Seldom-Used Words

[Handley_Page]

Originally Posted by rapthaysoos

Effluvium, caldera and meridian.

Originally Posted by AllardChardon

Welcome, raythaysoos, that is an interesting grouping of words. I prefer the posters on this thread to supply the definition along with the entry, but I am not a stickler for details.

Permit me, Madam:

effluvium [L, f. effluere, f. EF- + fluere to flow: see -IUM.]
1 A flowing out. M17-E18.
2 Chiefly Hist. An outflow or stream of imperceptible particles, esp. as supposedly transmitting electrical or magnetic influence etc. M17.
3 An (esp. unpleasant) exhalation affecting the lungs or the sense of smell.


caldera /klder, -dr/ n. L17. [Sp. f. late L caldaria pot for boiling.]
A volcanic crater of great size; spec. one whose breadth greatly exceeds that of the vent(s) within it.


meridian /mrdn/ n. LME.
1 Midday, noon. Long rare. LME.
2 a A midday rest, a siesta. obs. exc. Hist. LME.
b A midday drink. Sc. obs. exc. Hist. L18.
3 The point at which the sun or a star attains its highest altitude; the zenith. arch. LME.
b fig. The point or period of highest development or perfection; full splendour; one's prime of life.
4 The south. LME-E17.
5 Astron. & Geogr. A great circle of the celestial sphere which passes through the celestial poles and the zenith of a given place on the earth's surface, or the great circle of the earth which lies in the same plane; that half of the latter circle which extends from pole to pole through a place, corresponding to a line of longitude. Also, a line (on a map, globe, etc.) representing one of these. LME.
b A graduated ring or half-ring within which an artificial globe is suspended. M17.
c Geom. Any great circle of a sphere that passes through the poles; any line on a surface of revolution that is in a plane with its axis. E18.
6 transf. & fig. A distinctive locality, situation, or character; the tastes, habits, capacities, etc., of a particular set of people etc. L16.
7 Acupuncture. Any of the pathways in the body along which energy is said to flow, esp. each of a set of twelve associated with specific organs.

PS. I seem to recall that Yellowstone is on a Caldera.
All from the Oxford.

[oggbashan]

Meridian (as a drink).

It is a rule of polite society (and Royal Navy wardrooms) that one should not partake of an alcoholic drink before the sun is over the yardarm i.e. not before noon.

The US Navy does not need such a rule. Their ships are dry. Royal Navy ships are awash with duty free alcohol...

Which is why US Naval Officers visit Royal Navy ships more often than vice versa.

[trysail]

Originally Posted by oggbashan

Meridian (as a drink).

It is a rule of polite society (and Royal Navy wardrooms) that one should not partake of an alcoholic drink before the sun is over the yardarm i.e. not before noon.

The US Navy does not need such a rule. Their ships are dry. Royal Navy ships are awash with duty free alcohol...

Which is why US Naval Officers visit Royal Navy ships more often than vice versa.

When the Royal Navy visited my home as part of the Tall Ships celebration in 1976 ( the U.S. Bicentennial ), it became patently obvious that there was no such thing as a dry ship.


I actually felt sorry for those fellows; the morning after must have been pure agony.

[Handley_Page]

Originally Posted by trysail

When the Royal Navy visited my home as part of the Tall Ships celebration in 1976 ( the U.S. Bicentennial ), it became patently obvious that there was no such thing as a dry ship.


I actually felt sorry for those fellows; the morning after must have been pure agony.

Only for the ill-prepared

[CarlusMagnus]

Originally Posted by oggbashan

Meridian (as a drink).

It is a rule of polite society (and Royal Navy wardrooms) that one should not partake of an alcoholic drink before the sun is over the yardarm i.e. not before noon.

The US Navy does not need such a rule. Their ships are dry. Royal Navy ships are awash with duty free alcohol...

Which is why US Naval Officers visit Royal Navy ships more often than vice versa.

Well, of course the Queen's ships aren't dry.

How could they drink to the Queen's health if they were?

[rapthaysoos]

Ahh, but making people look up words means they're more likely to remember.

Thrapple's a fine word, not used nearly enough. Effectively another word for throat.

Concomitant. A phenomenon that naturally accompanies or follows something.

Divest. You all here should know meaning of this word.

[AllardChardon]

Thank you, posters, for your contributions. I learned a little more about sailing and alcohol consumption, a subject I find to be very interesting.

phytology - noun BOTANY

[lovecraft68]

Foibles

I came out with this the other day and my daughter thought I made it up. My other daughter then had to add to it and say "foibles" were probably aliens from some lame book I'd read.

[oggbashan]

Originally Posted by trysail

When the Royal Navy visited my home as part of the Tall Ships celebration in 1976 ( the U.S. Bicentennial ), it became patently obvious that there was no such thing as a dry ship.


I actually felt sorry for those fellows; the morning after must have been pure agony.

It is an essential requirement to be in the Royal Navy that one can drink like a Lord and still be competent as a seaman. That applies to all ranks.

Until the Rum issue was ceased, after a successful engagement with an enemy, it was customary to 'splice the mainbrace' i.e. issue grog to all hands.

At the Battle of Waterloo it was assumed that most of the Royal Navy ships' crews were full of rum. They still loaded and fired their cannon faster and more effectively than the French and Spanish. Perhaps the rum was a painkiller? Rum was used as an ineffective anaesthetic for surgery after the battle.

[AllardChardon]

Og, I have certainly used liquor, my favorite is Patron XO Cafe, to fend off the cold we experience here in the mountains during winter. Cold ocean air can be just as uncomfortable, as I recall. A little rum could go a long way to making a person feel more like fighting from afar, I have no doubt. Thanks, again, for the Royal Navy history lessons, I do appreciate them greatly.

Lovecraft, foilbles is a great word and I haven't used it for quite some time. Thanks for refreshing my memory.

foible - noun 1. the part of a sword or foil blade between the middle and point 2. a minor flaw or shortcoming in personal character or behavior: WEAKNESS

[CarlusMagnus]

Originally Posted by oggbashan

It is an essential requirement to be in the Royal Navy that one can drink like a Lord and still be competent as a seaman. That applies to all ranks.

Of course, in the 18th and 19th centuries, if you were an officer there was more than a decent chance that you could drink like a Lord because you were a Lord.

[oggbashan]

Originally Posted by CarlusMagnus

Of course, in the 18th and 19th centuries, if you were an officer there was more than a decent chance that you could drink like a Lord because you were a Lord.

But you had to be a competent seaman first. Unlike the British Army, where commissions were purchased, in the Navy you had to be recommended for promotion and pass examinations in your seamanship before progressing.

If you became a senior Captain or an Admiral, you could be made a Lord too.

It didn't stop some Naval officers from making disastrous decisions, but incompetence such as ordering the Charge of the Light Brigade were much less likely.

[Handley_Page]

Originally Posted by oggbashan

But you had to be a competent seaman first. Unlike the British Army, where commissions were purchased, in the Navy you had to be recommended for promotion and pass examinations in your seamanship before progressing.

If you became a senior Captain or an Admiral, you could be made a Lord too.

It didn't stop some Naval officers from making disastrous decisions, but incompetence such as ordering the Charge of the Light Brigade were much less likely.

Do I recall Sir Cloudsley Shovell or something? Admiral Bynge ?
An Admiral shot at dawn for doing something horribly wrong ?

[trysail]

Originally Posted by oggbashan

It is an essential requirement to be in the Royal Navy that one can drink like a Lord and still be competent as a seaman. That applies to all ranks.

Until the Rum issue was ceased, after a successful engagement with an enemy, it was customary to 'splice the mainbrace' i.e. issue grog to all hands.

At the Battle of Waterloo it was assumed that most of the Royal Navy ships' crews were full of rum. They still loaded and fired their cannon faster and more effectively than the French and Spanish. Perhaps the rum was a painkiller? Rum was used as an ineffective anaesthetic for surgery after the battle.

Methinks you intended Trafalgar.

[trysail]

Originally Posted by Handley_Page

Do I recall Sir Cloudsley Shovell or something? Admiral Bynge ?
An Admiral shot at dawn for doing something horribly wrong ?

...leading to one of Voltaire's most memorable lines:

Dans ce pays-ci, il est bon de tuer de temps en temps un amiral pour encourager les autres.

-Voltaire

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Byng

[AllardChardon]

For those of us who might not know the English translation;

Dans ce pays-ci il est bon de tuer de temps en temps un amiral pour encourager les autres.

(In this country [England] it is thought well to kill an admiral from time to time to encourage the others.)

From Candide

[oggbashan]

Originally Posted by trysail

Methinks you intended Trafalgar.

True. There weren't many Navy personnel at Waterloo.

But some of the events at Waterloo showed Army incompetence. For example, cavalry swords were sheathed in metal, which blunted the edge. Those killed by the British Cavalry were beaten rather than cut.

It took another 50 years and the Indian Revolt to change the Army's mind about how to keep a sharp edge. The Indians used discarded cavalry swords but put them in wooden sheaths.

The Navy kept their cutlasses in wooden racks.

[oggbashan]

Originally Posted by Handley_Page

Do I recall Sir Cloudsley Shovell or something? Admiral Bynge ?
An Admiral shot at dawn for doing something horribly wrong ?

Sir Cloudesley Shovell was a competent seaman and a popular and successful Naval Officer whose career was ended when he died in a disaster when his fleet was wrecked on the Scillies. That disaster gave urgency to the experiments in chronometers to calculate longitude. Some of the legends about his death are just fiction.

He is still remembered for his gifts to the City of Rochester, Kent.

[CarlusMagnus]

Originally Posted by oggbashan

But you had to be a competent seaman first. Unlike the British Army, where commissions were purchased, in the Navy you had to be recommended for promotion and pass examinations in your seamanship before progressing.

If you became a senior Captain or an Admiral, you could be made a Lord too.

Good thing you could already drink like a Lord!

It didn't stop some Naval officers from making disastrous decisions, but incompetence such as ordering the Charge of the Light Brigade were much less likely.

Once you became a post captain, all you had to do to become an admiral was stay alive. There were, of course, some "yellow" admirals. But you really had to fuck something up to get there.

Competence at seamanship is one thing (and a necessary one). Being a competent sea-going officer, especially in war-time, is quite another.

This may explain why Nelson once held his glass to his blind eye in order to read the recall signal his CO had hung out. (Was it Admiral Sir Peter Parker? I can't remember for sure.) He could then truly say that he didn't see the signal. And go on to win the battle. (Copenhagen? Again, memory is unsure.)

[CarlusMagnus]

Originally Posted by Handley_Page

Do I recall Sir Cloudsley Shovell or something? Admiral Bynge ?
An Admiral shot at dawn for doing something horribly wrong ?

It was Bynge. He was shot for failing to pursue the enemy when he had the opportunity to do so. It's alleged that his court-martial found him guilty before the officers who sat on it realized that, unlike many of the Articles of War, the one they'd depended on for the conviction didn't include the phrase "or such lesser penalty as the court shall find proper" that would allow them to impose some penalty other than death.

Bynge himself gave his firing squad the order to fire.

[AllardChardon]

Very interesting, Og, and I do love a mystery. Thanks.

Physiocrat - noun a member of a school of political economists founded in 18th century France and characterized chiefly by a belief that government policy should not interfere with the operation of natural economic laws and that land is the source of all wealth

[oggbashan]

Originally Posted by CarlusMagnus

...

This may explain why Nelson once held his glass to his blind eye in order to read the recall signal his CO had hung out. (Was it Admiral Sir Peter Parker? I can't remember for sure.) He could then truly say that he didn't see the signal. And go on to win the battle. (Copenhagen? Again, memory is unsure.)

You were right both times: First Battle of Copenhagen (1801) but history is rather hard on Sir Peter Parker. He gave Nelson discretion to withdraw. That is the signal Nelson is supposed to have 'not seen'.

Sir Peter Parker's orders were to try to neutralise the Danes, and prevent an alliance between Sweden, Denmark and Russia against the UK. His actions before and after the Battle of Copenhagen were criticised, but just by being in the Baltic he made the alliance less likely.

Was the Battle of Copenhagen really necessary? Historians still argue.

But Nelson's actions were those of a brilliant tactical commander in a very difficult action that could easily have been lost.

[CarlusMagnus]

Originally Posted by oggbashan

You were right both times: First Battle of Copenhagen (1801) but history is rather hard on Sir Peter Parker. He gave Nelson discretion to withdraw. That is the signal Nelson is supposed to have 'not seen'.

Sir Peter Parker's orders were to try to neutralise the Danes, and prevent an alliance between Sweden, Denmark and Russia against the UK. His actions before and after the Battle of Copenhagen were criticised, but just by being in the Baltic he made the alliance less likely.

Was the Battle of Copenhagen really necessary? Historians still argue.

But Nelson's actions were those of a brilliant tactical commander in a very difficult action that could easily have been lost.

The legend (and I emphasize that it's a legend has it that Parker flew the signal to break off the action, and that when Nelson—who was certain he could win—was informed of the signal, he put his glass to his blind eye. Then, having "looked" in the direction of the flagship, he is alleged to have said, "I really can not see the signal," or something to that effect. He disobeyed the order and went on to win the battle.

It wasn't the first time he won a battle by disobeying orders. As I'm sure you know, he was also primarily responsible for the French defeat at St. Vincent---when he broke formation against standing orders to take advantage of disarray in the French line.

[AllardChardon]

The history lessons are very interesting. Thank you, gentlemen, for delving further into the subject. Is that where the phrase, "Turn a blind eye," comes from, I wonder?

It is no wonder I had trouble defining this word, as a child and as an adult;

physics - noun plural 1. physic (singular) a. (1) the art or practice of healing disease (2) the practice or profession of medicine b. a medicinal agent or preparation ; esp: a medicine that purges 2. also physic archaic: NATURAL SCIENCE 3. a science that deals with matter and energy and their interactions in the fields of mechanics, acoustics, optics, heat, electricity, magnetism, radiation, atomic structure, and nuclear phenomena 4.a. the physical processes and phenomena of a particular system b. the physical properties and composition of something

[Handley_Page]

Originally Posted by AllardChardon

The history lessons are very interesting. Thank you, gentlemen, for delving further into the subject. Is that where the phrase, "Turn a blind eye," comes from, I wonder?

It surely is
Also seen occasionally as "the Nelsonian eye".