"A window to times past" or "a window to times passed"?

[J X]

Whatchathink?

J.

[tony cooper]

On Sat, 10 Mar 2012 17:08:01 -0800 (PST), J X <jxri...@gmail.com>
wrote:

>Whatchathink?
>
>J.

Past.
--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida

[Don Phillipson]

"J X" <jxri...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:98fb50e5-301e-4139...@g16g2000yqe.googlegroups.com...

> Re: "A window to times past" or "a window to times passed"?
> Whatchathink?

Both are fatally wrong.
1. Past time(s) = time past.
2. Windows much more often give _on_ to something
than simply _to_ anything.

Thus standard phrasing would be:
. . . a window on times past. . . .

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa Canada)

[tony cooper]

On Sat, 10 Mar 2012 22:23:28 -0500, "Don Phillipson"
<e9...@SPAMBLOCK.ncf.ca> wrote:

>"J X" <jxri...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>news:98fb50e5-301e-4139...@g16g2000yqe.googlegroups.com...
>
>> Re: "A window to times past" or "a window to times passed"?
>> Whatchathink?
>
>Both are fatally wrong.
>1. Past time(s) = time past.
>2. Windows much more often give _on_ to something
>than simply _to_ anything.
>
>Thus standard phrasing would be:
>. . . a window on times past. . . .

I find many Google hits for both "window to" and "window on". That
surprises me because I would never choose "window on". Windows give a
view to something.

[tony cooper]

On Sat, 10 Mar 2012 20:15:02 -0800 (PST), Jeff Harper
<harpe...@lawnet.ucla.edu> wrote:

>On Mar 10, 8:08 pm, J X <jxriv...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Whatchathink?
>>
>> J.
>
>If "times past" equates to "past times," does "times passed" equate to
>"times gone by"?

No. "Times passed" means time skipped over.

>Is "a window to times gone by" correct?

The normal construction for me would be "a window to the past" which
is a view of the past.

[Ian Jackson]

In message <1tbol7d0l1jepq79k...@4ax.com>, tony cooper
<tony.co...@gmail.com> writes

While "to" is perfectly logical, in BrE, the expression is usually "a
window on" (possibly because "window" equates to "view").
--
Ian

[Pablo]

Don Phillipson escribió:

> 2. Windows much more often give _on_ to something
> than simply _to_ anything.

I never knew that.

I thought that windows overlooked, or provided a view.

--
Pablo

[tony cooper]

Perhaps, then, this is a US vs UK/Canada thing. While "window on" is
not wrong to me, a "window to" is more natural.

[Jerry Avins]

On 3/10/2012 8:08 PM, J X wrote:
> Whatchathink?

It depends on whatchamean. If you could work in "ago", then past. if you
mean "left behind", then passed.

Jerry
--
Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get.
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

[Jerry Avins]

"The eyes are a window to the soul" But that can hardly be taken as a
model. It has a disagreement of number.

[Frederick Williams]

I'm forever hearing "window of opportunity". Yuk. What's wrong with
"an opportunity"? Silly is "the window of opportunity will close"; if
you're going to use the window metaphor, it should be "the window of
opportunity will have its curtains closed". Why not "the opportunity
will pass"?

--
When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by
this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.
Jonathan Swift: Thoughts on Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting

[Pablo]

Frederick Williams escribió:

> Pablo wrote:
>>
>> Don Phillipson escribió:

>>
>> > 2. Windows much more often give _on_ to something
>> > than simply _to_ anything.
>>
>> I never knew that.
>>
>> I thought that windows overlooked, or provided a view.
>
> I'm forever hearing "window of opportunity". Yuk. What's wrong with
> "an opportunity"? Silly is "the window of opportunity will close"; if
> you're going to use the window metaphor, it should be "the window of
> opportunity will have its curtains closed". Why not "the opportunity
> will pass"?
>

I believe that the analogy is called "sliding window". It "slides" past, so
one may miss it if one's not quick enough.

--
Pablo

[Athel Cornish-Bowden]

On 2012-03-11 15:43:10 +0000, Jerry Avins said:

> "On 3/11/2012 4:30 AM, Ian Jackson wrote:
>> In message <1tbol7d0l1jepq79k...@4ax.com>, tony cooper
>> <tony.co...@gmail.com> writes
>>> On Sat, 10 Mar 2012 20:15:02 -0800 (PST), Jeff Harper
>>> <harpe...@lawnet.ucla.edu> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Mar 10, 8:08 pm, J X <jxriv...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> Whatchathink?
>>>>>
>>>>> J.
>>>>
>>>> If "times past" equates to "past times," does "times passed" equate to
>>>> "times gone by"?
>>>
>>> No. "Times passed" means time skipped over.
>>>
>>>> Is "a window to times gone by" correct?
>>>
>>> The normal construction for me would be "a window to the past" which
>>> is a view of the past.
>>>
>> While "to" is perfectly logical, in BrE, the expression is usually "a
>> window on" (possibly because "window" equates to "view").
>
> "The eyes are a window to the soul" But that can hardly be taken as a
> model. It has a disagreement of number.

Not really. The subject and complement of any verb -- and most often
the verb "to be" -- don't have to have the same number.

--
athel

[Odysseus]

In article <9s3vt7...@mid.individual.net>, Pablo <no...@nowhere.net>
wrote:

> Frederick Williams escribió:

<snip>

> > I'm forever hearing "window of opportunity". Yuk. What's wrong with
> > "an opportunity"? Silly is "the window of opportunity will close"; if
> > you're going to use the window metaphor, it should be "the window of
> > opportunity will have its curtains closed". Why not "the opportunity
> > will pass"?
>
> I believe that the analogy is called "sliding window". It "slides" past, so
> one may miss it if one's not quick enough.

Cf. "launch window" from aeronautical jargon.

--
Odysseus

[Nehmo]

On Mar 11, 6:36 pm, Odysseus <odysseus1479...@yahoo-dot.ca> wrote:
> Cf. "launch window" from aeronautical jargon.

I was under the impression "launch window", in reference to rockets,
represents a physically-positioned, imaginary rectangle in the sky.
It's fixed to the stars, not the rotating earth, so it appears to move
over and past the launch site.
--
`~- Nehmo

[Peter Duncanson (BrE)]

On Mon, 12 Mar 2012 10:29:41 -0700 (PDT), Nehmo <neh...@hotmail.com>
wrote:

Not according to these from NASA.
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/launchingrockets/launchwindows.html

Aiming for an Open Window
02.23.12

Why does NASA sometimes schedule a rocket launch for the middle of
the night, or aim for a liftoff time when weather is notoriously
unlikely to cooperate?

The simplicity of the question belies the complexity of the answer.
The best time to start a mission is based on a blend of factors: the
flight's target and goals, the needs of the spacecraft, the type of
rocket, and the desired trajectory, which refers to the path the
vehicle and spacecraft must take to successfully start the mission.
Not only do these variables influence the preferred launch time --
the ideal time of departure -- but the overall length of the launch
window, which can vary from one second to several hours.

http://history.nasa.gov/afj/launchwindow/lw1.html

Apollo lunar landing launch window: The controlling factors and
constraints

....
When launching to land on the moon there are two fixed parameters.
The location of the launch site ... and the landing site you are
aiming for on the moon. To arrive at this landing site with the
right lighting conditions for the descent and approach a journey
must be planned that meets the various constraints that affected the
Apollo lunar mission planning, primarily in the form of trajectory
shaping and the limitation of launch opportunities, known as launch
windows.

Trajectory geometry constraints and spacecraft performance
capabilities combined to limit the accessible area on the moon.

These accessible landing area limitations combined with operational
constraints to limit launch opportunities to certain specific
periods.
....

--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.english.usage)

[Bill McCray]

On 3/11/2012 11:46 AM, Frederick Williams wrote:
> Pablo wrote:
>>
>> Don Phillipson escribió:
>>
>>> 2. Windows much more often give _on_ to something
>>> than simply _to_ anything.
>>
>> I never knew that.
>>
>> I thought that windows overlooked, or provided a view.
>
> I'm forever hearing "window of opportunity". Yuk. What's wrong with
> "an opportunity"? Silly is "the window of opportunity will close"; if
> you're going to use the window metaphor, it should be "the window of
> opportunity will have its curtains closed". Why not "the opportunity
> will pass"?

You are thinking of one function of a window, to allow one to see what's
on the other side. Another function is that it can be opened, such as
to provide ventilation or perhaps access to whatever is on the other
side. If you have a window of opportunity, I think it means the window
is open so you can seize whatever it is. When the window closes, you
can no longer seize it.

If your window can't be opened, it can't be a window of opportunity.

Bill in Kentucky

[chris...@gmail.com]

On Saturday, March 10, 2012 at 8:08:01 PM UTC-5, J X wrote:
> Whatchathink?
>
> J.

past

[Anton Shepelev]

chrisash456,

You replied to a posting from 2012. Consider in-
stalling a newreader and participating in Usenet
with comfort and in style.

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