Backtracking

[Tony Cooper]

In a recent post I said that someone was "walking back" an earlier
statement. That seems to be the current expression to mean softening
or retracting something said earlier.

BBC News has the following on a site: "Mr Trump seems to be rowing
back on some of his campaign pledges".

While I could take that to mean that Trump is at sea (and possibly
adrift), what I do take it to mean is that he doing what I wrote
above.

I'm a little put off by the "on". I think the expression works just
as "rowing back".

Is the BBC News using the common UK expression?

--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida

[GordonD]

I've never heard it before.
--
Gordon Davie
Edinburgh, Scotland

[Harrison Hill]

On Saturday, 12 November 2016 22:39:08 UTC, Tony Cooper wrote:
> In a recent post I said that someone was "walking back" an earlier
> statement. That seems to be the current expression to mean softening
> or retracting something said earlier.
>
> BBC News has the following on a site: "Mr Trump seems to be rowing
> back on some of his campaign pledges".
>
> While I could take that to mean that Trump is at sea (and possibly
> adrift), what I do take it to mean is that he doing what I wrote
> above.
>
> I'm a little put off by the "on". I think the expression works just
> as "rowing back".

"Rowing back" means "easing off": not going forward at quite the
same speed.

I don't think BrE has "walking back"; but it certainly has
"back-tracking".

[the Omrud]

On 12/11/2016 22:39, Tony Cooper wrote:

"Rowing back" is common enough, and I have no gripe with the
preposition. I've never heard "walking back" in this sense.

--
David

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

[the Omrud]

I would say it's more active than that. I am a competent rower - once
the boat is going forward at a decent speed then "rowing back" is not
just stopping the effort, but involves slowing the boat by engaging
"reverse rowing". You're still going forward, but you've touched the
brakes and are hence going forward more slowly.

[Lewis]

In message <o46f2ch24jbbhsvg1...@4ax.com>

Tony Cooper <tonyco...@gmail.com> wrote:
> In a recent post I said that someone was "walking back" an earlier
> statement. That seems to be the current expression to mean softening
> or retracting something said earlier.

> BBC News has the following on a site: "Mr Trump seems to be rowing
> back on some of his campaign pledges".

> While I could take that to mean that Trump is at sea (and possibly
> adrift), what I do take it to mean is that he doing what I wrote
> above.

> I'm a little put off by the "on". I think the expression works just
> as "rowing back".

I'd say it works better without the 'on'.

> Is the BBC News using the common UK expression?

I don't think I've ever heard rowing back and it makes no sense at all,
since all rowing is "back". I suspect someone was trying to be clever
and failed.

--
There are strange things done in the midnight sun/By the men who moil
for gold; The Arctic trails have their secret tales/That would make your
blood run cold; The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,/But the
queerest they ever did see Was the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge/
When I cremated Sam McGee

[Katy Jennison]

On 13/11/2016 10:34, Lewis wrote:
> In message <o46f2ch24jbbhsvg1...@4ax.com>
> Tony Cooper <tonyco...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> In a recent post I said that someone was "walking back" an earlier
>> statement. That seems to be the current expression to mean softening
>> or retracting something said earlier.
>
>> BBC News has the following on a site: "Mr Trump seems to be rowing
>> back on some of his campaign pledges".
>
>> While I could take that to mean that Trump is at sea (and possibly
>> adrift), what I do take it to mean is that he doing what I wrote
>> above.
>
>> I'm a little put off by the "on". I think the expression works just
>> as "rowing back".
>
> I'd say it works better without the 'on'.
>
>> Is the BBC News using the common UK expression?
>
> I don't think I've ever heard rowing back and it makes no sense at all,
> since all rowing is "back". I suspect someone was trying to be clever
> and failed.
>

To me, a common expression, and apparently not unknown in the US,
according to the second quotation from this entry in the OED:

Phrasal verbs
PV1.

to row back intr. fig. to reverse one's previous action or opinion;
to backtrack.
1967 Guardian 6 Feb. 1/1 He then rowed back to the discouraging
position adopted by President Johnson.
1971 Washington Post 13 May 16/4 There also remained Rippon's
political and public-relations problem in rowing back from his widely
publicized, emotionally phrased demand.
1992 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 21 Jan. 4 Leaders of some Commonwealth
states came under renewed pressure to row back on price increases and
reintroduce subsidies on some basic goods.
2007 A. Ford J. Ussher vi. 129 But almost as soon as he had stated
his intention, Ussher rowed back.

--
Katy Jennison

[Peter Duncanson [BrE]]

On Sun, 13 Nov 2016 10:34:39 -0000 (UTC), Lewis
<g.k...@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> wrote:

>In message <o46f2ch24jbbhsvg1...@4ax.com>
> Tony Cooper <tonyco...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> In a recent post I said that someone was "walking back" an earlier
>> statement. That seems to be the current expression to mean softening
>> or retracting something said earlier.
>
>> BBC News has the following on a site: "Mr Trump seems to be rowing
>> back on some of his campaign pledges".
>
>> While I could take that to mean that Trump is at sea (and possibly
>> adrift), what I do take it to mean is that he doing what I wrote
>> above.
>
>> I'm a little put off by the "on". I think the expression works just
>> as "rowing back".
>
>I'd say it works better without the 'on'.
>
>> Is the BBC News using the common UK expression?
>
>I don't think I've ever heard rowing back and it makes no sense at all,
>since all rowing is "back". I suspect someone was trying to be clever
>and failed.

"Rowing back" refers to the direction of movement of the boat, not which
way the rower is facing.

It is possible to row a boat so that it is moving in reverse.

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

[Whiskers]

On 2016-11-13, Lewis <g.k...@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> wrote:
> In message <o46f2ch24jbbhsvg1...@4ax.com> Tony Cooper
> <tonyco...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> In a recent post I said that someone was "walking back" an earlier
>> statement. That seems to be the current expression to mean softening
>> or retracting something said earlier.
>
>> BBC News has the following on a site: "Mr Trump seems to be rowing
>> back on some of his campaign pledges".
>
>> While I could take that to mean that Trump is at sea (and possibly
>> adrift), what I do take it to mean is that he doing what I wrote
>> above.
>
>> I'm a little put off by the "on". I think the expression works just
>> as "rowing back".
>
> I'd say it works better without the 'on'.
>
>> Is the BBC News using the common UK expression?
>
> I don't think I've ever heard rowing back and it makes no sense at
> all, since all rowing is "back". I suspect someone was trying to be
> clever and failed.

'Rowing back' is new to me I think (BrE), but it clearly fits into the
imagery of 'all at sea' or 'up a creek'. The meaning is clearly similar
to 'back-pedalling' 'back tracking' or 'going into reverse' as applied
to election promises generally.

--
-- ^^^^^^^^^^
-- Whiskers
-- ~~~~~~~~~~

[occam]

Or 'back-pedalling', presumably from bicycles of yore when
pack-pedalling was a form of braking.

[bill van]

One can avoid the issue entirely by side-stepping.
--
bill

[Robert Bannister]

On 13/11/16 6:00 pm, the Omrud wrote:
> On 12/11/2016 22:51, Harrison Hill wrote:
>> On Saturday, 12 November 2016 22:39:08 UTC, Tony Cooper wrote:
>>> In a recent post I said that someone was "walking back" an earlier
>>> statement. That seems to be the current expression to mean softening
>>> or retracting something said earlier.
>>>
>>> BBC News has the following on a site: "Mr Trump seems to be rowing
>>> back on some of his campaign pledges".
>>>
>>> While I could take that to mean that Trump is at sea (and possibly
>>> adrift), what I do take it to mean is that he doing what I wrote
>>> above.
>>>
>>> I'm a little put off by the "on". I think the expression works just
>>> as "rowing back".
>>
>> "Rowing back" means "easing off": not going forward at quite the
>> same speed.
>
> I would say it's more active than that. I am a competent rower - once
> the boat is going forward at a decent speed then "rowing back" is not
> just stopping the effort, but involves slowing the boat by engaging
> "reverse rowing". You're still going forward, but you've touched the
> brakes and are hence going forward more slowly.
>

I've heard of "reverse (the) oars", but never of "rowing back". I must,
however, concede that you as a rower should know.

--
Robert B. born England a long time ago;
Western Australia since 1972

[Sam Plusnet]

In article <e8scuj...@mid.individual.net>,
rob...@clubtelco.com says...

I like "rowing back" because it suggests reversing one's
course in a laborious and ungainly manner.

[RH Draney]

The difference is that back-pedalling doesn't make the bike go
backwards....r

[bill van]

In article <o0bjp...@news7.newsguy.com>,

On the one-speed I had as a kid, back-pedalling would act as a brake.
--
bill

[bill van]

In article <MPG.3293234...@news.plus.net>,

My recollection is that ordinary rowing is rowing back. That is, the
rower faces away from the direction in which he is moving.
--
bill

[Lewis]

In message <slrno2h082.1...@ID-107770.user.individual.net>

Not to anyone who has ever rowed a boat. You sit in the boat. You hold
the oars. You put the oars in the water and pull. The motion is
backward. It is basically impossible to row in any direction but back.

--
Penny! *Everything* is better with BlueTooth

[Snidely]

bill van explained :

That's because it came with coaster brakes. From the hub, there was a
little arm that was attached to the bike frame. To have a ratchet,
like most multi-gear bikes (yea 10-speeds!) allowing you to spin the
pedals backward indefinitely, you needed hand brakes.

With the rise of the half-pipe and other ramps, direct-drive bikes are
much more common, though still a specialty item, and if you pedal those
backwards ... you go backwards. Some of them have handbrakes, some
have no brakes.

/dps

--
Ieri, oggi, domani

[Snidely]

With a quizzical look, Katy Jennison observed:

I'd have expected the third example to be "roll back".

/dps

--
Maybe C282Y is simply one of the hangers-on, a groupie following a
future guitar god of the human genome: an allele with undiscovered
virtuosity, currently soloing in obscurity in Mom's garage.
Bradley Wertheim, theAtlantic.com, Jan 10 2013

[bill van]

In article <mn.6d897e0b57e7969a.127094@snitoo>,

Yeah. I'm especially eager to ride one of the ones with no brakes, down
a steep hill with a traffic light at the bottom, not. As they say in
another thread.
--
bill

[Peter Moylan]

My first bike (which I inherited from a grandfather) didn't allow
coasting. As long as the wheels were going around, the pedals had to go
around too. In principle that allowed you to go backwards. In practice,
it was sufficiently awkward that you could only go a short distance
backwards before falling over.

--
Peter Moylan http://www.pmoylan.org
Newcastle, NSW, Australia

[Whiskers]

Not being an oarsman I never knew that, so had no difficulty doing it
when the opportunity arose. Going sideways is tricky, but 'forwards'
and 'backwards' are simply a matter of which direction you try to move
the oar or paddle while it's in the water. You can also effectively slow or
stop motion in one direction by exerting effort in the opposite
direction; this is most useful in crowded 'boating lakes'. And
politics.

I do know that for the boat to go forwards with maximum power, most
traditional designs of boat require the oarsmen to face the stern; but
that is by no means universal and only makes the oarsman 'go backwards',
the boat is going forwards.

Circular boats such as coracles are of course a different kettle of
fish.

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Monday, November 14, 2016 at 5:26:40 AM UTC-5, Whiskers Catwheezel wrote:

> Circular boats such as coracles are of course a different kettle of
> fish.

Well, after returning from a session of trawling they are.

[snide...@gmail.com]

You're only likely to see that attempted if there is a plywood ramp before the stopline.

/dps

[snide...@gmail.com]

For going more than a length or two backwards,
the riders I've observed will face backwards.

You also probably didn't practice enough to balance on the front wheel
and swing the rest of the bike around in a circle.

/dps

[Richard Heathfield]

On 14/11/16 08:29, bill van wrote:
> In article <mn.6d897e0b57e7969a.127094@snitoo>,
> Snidely <snide...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> bill van explained :
>>> In article <o0bjp...@news7.newsguy.com>,
>>> RH Draney <dado...@cox.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 11/13/2016 8:43 AM, occam wrote:

<snip>

>>>>> Or 'back-pedalling', presumably from bicycles of yore when
>>>>> pack-pedalling was a form of braking.
>>>>
>>>> The difference is that back-pedalling doesn't make the bike go
>>>> backwards....r
>>>
>>> On the one-speed I had as a kid, back-pedalling would act as a brake.
>>
>> That's because it came with coaster brakes. From the hub, there was a
>> little arm that was attached to the bike frame. To have a ratchet,
>> like most multi-gear bikes (yea 10-speeds!) allowing you to spin the
>> pedals backward indefinitely, you needed hand brakes.
>>
>> With the rise of the half-pipe and other ramps, direct-drive bikes are
>> much more common, though still a specialty item, and if you pedal those
>> backwards ... you go backwards. Some of them have handbrakes, some
>> have no brakes.
>>
> Yeah. I'm especially eager to ride one of the ones with no brakes, down
> a steep hill with a traffic light at the bottom, not. As they say in
> another thread.

At least with a traffic light you have a chance of it being green.

WIWAL, the hill happened to me. It was a steep hill. Very steep. There
was no traffic light, of course.

My options were:

* keep feet on pedals (not easy because they were going round so fast,
and actually quite likely to result in injury);
* leap off bike (even more likely to result in injury);
* steer onto grass (I didn't actually think of this option at the time,
alas);
* lift feet well clear of pedals until the hill levelled out a bit (all
very well, but once you do this, you're committed).

I chose Option 4, having completely forgotten about the cattle grid.

--
Richard Heathfield
Email: rjh at cpax dot org dot uk
"Usenet is a strange place" - dmr 29 July 1999
Sig line 4 vacant - apply within

[John Varela]

There's no way that "rowing back" means rowing backwards, any more
than "bicycling back" means riding a bike backwards or "driving
back" means keeping the car's transmission in reverse. You row
across the lake to your fishing spot and then you row back (in the
normal manner) to your dock.

--
John Varela

[John Varela]

And you lived to tell about it.

--
John Varela

[Richard Heathfield]

Oh yes. But going over a cattle grid on a bike with a racing saddle,
without bearing any of your weight on your feet, might reasonably be
said to be one of those experiences that one could well have done without.

[Tony Cooper]

On Mon, 14 Nov 2016 22:58:23 +0000, Richard Heathfield

That brings back very painful memories of riding my bicycle on my
paper route and standing up to pedal on an incline...and the chain
slipped.

--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida

[Robert Bannister]

I have the problem of not knowing which pronunciation of "row" is being
used when I see it in an unfamiliar context. If we were talking about
parliament, the row that rhymes with cow might be appropriate.

[Robert Bannister]

And back-rowing, if it means anything, makes the boat move forwards, but
reversing oars makes it stop and possibly move backwards.

[Robert Bannister]

I have tears in my eyes just thinking about it.

[John Varela]

Absolutely. Here is a photo I took in Santorini:

http://npcnt.net/temp/19970924%20Santorini.jpg

The skiff/dory/whatever was being rowed out to the anchored boat.

> Circular boats such as coracles are of course a different kettle of
> fish.>

In a manner of speaking.

--
John Varela

[Janet]

In article <51W5y0sPNk52-pn2-fi088Z5TFf72@localhost>,
newl...@verizon.net says...

>
> There's no way that "rowing back" means rowing backwards,

My husband races a St. Ayles skiff (a boat rowed by a team of four
rowers with a cox). He tells me that the term backwatering is used when
they use the oars to back the boat up, but rowing back would be
perfectly understood.

http://www.arrancoastalrowing.co.uk/

Janet