Why Dr. Leonard McCoy Is Called Bones In The Star Trek Franchise

Trekkies and non-Trekkies alike know that Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) referred to the U.S.S. Enterprise's chief medical officer, Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley) as "Bones." The two characters were good friends, so it made sense that they should have nicknames for each other. Indeed, Dr. McCoy more frequently referred to Kirk as "Jim" than "Captain." Among the senior staff, non-mission-based conversations were kept casual. 

Why was Dr. McCoy called "Bones?" It comes from "Old Sawbones," a nickname given to all doctors in the mid-19th century. The term originated in 1836 in the pages of Charles Dickens' first novel "The Pickwick Papers." During various wars of the era, you see, doctors were frequently called to the front to tend to wounded soldiers. In many cases, the soldiers' wounds were not being treated, and became infected with gangrene. Doctors, not having modern surgical equipment or sterilization methods, had to amputate limbs to prevent the infections from spreading. Some doctors were able to saw through a leg — no anesthesia! — in less than a minute. They sawed through bones. Sawbones. Bones. 

The term "Sawbones" or "Bones" was in common enough parlance in the 1960s that viewers of "Star Trek" would have been able to understand it. One might argue that "Star Trek" co-opted the colloquialism, having become more popular in the pop consciousness than the term. By the 1970s, no doctor was called Bones, as it would sound like a mere reference to Dr. McCoy and not a slang term left over from the Civil War. 

As such, as time crept forward, and a new generation of Trekkies was born, the origin of the term "Bones" became slightly obscure. Many still knew the term "Sawbones" from cultural osmosis, but many didn't. Indeed, even the writers of newer "Star Trek" projects eventually forgot the origin of Dr. McCoy's nickname.

In reading this article, dear reader, you are officially more educated than Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, the screenwriters of J.J. Abrams' 2009 "Star Trek" reboot film. That film featured a new explanation as to why Kirk called McCoy "Bones" ... and it's really stupid.

The 2009 "Star Trek" film was set before the events of the original series, back when Kirk and McCoy were young bucks, still building their Starfleet careers. The film boasted a younger, hotter cast of familiar characters, and featured the first-time meetings of most of them. Kirk (Chris Pine) was shipping off to Starfleet Academy in a cramped transport vessel when he met first Dr. McCoy. As Abrams' film dramatizes it, Dr. McCoy (Karl Urban) was reluctant to board, as he was convinced the transport vessel was going to break down. He explained in detail that the vacuum of space can kill you. Kirk interjects, pointing out that Starfleet is stationed mostly in space. 

McCoy replies by saying "Yeah, well, I got nowhere else to go. The ex-wife took the whole damn planet in the divorce. All I got left is my bones." He then takes a pull from a flask. Kirk looks meaningfully at Dr. McCoy, perhaps internalizing the word "Bones," knowing it would become a nickname.

This is unbearably stupid. If Trekkies already knew about "Sawbones," clearly the makers of "Trek" '09 didn't. Someone in a 2009 writer's room somewhere, clearly unfamiliar with "Star Trek," may have idly asked why Captain Kirk referred to Dr. McCoy as "Bones," and no one else in the room had an answer. As such, they wrote a scene postulating where it might have come from. Surely, those writers thought, the nickname stemmed from a clever in-joke between the men. They then wrote a scene explaining the in-jokes. 

Only it wasn't an in-joke. It was an extant slang term. 

You now have permission to yell cuss words and throw popcorn the next time you watch J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek." Trekkies love to nitpick — it's a national sport for us — and this is one of the biggest nits one can pick. Pick that nit out of the macaque's back hair, hold it up for the world to see, and then snarf it down with savor.