Phlebotnum, a term coined by David Greenwalt according to Joss Whedon’s commentary for 1.02 The Harvest, means any magical or mystical force or event that arises in the process of inventing the Buffy mythology/ or advancing the plot. Joss mentions phlebotnum in his commentaries for Lessons and 7.22 Chosen, and David Greenwalt discusses it in another commentary, saying, “for god’s sake, don’t touch the phlebotnum in jar C!”
It may or may not be coincidence that the prefix ‘phleb-’ mean vein, and ‘phlebotomy’ is the practice of letting blood for transfusion, diagnosis or experiment. So ‘phlebotnum’, were it a word, would probably mean ‘blood’.
Related episodes: 1.02 The Harvest, 7.22 Chosen
Comments on this trivia
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cardboardy on May 3rd, 2006 at 7:00 am
Or more accurately, it would mean ‘the substance that flows in the veins’.
I like words.
MagicBone on May 4th, 2006 at 7:39 am
Muahaha! (mine is an evil laugh) Go ahead, touch that phlebotnum in jar C! Ah hahah!