Baluster

[dr_mabeuse]

If I tell you in a story that a guy ties one end of a rope to a baluster, would you know what I mean?

 

[Guest]

Yep, a spindled bit of wood on a flight of stairs, right?

(Edit: I elaborated slightly!)

 

[Guest]

If I tell you in a story that a guy ties one end of a rope to a baluster, would you know what I mean?

The railing on the staircase.

 

[BlackShanglan]

Clear to me.

 

[ElizabethWest]

Yep

 

[Guest]

yep, me too.

 

[Liar]

No, what's a rope?

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Yep, a spindled bit of wood on a flight of stairs, right?

(Edit: I elaborated slightly!)

Right. Good. It's an upright that supports a railing or balustrade.

I was amazed when the word popped into my head when I needed it (although I spelled it ballister). I couldn't believe it was right.

 

[Guest]

Right. Good. It's an upright that supports a railing or balustrade.

I was amazed when the word popped into my head when I needed it (although I spelled it ballister). I couldn't believe it was right.

in my house, we called it ballisters but reading enough romance novels, you learn certain things ...

 

[BlackShanglan]

No, what's a rope?

I love you.

 

[Liar]

I love you.

That's nice. Wanna tell me what a rope is? Does it have any interresting use?

 

[TheEarl]

Nope. I wouldn't know, but that's mainly cause I call it a banister.

The Earl

 

[Samandiriel]

I thought it was the thing you polished your bowling balls in.

 

[Guest]

Nope. I wouldn't know, but that's mainly cause I call it a banister.

The Earl

I've always thought of the banister as the entire thing (uprights and rail, as a whole).

 

[TheEarl]

I've always thought of the banister as the entire thing (uprights and rail, as a whole).

That would be banisters in the plural to me.

The Earl

 

[Lauren Hynde]

In a dream of Iris, drowned by fire and gold,
come memories of a distant time of blue,
amidst veils of tulle, of blood tainted sails,
a time slender and light, a time-twofold.

Through a second, my senses were colours
come into bud on my yearnings' garden
in distances surpassed with joyous hearts,
for there blossomed the Island of Delights.

Gold would downpour if I thought of the stars,
moonlight sweltering over my estrangement:
Nights-lagoons, perfect portrait of beauty,
underneath terraces-de-lis of remembrance.

Time--arpeggio of inter-reverie and moon
where the hours irreversibly ran of jade,
when the tropical haze was ravenous
and the light--urge of a nude goddess,

baluster of resonance, arches of worship,
bridges of shimmer, ogees of fragrance,
ineffable dominion of combustion and opium
in a cold colour I shan't ever inhabit anew;

tapestries of different Persias farther East,
draperies of distant Chinas and more ivory,
auric sanctuaries for satin ceremonies,
fountains of shadow, running fearfully,

and unrealized domes--pantheons of desires
yearns for the infinite and ocean cathedrals
stairways of honour, steps alone, of air
new Byzantiums--souls, new Turkeys.

Fluid memories, a brocade of ashes,
indigo unrealities in me undulating:
king in exile, vagabond in a siren's dream
of the sweet blue of East and sapphires.


(Prodigal of Blue )

 

[herecomestherain]

Humph -- wish someone would tie me to the stairs...

 

[minsue]

Humph -- wish someone would tie me to the stairs...

Be happy to. Now, where'd Liar and Shanglan run off to with that rope?

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

If I tell you in a story that a guy ties one end of a rope to a baluster, would you know what I mean?

Nope.

I'd probably guess it had something to do with stairs or balconies but it's a new word to me. But then, I'm the by-product of a US publick school education.

Rumple Foreskin

 

[rgraham666]

I didn't, but I do know.

 

[BlackShanglan]

That's nice. Wanna tell me what a rope is? Does it have any interresting use?

It does indeed, but they are much better demonstrated than described. Allow me to demonstrate ...

 

[Penelope Street]

If I tell you in a story that a guy ties one end of a rope to a baluster, would you know what I mean?

I can't say that I knew what it was, but I would have guessed it was part of a handrail. If a word feels right to me, then I use it. Besides, is there any other choice instead of baluster? I suppose you could use banister or handrail, but my impression is the reader will care a lot more about where the other end of the rope is tied anyway.

Take Care,
Penny

 

[Rubyb]

No. I would need more context clues. If you didn't give them, I'd grab a dictionary.

http://www.dictionary.net/baluster

We say banister on this side of the pond.

 

[herecomestherain]

Be happy to. Now, where'd Liar and Shanglan run off to with that rope?

Thank you Min -- knew I could rely on you for a bit of mischief.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

No. I would need more context clues. If you didn't give them, I'd grab a dictionary.

http://www.dictionary.net/baluster

We say banister on this side of the pond.

Here's the passage:

He trotted upstairs and disappeared into the bedroom, and came out carrying his open suitcase, the one she’d looked through earlier. Vanessa knew what was in it, and she watched as he took out a length of rope, bent down and tied it to one of the balusters on the second floor rail, tugged it to make sure it was secure, then dropped the free end and let it dangle not five feet from where she stood. She knew what it was for. She was aroused and aching and ready for it.

I think that's pretty good context.

The dictionaries I looked in had various opinions. One said a baluster was an upright that held a balustrade, which is a kind of guard rail heavier than a hand rail, like the ones made of stone or the ones that keep you from falling off a balcony. Balustrades that are thinner are referrred to as rails.

Banister referred to the uprights that support a handrail for a flight of stairs. Where the stairs end and the landing begins, the banisters become balusters.

I'm used to using banister for any sort of hand or guard rail. But then, I thought the uprights were known as spindles. They can be, if they're turned on the machine.

The hell with it. I should just have him tie her to the chandelier. (Or is it a candelabra?)