

[Melakon]

"Bones, there's a cosmic muffin out there."

"Why is anything we don't understand always called an edible foodstuff?"

 

[T'Girl]

Using the word thing could suggest a belief that the referred-to object might cause problems. I always thought that that prejudice was what McCoy was objecting to.

Ben Grimm from the fantastic four was really a sweet guy.

 

[Maurice]

One sense of "thing" is to express disapproval or contempt for something: "it's some Vulcan thing", the tone of which is what I suspect Bones was referring to.

 

[sbk1234]

I love how Kirk (in my view) knows that McCoy is in one of his moods, and doesn't even acknowledge the question.

 

[throwback]

Reading the script, I see the conversation as the banter between two friends. I see McCoy venting his frustration at someone he trusts and respects. I see Kirk knowing when to respond and when to let his friend vent. I wish that there been more revealed on what McCoy was doing before he was reactivated to explain his frustration.

 

[sbk1234]

In an earlier draft of the script, it's revealed that McCoy went into veterinary medicine. He said his patients didn't complain so much. I don't know how long that lasted in subsequent drafts.

Also, in Roddenberry's novelization of the TMP, I think he mentions that Bones has been studying Fabrini medicine.