[A] Some annotations to UA
Richard Bos
the names. But first:
S
o
m
e
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
P
A
C
E
On page 189, Professor Macarona is introduced as being on an exchange
scheme, swapped with Professor Maidenhair. As it happens, both macaroni
a.k.a. maccheroni, and maidenhair spaghetti, ar kinds of pasta.
Page 199 mentions a Dr. Able Baker. This should be obvious to English
readers, but foreigners may not realise that Able and Baker were the
first "letters" of a previous British phone alphabet, like Alpha and
Bravo in the NATO alphabet.
Also on page 199, and later on as well, the brand Wizla is mentioned.
Apparently the ciggie paper brand called Rizla is sold in the UK as
well.
On page 215, the Master of the Music is called Ritornello. If you were
wondering whether that is a musical term, wonder no more: it is. It's
the name of a recurring fragment (a kind of refrain, as it were) in some
types of Italian baroque music.
Finally, on page 268, Trev claims that the word for the front claws of a
bird of prey is "pounce", and that "talon" should only be used for the
hind claws. Perhaps he is correct in current falconer slang, but in
ordinary usage, the word "talon" is of older provenance as used for both
kinds of claws - at least, according to the OED.
Richard
Nigel Stapley
> Some, rather trivial, annotations on Unseen Academicals. Mostly about
> the names. But first:
>
> S
>
> o
>
> m
>
> e
>
>
>
> S
>
> P
>
> O
>
> I
>
> L
>
> E
>
> R
>
>
>
> S
>
> P
>
> A
>
> C
>
> E
>
> Page 199 mentions a Dr. Able Baker. This should be obvious to English
> readers, but foreigners may not realise that Able and Baker were the
> first "letters" of a previous British phone alphabet, like Alpha and
> Bravo in the NATO alphabet.
I think you mean 'phonetic' here?
>
> Also on page 199, and later on as well, the brand Wizla is mentioned.
> Apparently the ciggie paper brand called Rizla is sold in the UK as
> well.
The Wizla brand name also appears in TSOD3.
--
Regards
Nigel Stapley
<reply-to will bounce>
Raymond Daley
news:4ae1f1e6...@news.xs4all.nl...
You missed the Small Gods reference during the street match when Trev calls
Nutt "Brutha" deliberately written that way too.
Just to tease us. Then we discover later Nutt was freed by Pastor Oats with
an axe. Isn't it an axe he carries in Carpe Jugulum to placate Granny
Weatherwax.
Also oddly enough Glenda (the name of a famous movie witch) learned her
cookery skills from her Granny. And The Patrician does ask if any magic is
involved in their manufacture when she uses one to gain entry to his palace.
Shades of Nanny Ogg and her famous recipes? And Glendas "rounds" "helping
people" sound very much like the work a witch does.
Its all wheels within wheels, eh?
Otter t.
> Some, rather trivial, annotations on Unseen Academicals. Mostly about
> the names. But first:
>
> S
>
> o
>
> m
>
> e
>
> S
>
> P
>
> O
>
> I
>
> L
>
> E
>
> R
>
> S
>
> P
>
> A
>
> C
>
> E
>
> On page 189, Professor Macarona is introduced as being on an exchange
> scheme, swapped with Professor Maidenhair. As it happens, both macaroni
> a.k.a. maccheroni, and maidenhair spaghetti, ar kinds of pasta.
I assumed a reference to Maradona as well. I am not a football fan,
but somehow
Maradona's existence had impinged on my consciousness at some point.
[And it's Pele's birthday.]
Chris Sloan
<raymon...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>"Richard Bos" <ral...@xs4all.nl> wrote in message
>news:4ae1f1e6...@news.xs4all.nl...
>> Some, rather trivial, annotations on Unseen Academicals. Mostly about
>> the names. But first:
>>
>> S
>>
>> o
>>
>> m
>>
>> e
>>
>>
>>
>> S
>>
>> P
>>
>> O
>>
>> I
>>
>> L
>>
>> E
>>
>> R
>>
>>
>>
>> S
>>
>> P
>>
>> A
>>
>> C
>>
>> E
>>
<<snip excellent points>>
Also, "Megapode" sounds like it should be Greek for Bigfoot..
Cheers,
Chris
--
Chris Sloan - Adelaide, South Australia
[Remove "s" to email]
If the Librarian's an orang-utan, then a Cataloguer must be a gorilla
... rarer, and not safe enough to be let out in public
jester
<ib...@internode.on.net.au> wrote:
<snip slightly>
nothing below gives away anything important about the story, so don't
bitch about spoiler space
>Also, "Megapode" sounds like it should be Greek for Bigfoot..
It does rather sound like it, but apparently it's one of these:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megapode>
--
Andy Brown
Where a calculator on the ENIAC is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs
30 tons, computers in the future may have only 1,000 vacuum tubes and weigh
only 1 1/2 tons. ---Popular Mechanics, March 1949
Reader in Invisible Writings
> On Sat, 24 Oct 2009 15:23:47 +1030, Chris Sloan
> <ib...@internode.on.net.au> wrote:
> <snip slightly>
> nothing below gives away anything important about the story, so don't
> bitch about spoiler space
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>> Also, "Megapode" sounds like it should be Greek for Bigfoot..
>
> It does rather sound like it, but apparently it's one of these:
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megapode>
>
mentions "Their name literally means large foot (Greek: mega = large,
poda = foot)" The singular nature of pode does not require that the
creature is a monopode as so few creatures have one foot (and when they
do, it is its stomach!)!
--
Reader in Invisible Writings.. Something to Ponder upon!
Nigel Stapley
> On Sat, 24 Oct 2009 15:23:47 +1030, Chris Sloan
> <ib...@internode.on.net.au> wrote:
> <snip slightly>
> nothing below gives away anything important about the story, so don't
> bitch about spoiler space
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>> Also, "Megapode" sounds like it should be Greek for Bigfoot..
>
> It does rather sound like it, but apparently it's one of these:
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megapode>
>
Another example of a word not meaning what it really *ought to* mean.
Another example is 'microtome', which should mean 'a very small book'.
Richard Bos
> "Richard Bos" <ral...@xs4all.nl> wrote in message
> > Some, rather trivial, annotations on Unseen Academicals. Mostly about
> > the names. But first:
> >
> > S
> >
> > o
> >
> > m
> >
> > e
> >
> >
> >
> > S
> >
> > P
> >
> > O
> >
> > I
> >
> > L
> >
> > E
> >
> > R
> >
> >
> >
> > S
> >
> > P
> >
> > A
> >
> > C
> >
> > E
> >
> You missed the Small Gods reference during the street match when Trev calls
> Nutt "Brutha" deliberately written that way too.
No, I didn't; I noticed it, and thought it too obvious to mention.
Richard
Chris Zakes
caused Nigel Stapley <un...@judgemental.plus.com> to write:
>jester wrote:
>> On Sat, 24 Oct 2009 15:23:47 +1030, Chris Sloan
>> <ib...@internode.on.net.au> wrote:
>> <snip slightly>
>> nothing below gives away anything important about the story, so don't
>> bitch about spoiler space
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> Also, "Megapode" sounds like it should be Greek for Bigfoot..
>>
>> It does rather sound like it, but apparently it's one of these:
>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megapode>
>>
>
>Another example of a word not meaning what it really *ought to* mean.
>
>Another example is 'microtome', which should mean 'a very small book'.
Or it *could* mean a very large, ponderous book about very small
things.
-Chris Zakes
Texas
Even a man who is pure in heart
And says his prayers at night
May become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms
And the autumn moon is bright.
Richard Bos
> jester wrote:
> > On Sat, 24 Oct 2009 15:23:47 +1030, Chris Sloan
> > <snip slightly>
> > nothing below gives away anything important about the story, so don't
> > bitch about spoiler space
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >> Also, "Megapode" sounds like it should be Greek for Bigfoot..
> >
> > It does rather sound like it, but apparently it's one of these:
> > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megapode>
>
> Another example of a word not meaning what it really *ought to* mean.
Ah, but it does! It does, in fact, mean big foot. It just happens that
it's the bigfoot fowl, not the bigfoot mammal, but it's a bigfoot all
the same.
Richard
Reader in Invisible Writings
I sense that some people are reading 'foot' as meaning the creature is a
uni-pode, but note nobody expects that the Bigfoot aka Yeti aka
Sa(something that eludes me) has only one foot!
Chris Zakes
caused Reader in Invisible Writings <markfo...@hotmail.com> to
write:
Sasquatch. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigfoot
-Chris Zakes
Texas
It is terrible to contemplate how few politicians are hanged.
-G.K. Chesterton
Lesley Weston
> jester wrote:
>> On Sat, 24 Oct 2009 15:23:47 +1030, Chris Sloan
>> <ib...@internode.on.net.au> wrote:
>> <snip slightly>
>> nothing below gives away anything important about the story, so don't
>> bitch about spoiler space
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> Also, "Megapode" sounds like it should be Greek for Bigfoot..
>>
>> It does rather sound like it, but apparently it's one of these:
>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megapode>
>>
>
> Another example of a word not meaning what it really *ought to* mean.
>
> Another example is 'microtome', which should mean 'a very small book'.
>
anyway.
--
Lesley Weston
The addy above is real, but I won't see anything posted to it for a long
time. To reach me, use leswes att shaw dott ca, adjusting as necessary.
Alec Cawley
> Nigel Stapley wrote:
>>
>> Another example is 'microtome', which should mean 'a very small book'.
>>
> A book that has encountered a microtome will indeed be very small. Thin,
> anyway.
And Lesley's use of the word is closer to the original meaning. The word
"tome" is from the Greek word meaning "cut", so a microtome is using the
word in its correct sense. The bookish meaning came from referring to a
single volume of a multi-volume work, so the tome had been "cut" from
the body of the work.
Lesley Weston
> Lesley Weston wrote:
>> Nigel Stapley wrote:
>>>
>>> Another example is 'microtome', which should mean 'a very small book'.
>>>
>> A book that has encountered a microtome will indeed be very small.
>> Thin, anyway.
>
> And Lesley's use of the word is closer to the original meaning. The word
> "tome" is from the Greek word meaning "cut", so a microtome is using the
> word in its correct sense.
That would be why the main instrument used by histologists is one or
other form of a microtome. Histologists spend their time cutting
unreasonably thin slices (normally around 50 nm thick for EM) of things
and looking at them under various types of microscopes.
> The bookish meaning came from referring to a
> single volume of a multi-volume work, so the tome had been "cut" from
> the body of the work.
So it's odd that "tome" has come to mean an unusually large and heavy book.