Although rabbits were used for all manner of research, the “rabbit test” became synonymous with pregnancy screenings, and the phrase “the rabbit died” entered common usage as a euphemistic way of saying someone was pregnant (even though the rabbit always died during the test).
The rabbit test became a widely used bioassay (animal-based test) to test for pregnancy. The term "rabbit test" was first recorded in 1949, and was the origin of a common euphemism, "the rabbit died", for a positive pregnancy test. The phrase was, in fact, based on a common misconception about the test.
Rabbits were so commonly used that pregnancy tests generally became known as rabbit tests, and "the rabbit died" meant that someone was pregnant - although the rabbit was killed in either case. It was mistakenly believed that the rabbit only died if the test was positive.
Definitions of rabbit test. pregnancy test that involves injecting some of the woman's urine into an unmated female rabbit and later examining the ovaries of the rabbit; presence of corpora lutea indicates that the woman is pregnant. synonyms: Friedman test. type of: pregnancy test.
Today, we know this medical discipline as urinalysis. In the early 1930s, Dr. Maurice Friedman made a fascinating discovery at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. He found that he could detect whether or not a woman was pregnant by injecting her urine into a female rabbit.
Nineteenth Century
Scientists did not know enough about pregnancy to develop a reliable test. However, for sexually active women, the best method for diagnosing pregnancy remained careful observation of their own physical signs and symptoms (such as morning sickness).
A lady frog, to be specific. In the 1930s, a British scientist named Lancelot Hogben made a discovery that would change the course of reproductive history. The experimental zoologist found that injecting the urine of a pregnant human into the frog's hind leg worked as an effective pregnancy test.
According to the Farmers' Almanac, the phrase goes back to at least 1909, when a British periodical featured a girl who said “Rabbits!” on the first day of each month for good luck. President Roosevelt also reportedly rabbited every month without fail.
: to talk for too long about something that is not important or interesting. often + about. He rabbited on about all his problems.
– Why are people posting the term “Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit,” on social media? The term is trending on Google and Twitter. The odd phrase is a way of wishing for good luck. The first words out of your mouth after waking up should be “Rabbit” or “White Rabbit” on the first day of the month.
(dated, slang) To get a positive test result from an old-fashioned pregnancy test. "What about her?" "She killed the rabbit."
By the 1940s, scientists had replaced rabbits with the African clawed frog. The test worked the same way as before, except that frogs laid their eggs externally. While researchers needed to kill and dissect the rabbits, they could instead just look at the ovulation in frogs.
But that, too, changed in the 1970s (1971 in Canada, 1977 in the US) when the first at-home pregnancy test hit the market, using this same blood-and-antibody technology. This test looked like a kid's chemistry kit, including test tubes, droppers, dried capsules of sheep's blood cells, and hCG antibody serum.
Ostensibly formed to protect the immigrant Irish underclass against the nativist Bowery Boys, The Dead Rabbits were also a criminal organization with extensive connections in New York politics. Their leader, John Morrissey, lived 100 lives in one.
Loafing is when your rabbit fluffs up into a ball and looks like a loaf of bread. This is generally a comfortable position for rabbits and they'll often sleep in this position, especially in the colder months. This is a neutral position for a rabbit.
The Black Rabbit of Inlé is the grim reaper of the rabbit world who takes rabbits away at their predestined times of death. He lives in a warren of stone on earth, inhabited by dead rabbits and filled with disease, death, and sadness beyond imagining.
Noun. (slang) A club hostess or other female entertainer wearing a sexually provocative outfit with rabbit-like ears and tail.
a person who is in a hurry and complaining of being late, like the White Rabbit character in the children's story 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' by Lewis Carroll. He was late, damnably late!
What does ? Rabbit emoji mean? The Rabbit emoji ? depicts a rabbit facing to the left. It is commonly used to represent real and fictional rabbits and bunnies, spring, and Easter. The use of the Rabbit emoji ? drastically increases in the weeks leading up to Easter, which is a movable holiday commemorated each spring.
Australian and New Zealand Slang. a person imposed upon or made a fool of; victim.
Calm, Kind, Tender, Faithful
Female people born in the Year of the Rabbit are calm, kind, tender and innocent in love. Their attitude towards relationship is quite easy: They will never accept anyone they do not love, even deeply touched by someone. So people should give up soon once rejected by them.
It means “to talk volubly, to chatter; to speak or write at length, without saying anything important.” For example, “Someone who 'rabbits' all the time is one who never stops talking.” The term come from “to rabbit and pork”, meaning to talk. (
The tests worked by isolating the male toads from females for up to three weeks until sperm production ceased. A suspected pregnant woman's urine was then centrifuged and mixed with pure alcohol before being injected into the male toads, which, if confirming pregnancy, produced sperm.
By the 1990s, testing technology had advanced to the point where home kits finally began to resemble the ones used today. The mixing chemical kits were replaced with a simple test strip with a hand-held applicator, and results were indicated in approximately 10 minutes.
The African clawed frog, as its better known today, was imported around the world for its use in pregnancy tests. Doctors would ship urine samples to frog labs, where technicians would inject female frogs with a bit of the urine into their hind leg.