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SpaceShipOne News Coverage just a little rough on the edges
I am not an entomologist so don't come down on me if
anything in this post is off the beam. Etymology is the study of the origin of words... an "entomologist" studies insects. |
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On Tue, 5 Oct 2004 01:08:02 +0200 (CEST), in a place far, far away,
Anonymous via the Cypherpunks Tonga Remailer made the phosphor on my monitor glow in such a way as to indicate that: Overall, pretty decent live event coverage. Nice aerial shots, in particular. Background coverage was sparce. I would have like to see more on the R & D history of the project. But the announcers on CNN did err at least two times: 1. They prounounced Sputnik with a short, instead of the proper long "U". That's inconsequential nitpicking. 2. They said SpaceShipOne won the prize when it succeeded in getting to "outer" space. I do believe only the Voyager has made it to outer space, which is really intersteller space, not the near space, which begins just outside the Earth's atmosphere. SSO just kissed near space at best, since there is still enough atmosphere at 100km to make orbital flight problematic. The real error was to declare the prize won when apogee was attained. It wasn't won until the spacecraft landed safely (and ultimately, the altitude was verified, and of course, that it was verified that all other conditions were met). While I'm at it, there is no "hell" in helicopter. Only once in recent times have I heard a newscaster pronounce helicopter with a long "e" . Again, in the context of the many dumb things said about space in the media, an inconsequentiality. |
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In article ,
Anonymous via the Cypherpunks Tonga Remailer writes: While I'm at it, there is no "hell" in helicopter. Only once in recent times have I heard a newscaster pronounce helicopter with a long "e" . Yes, I am aware contemporary dictionaries disagree with this, but I believe the word was coined with a long e, since the root of helicopter was derived from the mathematical helix and was quickly *******ized into the form now in common use. I am not an entomologist so don't come down on me if anything in this post is off the beam. To address your points - 1) Obviously you hve never flown a helicopter. There is plenty of Hell in Helicopter. They are the only aircraft that fly in spit of themselves. Baloons want to float, airplanes want to fly. Helicopters want to roll themselves up into a ball of wreckage at a moment's notice. Actually, the proper pronumciation should be "Heel-i-co-petr". That's the way Igor Sikorsky pronounced it, and if its good enough for him, it's good enough for me. 2) Not only aren't you an Entomologist, you're not an Etymologist, either. -- Pete Stickney A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many bad measures. -- Daniel Webster |
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"Bob Martin" wrote in message ... I am not an entomologist so don't come down on me if anything in this post is off the beam. Etymology is the study of the origin of words... an "entomologist" studies insects. Well, he's not an etymologist either. |
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"Peter Stickney" wrote in message ... 1) Obviously you hve never flown a helicopter. There is plenty of Hell in Helicopter. They are the only aircraft that fly in spit of themselves. Baloons want to float, airplanes want to fly. Helicopters want to roll themselves up into a ball of wreckage at a moment's notice. Actually, the proper pronumciation should be "Heel-i-co-petr". That's the way Igor Sikorsky pronounced it, and if its good enough for him, it's good enough for me. If you're flying a helicopter, and everything's going well, something's about to break. |
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"Bob Martin" wrote in message ... I am not an entomologist so don't come down on me if anything in this post is off the beam. Etymology is the study of the origin of words... an "entomologist" studies insects. And "folk etymology" is how we get derivations like "fornification under consent of the king", and "folk entomolgy" is how come my mother thought that ticks lurked in trees. |
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