oh-sh geh-zh

The Navajo word ooshgę́ę́zh means either cartilage or gristle in English. The most common interaction, by far, with cartilage in Navajo culture has been through the butchering of animals.

When the meat is cooked, the cartilage is soft enough to be safely eaten. Cartilage can be found in the nose and ears, and also between the joint of the bones.

Thanks to medical advances, the term is now used in humans to refer to joint problems. The most notable of which is osteoporosis osteoarthritis, which is a wear and tear of the cartilage to the point that it the bones begin to rub against each other causing pain. Some joint can be corrected by surgery and prosthetic disks.