Let me see your rabbit!

When I was a little boy my friends and I would frequently challenge each other by saying, "Make a muscle with your arm and let's see which one has a bigger muscle". Then we would roll up our sleeves and flex our biceps and compare muscles with one another. In Mexico, however, the little boys (and sometimes big boys) don't say that. Instead they say "A ver tu conejo" or "Let's see your rabbit", the word "rabbit" in this case being synonymous with bicep as in "músculo del conejo" or "rabbit muscle". Why is this? Well, the best explanation that I can find is that he term "biceps brachii" by which the biceps muscle is known in medical terms is a Latin phrase meaning "two-headed muscle of the arm". This stems from the fact that the fact that the biceps muscle actually consists of two bundles of muscle, each with its own origin, sharing a common insertion point near the elbow joint. If you "make a muscle" with your biceps and turn your wrist one way and then the other way your bisceps muscle appears to run up and down your arm...like a rabbit.

Okay, if you don't believe me then put it to a test. The next time that you encounter a little Mexican boy say to him "A ver to conejo" and then watch him flex his arm and show off his biceps muscle. Hey...and don't forget to be impressed!