# help! I went to the barber and he took out my tonsils! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 2, 2000, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-went-to-the-barber-and-he-took-out-my-tonsils/24367 "2000-07-02T13:59:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![labdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5fc32e/32.png) [@labdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/labdude)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2000, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-went-to-the-barber-and-he-took-out-my-tonsils/24367/1 "2000-07-02T13:59:25Z")
OK, seriously. I need help with a word origin. Tonsils-those thinks in the back of your throat. tonsilor-a person who cuts hair. how are these words related. My dictionary dosen’t say anything about the word origins. thanks ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2000, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-went-to-the-barber-and-he-took-out-my-tonsils/24367/2 "2000-07-02T14:41:09Z")
You think they have to be related just because they sound similar? Not necessarily ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2000, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-went-to-the-barber-and-he-took-out-my-tonsils/24367/3 "2000-07-02T14:43:17Z")
Neither [Britannica.com](http://Britannica.com) nor my dictionary have tonsilor as a word. IANALS (I am not a Latin scholar) but from looking around, Tonsil is from latin _tonsillae_. Maybe you’re thinking of Tonsorial, pertaining to a barber? Comes eventually from Latin _tonsus_, a different word, meaning to shear or clip. If you like this sort of thing, did you realize pen and pencil come from _different_ root words? Pen is from feather (penna), pencil is from penis. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2000, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-went-to-the-barber-and-he-took-out-my-tonsils/24367/4 "2000-07-02T14:45:09Z")
OOps , hit that "submit"button too soon. If you go here [http://www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm](http://www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm) you can see the origins of the words are from different latin words ---
**Author:** ![surel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@surel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/surel)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2000, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-went-to-the-barber-and-he-took-out-my-tonsils/24367/5 "2000-07-02T23:18:57Z")
Hmm I don’t know about the entymologies but I do recall that barbers used to be surgeons of a sort. The red and white barber pole symbolized bandages and blood. They mostly did blood-letting since that was such an approved treatment of the time, but if you needed your tonsils out perhaps an old-fashioned barber could do that. “If I slip while I am shaving I may cut you to the quick You can use me as a doctor for I also heal the sick” – Man of La Mancha ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2000, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-went-to-the-barber-and-he-took-out-my-tonsils/24367/6 "2000-07-03T05:33:11Z")
ZenBeam wrote: > [@](#): > > pencil is from penis. Hence the reason a male dog’s organ is shaped that way. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2000, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-went-to-the-barber-and-he-took-out-my-tonsils/24367/7 "2000-07-03T05:54:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > Hmm I don’t know about the entymologies but I do recall that barbers used to be surgeons of a sort. The red and white barber pole symbolized bandages and blood. They mostly did blood-letting since that was such an approved treatment of the time, but if you needed your tonsils out perhaps an old-fashioned barber could do that. > > “If I slip while I am shaving I may cut you to the quick > You can use me as a doctor for I also heal the sick” > – Man of La Mancha > \*\* –For the record barbers in the U.S. added blue as a patriotic gesture. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2000, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-went-to-the-barber-and-he-took-out-my-tonsils/24367/8 "2000-07-03T08:11:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\*–For the record barbers in the U.S. added blue as a patriotic gesture. > \*\* But the Japanese have copied even this pro-American (and anti-Japanese) gesture. They claim blue stands for venous blood.