The place where two rivers meet
Marius Hancu
I'm not sure if:
---
watershed
1 : WATER PARTING
2 : a region or area bounded peripherally by a water parting and
draining ultimately to a particular watercourse or body of water : the
catchment area or drainage basin from which the waters of a stream or
stream system are drawn
3 : something (as a sloping contour or member) introduced into a
structure primarily to shed or throw off water <a narrow watershed
over a car window>
4 : a crucial or dividing point, line, or factor <his achievement
would rank as a watershed in recent European history -- Newsweek>
<without crossing the watershed of war -- H.L.Stimson> <the watershed
moments of history -- C.H.Sykes>
M-W U
---
also works for the place where two rivers meet and combine their
waters.
--
Thanks.
Marius Hancu
Peter Duncanson (BrE)
The usual term for the place where two (or more) rivers meet is
"confluence".
I have never met watershed with that meaning.
--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)
Dr Peter Young
wrote:
> On Sat, 27 Mar 2010 09:49:02 -0700 (PDT), Marius Hancu
> <marius...@gmail.com> wrote:
[snip]
>>4 : a crucial or dividing point, line, or factor <his achievement
>>would rank as a watershed in recent European history -- Newsweek>
>><without crossing the watershed of war -- H.L.Stimson> <the watershed
>>moments of history -- C.H.Sykes>
>>
>>M-W U
>>---
>>also works for the place where two rivers meet and combine their
>>waters.
> The usual term for the place where two (or more) rivers meet is
> "confluence".
I would agree with this. Also, if you want to be obscure and archaic,
there is a place outside Tewkesbury, not far from here, called The
Mythe. According to Wikipedia
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mythe ) Mythe is an Old English
word meaning the joining of two rivers, appropriate as this is where
the Avon flows into the Severn.
> I have never met watershed with that meaning.
Neither have I. Apart from the figurative meaning concerning TV
programmes, in BrE it always means the dividing line between the area
drained by two or more rivers. The hill that can be seen from this
house is the watershed between the Severn and Thames catchment areas.
With best wishes,
Peter.
--
Peter Young, (BrE, RP), Consultant Anaesthetist, 1975-2004.
(US equivalent: Certified Anesthesiologist)
Cheltenham and Gloucester, UK. Now happily retired.
http://pnyoung.orpheusweb.co.uk
James Silverton
> [snip]
The OED is in agreement with you and does not mention confluence tho' it
does also give "the whole gathering ground of a river system".
--
James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland
Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not
Lars Eighner
<d1a047d8-9ac3-476c...@u22g2000yqf.googlegroups.com>,
the lovely and talented Marius Hancu
broadcast on alt.usage.english:
> Hello:
> 1 : WATER PARTING
Two rivers that meet are necessarily in the same watershed, but the place
that they meet is the confluence.
--
Lars Eighner <http://larseighner.com/> Warbama's Afghaninam day: 115
2778.4 hours since Warbama declared Viet Nam II.
Warbama: An LBJ for the Twenty-First century. No hope. No change.
Hatunen
>Two rivers that meet are necessarily in the same watershed.
Well, taking the meaning as a catchment area, the rivers are in
distinct watersheds separated by a watershed (taking the meaning
as a divide). But taken together they would contitute a larger
watershed (taking the meaning as a catchment area)consisting of
the two smaller watersheds.
The Mississippi watershed (taken as a catchment area) consists of
the watersheds of the Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio Rivers taken
together.
All of which can lead to considerable confusion unless everyone
is in agreement about what is being talked about.
>but the place that they meet is the confluence.
At least there's little confusion about what a confluence is.
--
************* DAVE HATUNEN (hat...@cox.net) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *
R H Draney
After Hurricane Katrina, did any reporter manage to sneak past a headline about
"changes in the delta"?...r
--
"Oy! A cat made of lead cannot fly."
- Mark Brader declaims a basic scientific principle
Garrett Wollman
There is also a convention that, when two rivers join, the combined
flow takes the name of the longer of its tributaries. This hasn't
always happened in the past, as witness the lower Mississippi (should
be the Missouri, but nobody knew that the Missouri was much longer
than the upper Mississippi at the time it was named). Pittsburgh is
located at the confluence of the Monongahela (or "Mon") and the
Allegheny, but the resulting waterway is the Ohio.
And sometimes we add distinguishing bits to the names of rivers, so
that we don't confuse the Red River with the Red River of the North.
(The former is part of the Mississippi-Missouri-Red system[1]; the
latter drains into Lake Winnipeg and ultimately Hudson's Bay.)
-GAWollman
[1] Which reminds me: what ever happened to the trend of naming
companies "Something-or-other System"? ComEnergy System, Chessie
System, and Seaboard System are all gone. Ryder System is apparently
still around.
--
Garrett A. Wollman | What intellectual phenomenon can be older, or more oft
wol...@bimajority.org| repeated, than the story of a large research program
Opinions not shared by| that impaled itself upon a false central assumption
my employers. | accepted by all practitioners? - S.J. Gould, 1993
Marius Hancu
> On 27 Mar 2010 "Peter Duncanson (BrE)" <m...@peterduncanson.net>
> >>4 : a crucial or dividing point, line, or factor <his achievement
> >>would rank as a watershed in recent European history -- Newsweek>
> >><without crossing the watershed of war -- H.L.Stimson> <the watershed
> >>moments of history -- C.H.Sykes>
>
> >>M-W U
> >>---
> >>also works for the place where two rivers meet and combine their
> >>waters.
> > The usual term for the place where two (or more) rivers meet is
> > "confluence".
>
> I would agree with this. Also, if you want to be obscure and archaic,
> there is a place outside Tewkesbury, not far from here, called The
> Mythe.
> According to Wikipedia
> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mythe) Mythe is an Old English
> word meaning the joining of two rivers, appropriate as this is where
> the Avon flows into the Severn.
Oh, thanks. I love old words.
> > I have never met watershed with that meaning.
>
> Neither have I. Apart from the figurative meaning concerning TV
> programmes, in BrE it always means the dividing line between the area
> drained by two or more rivers. The hill that can be seen from this
> house is the watershed between the Severn and Thames catchment areas.
Thank you all.
Marius Hancu
Tom P
The meeting point of two rivers is a confluence. The city of Koblenz,
or Coblence in the French spelling derives its name from the Latin
Confluentes, the meeting point of the Moselle with the Rhine.
The word watershed has developed two contradictory meanings in BrE and
AmE. In BrE the word retains the meaning from the Germanic root -scheid
meaning to divide or split, as in the verb scheiden, meaning to divorce
in the modern language. So a watershed (German: Wasserscheide) is the
division line between two drainage basins. In AmE the term watershed
refers to the drainage basin itself.
T.
Hatunen
<g.k...@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> wrote:
>In message <qulsq5hvvb2k0c128...@4ax.com>
> Hatunen <hat...@cox.net> wrote:
>> The Mississippi watershed (taken as a catchment area) consists of
>> the watersheds of the Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio Rivers taken
>> together.
>
>You left out the Arkansas! (Hey, it's at least as cool as the Ohion,
>sheesh!)
I left out the Yazoo, too.
Hatunen
>The word watershed has developed two contradictory meanings in BrE and
>AmE. In BrE the word retains the meaning from the Germanic root -scheid
>meaning to divide or split, as in the verb scheiden, meaning to divorce
>in the modern language. So a watershed (German: Wasserscheide) is the
>division line between two drainage basins. In AmE the term watershed
>refers to the drainage basin itself.
Except when it refers to the divide.
Steve Hayes
>In message <d1a047d8-9ac3-476c...@u22g2000yqf.googlegroups.com>
> Marius Hancu <marius...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> also works for the place where two rivers meet and combine their
>> waters.
>
>That is called a confluence.
I know a farm called "Riversmeet", which contains a confluence.
--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk
Peter Moylan
> Hello:
>
> I'm not sure if:
> ---
> watershed
[...]
> also works for the place where two rivers meet and combine their
> waters.
No. The watershed is the line formed by the _high_ points that separate
two regions. (Such that water falling on one side of the line flows in
one direction, and water falling on the other side flows in a different
direction.) You're talking about the low point.
--
Peter Moylan, Newcastle, NSW, Australia. http://www.pmoylan.org
For an e-mail address, see my web page.
Peter Moylan
> Hatunen filted:
>> On Sat, 27 Mar 2010 18:25:43 +0000 (UTC), Lars Eighner
>> <use...@larseighner.com> wrote:
>>
>>> but the place that they meet is the confluence.
>> At least there's little confusion about what a confluence is.
>
> After Hurricane Katrina, did any reporter manage to sneak past a headline about
> "changes in the delta"?...r
>
Jonathan Morton
news:2cdaaafe5...@pnyoung.ormail.co.uk...
>
>> The usual term for the place where two (or more) rivers meet is
>> "confluence".
As would I.
> I would agree with this. Also, if you want to be obscure and archaic,
> there is a place outside Tewkesbury, not far from here, called The
> Mythe. According to Wikipedia
> ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mythe ) Mythe is an Old English
> word meaning the joining of two rivers, appropriate as this is where
> the Avon flows into the Severn.
Ah, I'm familiar with the area but had no idea what the word meant.
> Neither have I. Apart from the figurative meaning concerning TV
> programmes, in BrE it always means the dividing line between the area
> drained by two or more rivers. The hill that can be seen from this
> house is the watershed between the Severn and Thames catchment areas.
OT, but in the particular case of the English rivers it always amazes me how
far west the important watersheds are. Even Andoversford - only a few miles
from Gloucester - drains to the Thames. And the watershed between the Trent
and the Weaver/Mersey is almost within sight of the sea.
Regards
Jonathan
R H Draney
>
>On 27 Mar 2010 22:16:10 GMT, Lewis <g.k...@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> wrote:
>
>>In message <d1a047d8-9ac3-476c...@u22g2000yqf.googlegroups.com>
>> Marius Hancu <marius...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> also works for the place where two rivers meet and combine their
>>> waters.
>>
>>That is called a confluence.
>
>I know a farm called "Riversmeet", which contains a confluence.
At 33.180089 N, 108.205891 W, you will find the confluence of the West Fork Gila
River and the East Fork Gila River, where they join to form the Gila River...(a
few miles upstream, the WFGR has already incorporated the flow of the Middle
Fork Gila River)....r
Jonathan Morton
news:holsdd$1n74$1...@grapevine.csail.mit.edu...
> In article <qulsq5hvvb2k0c128...@4ax.com>,
> Hatunen <hat...@cox.net> wrote:
>>On Sat, 27 Mar 2010 18:25:43 +0000 (UTC), Lars Eighner
>><use...@larseighner.com> wrote:
>>>but the place that they meet is the confluence.
>>
>>At least there's little confusion about what a confluence is.
>
> There is also a convention that, when two rivers join, the combined
> flow takes the name of the longer of its tributaries. This hasn't
> always happened in the past, as witness the lower Mississippi (should
> be the Missouri, but nobody knew that the Missouri was much longer
> than the upper Mississippi at the time it was named).
I have often wondered about that point.
Sometimes the combined river may have a third name. The Ouse and Trent
combine in the Humber - not really a river at all as both the Trent and the
Ouse are tidal above the confluence.
Regards
Jonathan
Athel Cornish-Bowden
I'm not sure how much the term "confluence" is used in BrE -- I've only
ever met it in AmE. The place in Devon where the East Dart meets the
West Dart is called Dartmeet, but that's a specific term, of course,
not a generic one. I don't know if there are other similar examples.
--
athel
Lars Eighner
talented Lewis broadcast on alt.usage.english:
> In message <RqqdneZjg8QqmTLW...@westnet.com.au>
> Peter Moylan <gro.nalyomp@retep> wrote:
>> R H Draney wrote:
>>> Hatunen filted:
>>>> On Sat, 27 Mar 2010 18:25:43 +0000 (UTC), Lars Eighner
>>>> <use...@larseighner.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> but the place that they meet is the confluence.
>>>> At least there's little confusion about what a confluence is.
>>>
>>> After Hurricane Katrina, did any reporter manage to sneak past a headline about
>>> "changes in the delta"?...r
>>>
>> Oh, excellent. Save that one up for the next natural disaster.
> It's such a mathgeek joke it would be easy to slip by.
That, and apparently in the South they use the word "delta" to mean
the floodplane far inland, not merely the bit around the mouth.
--
Lars Eighner <http://larseighner.com/> Warbama's Afghaninam day: 116
2792.8 hours since Warbama declared Viet Nam II.
Peter Duncanson (BrE)
The Mersey starts in Stockport at the confluence of the Tame and The
Goyt.
And then there is the Amazon...
Athel Cornish-Bowden
<ma...@peterduncanson.net> said:
> On Sun, 28 Mar 2010 09:35:03 +0100, "Jonathan Morton"
> [ ... ]
>> Sometimes the combined river may have a third name. The Ouse and Trent
>> combine in the Humber - not really a river at all as both the Trent and the
>> Ouse are tidal above the confluence.
>>
> The Mersey starts in Stockport at the confluence of the Tame and The
> Goyt.
OK, but would you actually say that (other than in addressing a group
of geographers)? I would say
The Mersey starts in Stockport at the place where the Tame and the Goyt meet
WIWAL we use to have picnics occasionally along the Goyt. I had no idea
that I was picnicking on the upper reaches of the Mersey.
--
athel
Peter Duncanson (BrE)
<acor...@ibsm.cnrs-mrs.fr> wrote:
>On 2010-03-28 14:42:10 +0200, "Peter Duncanson (BrE)"
><ma...@peterduncanson.net> said:
>
>> On Sun, 28 Mar 2010 09:35:03 +0100, "Jonathan Morton"
>> [ ... ]
>
>>> Sometimes the combined river may have a third name. The Ouse and Trent
>>> combine in the Humber - not really a river at all as both the Trent and the
>>> Ouse are tidal above the confluence.
>>>
>> The Mersey starts in Stockport at the confluence of the Tame and The
>> Goyt.
>
>OK, but would you actually say that (other than in addressing a group
>of geographers)? I would say
>
> The Mersey starts in Stockport at the place where the Tame and the Goyt meet
>
So would I.
>WIWAL we use to have picnics occasionally along the Goyt. I had no idea
>that I was picnicking on the upper reaches of the Mersey.
--
Pat Durkin
"Jonathan Morton" <jonathan.mortonb...@btinternet.com>
wrote in message news:RKednSsswdMniTLW...@bt.com...
> "Garrett Wollman" <wol...@bimajority.org> wrote in message
> news:holsdd$1n74$1...@grapevine.csail.mit.edu...
>> In article <qulsq5hvvb2k0c128...@4ax.com>,
>> Hatunen <hat...@cox.net> wrote:
>>>On Sat, 27 Mar 2010 18:25:43 +0000 (UTC), Lars Eighner
>>><use...@larseighner.com> wrote:
>>>>but the place that they meet is the confluence.
>>>
>>>At least there's little confusion about what a confluence is.
>>
>> There is also a convention that, when two rivers join, the combined
>> flow takes the name of the longer of its tributaries. This hasn't
>> always happened in the past, as witness the lower Mississippi
>> (should
>> be the Missouri, but nobody knew that the Missouri was much longer
>> than the upper Mississippi at the time it was named).
> Sometimes the combined river may have a third name. The Ouse and
> Trent combine in the Humber - not really a river at all as both the
> Trent and the Ouse are tidal above the confluence.
Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh is seen from the bluffs above the
city. The title commemorates the point at which the Allegheny and the
Monongahela meet to form the Ohio River. In the park at that point of
confluence, the English built Fort Pitt. I wonder when the city
founders added the "-sburgh"
>
In another subthread someone mentioned "Riversmeet":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watersmeet_Township,_Michigan
From a different site:
"Watersmeet Michigan welcomes you to year-round vacation enjoyment.
From Watersmeet, the Ontonagon River flows north into Lake Superior.
The Wisconsin River flows south into the Mississippi River, and the
Paint River flows east into Lake Michigan. This is "where the waters
meet"!
------------
But really, they are describing a "divide" between three watersheds
(where waterspart)...or just two if you assume the Atlantic differs
from the Gulf/Caribbean, or even just one, since all of the water
eventually ends up in the Atlantic, but then, the whole world is one
water, isn't it?
http://www.lake-link.com/maps/lake.cfm?LakeID=5231&View=Area_Map
Watersmeet Lake in Vilas County, WI.
I am not sure when I first heard the word "watersmeet", but I think it
might have been in some poem or in a biblical tract.
Marius Hancu
> "Jonathan Morton" <jonathan.mortonbutignorethisp...@btinternet.com>
> wrote in messagenews:RKednSsswdMniTLW...@bt.com...
>
>
>
> > "Garrett Wollman" <woll...@bimajority.org> wrote in message
> >news:holsdd$1n74$1...@grapevine.csail.mit.edu...
> >> In article <qulsq5hvvb2k0c12856q58chbo7dkqh...@4ax.com>,
Well, I've just found it in the dictionary:-)
-----
watersmeet
Function: noun
: a meeting place of two rivers <each of these torrents ran down a
gorge of its own, the one on the east, the other on the west of the
watersmeet -- Hilaire Belloc>
M-W U
------
Great find.
Nick
writes:
> "Dr Peter Young" <pny...@ormail.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:2cdaaafe5...@pnyoung.ormail.co.uk...
>>
>>> The usual term for the place where two (or more) rivers meet is
>>> "confluence".
>
> As would I.
>
>> I would agree with this. Also, if you want to be obscure and archaic,
>> there is a place outside Tewkesbury, not far from here, called The
>> Mythe. According to Wikipedia
>> ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mythe ) Mythe is an Old English
>> word meaning the joining of two rivers, appropriate as this is where
>> the Avon flows into the Severn.
>
> Ah, I'm familiar with the area but had no idea what the word meant.
A bit lower down the Severn splits into two channels which join again.
These are called the "Upper Parting" and the "Lower Parting". I've
always found the second of those rather odd.
--
Online waterways route planner | http://canalplan.eu
Plan trips, see photos, check facilities | http://canalplan.org.uk
Nick
writes:
The Ouse is particularly interesting - it starts where a very small
stream, the Ouse Gill Beck, flows into the River Ure, whereupon the Ure
changes its name to the Ouse.
Nick
> Well, I've just found it in the dictionary:-)
> -----
> watersmeet
>
> Function: noun
>
> : a meeting place of two rivers <each of these torrents ran down a
> gorge of its own, the one on the east, the other on the west of the
> watersmeet -- Hilaire Belloc>
>
> M-W U
> ------
The Bridgewater Canal calls its two major junctions "Stretford Waters
Meeting" and "Preston Brook Waters Meeting". I don't know of any other
canal to use that terminology, but have always found it rather poetic.
Hatunen
<gro.nalyomp@retep> wrote:
>R H Draney wrote:
>> Hatunen filted:
>>> On Sat, 27 Mar 2010 18:25:43 +0000 (UTC), Lars Eighner
>>> <use...@larseighner.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> but the place that they meet is the confluence.
>>> At least there's little confusion about what a confluence is.
>>
>> After Hurricane Katrina, did any reporter manage to sneak past a headline about
>> "changes in the delta"?...r
>>
>Oh, excellent. Save that one up for the next natural disaster.
Changes in the Mississippi delta are so common the don't rate
much of a mention except to people in the delta.
Now when the Red River control structure finally fails you'll see
a change in the delta that will get a lot of news coverage, since
the Mississippi's flow will shift tens of miles to the west.
Dr Peter Young
> "Jonathan Morton" <jonathan.mortonb...@btinternet.com>
> writes:
>> "Dr Peter Young" <pny...@ormail.co.uk> wrote in message
>> news:2cdaaafe5...@pnyoung.ormail.co.uk...
>>>
>>>> The usual term for the place where two (or more) rivers meet is
>>>> "confluence".
>>
>> As would I.
>>
>>> I would agree with this. Also, if you want to be obscure and archaic,
>>> there is a place outside Tewkesbury, not far from here, called The
>>> Mythe. According to Wikipedia
>>> ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mythe ) Mythe is an Old English
>>> word meaning the joining of two rivers, appropriate as this is where
>>> the Avon flows into the Severn.
>>
>> Ah, I'm familiar with the area but had no idea what the word meant.
> A bit lower down the Severn splits into two channels which join again.
> These are called the "Upper Parting" and the "Lower Parting". I've
> always found the second of those rather odd.
I thought that these names referred to the places where the river
divided and re-joined, rather than the two channels. However, I stand
to be corrected. The Ordnance Survey map would seem to agree with me.
With best wishes,
Peter.
--
Peter Young, (BrE, RP), Consultant Anaesthetist, 1975-2004.
(US equivalent: Certified Anesthesiologist)
Cheltenham and Gloucester, UK. Now happily retired.
http://pnyoung.orpheusweb.co.uk
James Silverton
>> "Jonathan Morton"
>> <jonathan.mortonb...@btinternet.com> writes:
The Irish poet, Thomas Moore, wrote a poem about "The Meeting of the
Waters", in County Wicklow, which is sung to an old Irish tune. The
place, where the rivers Avonbeag and Avonmhor meet, is of course, well
equipped with tourist facilities and is otherwise rather pretty.
There is a rather spectacular meeting of the waters where the black Rio
Negro flows into the muddy Amazon River.
--
James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland
Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not
franzi
wrote:
> On Sun, 28 Mar 2010 15:51:38 +0200, Athel Cornish-Bowden
>
>
>
> <acorn...@ibsm.cnrs-mrs.fr> wrote:
> >On 2010-03-28 14:42:10 +0200, "Peter Duncanson (BrE)"
>
> >> On Sun, 28 Mar 2010 09:35:03 +0100, "Jonathan Morton"
> >> [ ... ]
>
> >>> Sometimes the combined river may have a third name. The Ouse and Trent
> >>> combine in the Humber - not really a river at all as both the Trent and the
> >>> Ouse are tidal above the confluence.
>
> >> The Mersey starts in Stockport at the confluence of the Tame and The
> >> Goyt.
>
> >OK, but would you actually say that (other than in addressing a group
> >of geographers)? I would say
>
> > The Mersey starts in Stockport at the place where the Tame and the Goyt meet
>
> So would I.
>
the Tame and Goyt meet. That seems a more natural speech to me.
--
franzi
Robin Bignall
I used to live near the confluence of the rivers Oise and Seine.
Here's a picture:
http://www.charles-francois-daubigny.org/The-Confluence-of-the-River-Seine-and-the-River-Oise-large.html
http://tinyurl.com/yhhu84e
--
Robin
(BrE)
Herts, England
Jonathan Morton
>
>> A bit lower down the Severn splits into two channels which join again.
>> These are called the "Upper Parting" and the "Lower Parting". I've
>> always found the second of those rather odd.
>
> I thought that these names referred to the places where the river
> divided and re-joined, rather than the two channels. However, I stand
> to be corrected. The Ordnance Survey map would seem to agree with me.
That is certainly my understanding too. Curiously on the 1:50,000 OS, only
the Lower Parting is labelled. My copy of Bradshaw describes the western
channel as the Maisemore Channel (it is not navigable) and the eastern
channel as the main navigation channel.
Regards
Jonathan (from further up the river - Worcester)
Peter Duncanson (BrE)
An editing relic. I was intending to specify the location. I once stood
at the side of a road by the meeting point and watched the two streams
of water coming together. There has been major construction work since
then and I couldn't find the location on a map. I think the confluence
is in the same place but the surroundings may have changed. So "the
place" finished up as a placeholder for details of the location.
Mike Barnes
>On Sun, 28 Mar 2010 13:37:31 -0700 (PDT), franzi
><et.in.arca...@googlemail.com> wrote:
>
>>On Mar 28, 3:42 pm, "Peter Duncanson (BrE)" <m...@peterduncanson.net>
>>wrote:
>>> On Sun, 28 Mar 2010 15:51:38 +0200, Athel Cornish-Bowden
>>> >the Goyt meet
>>>
>>> So would I.
>>>
>>Wouldn't you omit "at the place"? The Mersey starts in Stockport where
>>the Tame and Goyt meet. That seems a more natural speech to me.
>
>An editing relic. I was intending to specify the location. I once stood
>at the side of a road by the meeting point and watched the two streams
>of water coming together. There has been major construction work since
>then and I couldn't find the location on a map. I think the confluence
>is in the same place but the surroundings may have changed. So "the
>place" finished up as a placeholder for details of the location.
The confluence is an uninspiring concrete-lined channel beside the M60.
Tame from the N; Goyt from the E; Mersey to the W.
--
Mike Barnes
Cheshire, England
Athel Cornish-Bowden
<et.in.arca...@googlemail.com> said:
To me too. I don't recall why I didn't write that.
--
athel
Adam Funk
> On Sun, 28 Mar 2010 15:51:38 +0200, Athel Cornish-Bowden
><acor...@ibsm.cnrs-mrs.fr> wrote:
>
>>On 2010-03-28 14:42:10 +0200, "Peter Duncanson (BrE)"
>><ma...@peterduncanson.net> said:
>>> The Mersey starts in Stockport at the confluence of the Tame and The
>>> Goyt.
>>
>>OK, but would you actually say that (other than in addressing a group
>>of geographers)? I would say
>>
>> The Mersey starts in Stockport at the place where the Tame and the Goyt meet
>>
> So would I.
I really like the sound of the word "confluence", but I might avoid it
in a situation where I wanted to avoid being regarded as a show-off.
--
Civilization is a race between catastrophe and education.
[H G Wells]
Peter Duncanson (BrE)
I saw it before that motorway was constructed, which is why I was a
little disoriented looking at today's map. Your description of an
"uninspiring concrete-lined channel" certainly fits my recollection.
The motorway name M60 confused me temporarily. It was originally M63.
franzi
> On 2010-03-28, Peter Duncanson (BrE) wrote:
>
> > On Sun, 28 Mar 2010 15:51:38 +0200, Athel Cornish-Bowden
> ><acorn...@ibsm.cnrs-mrs.fr> wrote:
>
> >>On 2010-03-28 14:42:10 +0200, "Peter Duncanson (BrE)"
> >>> The Mersey starts in Stockport at the confluence of the Tame and The
> >>> Goyt.
>
> >>OK, but would you actually say that (other than in addressing a group
> >>of geographers)? I would say
>
> >> The Mersey starts in Stockport at the place where the Tame and the Goyt meet
>
> > So would I.
>
> I really like the sound of the word "confluence", but I might avoid it
> in a situation where I wanted to avoid being regarded as a show-off.
>
"influence" instead. An unequal confluence, but on similar principles.
I looked in the dictionary to see if I was too late, but apart from a
brief delay at "in flagrante", I found nothing of interest.
"Influx" seems not to mean quite what I have in mind.
--
franzi
JimboCat
> I am not sure when I first heard the word "watersmeet", but I think it
> might have been in some poem or in a biblical tract.
I am almost certain this word occurs in Tolkien's /The Lord of the
Rings/, but not having the book in front of me, I can only say that
google fails to support my memory.
Wikipedia does, however, mention that JRRT based Elrond's house on
Watersmeet Lodge in Devon, UK. And google books finds the word five
times in E.R. Eddison's /The Worm Ouroboros/, which would seem to
imply that I am conflating my fantasies...
Jim Deutch (JimboCat)
--
"Wikipedia. The roulette wheel of knowledge."
--Blair P. Houghton
Nick
> On 28 Mar 2010 Nick <3-no...@temporary-address.org.uk> wrote:
>
>> "Jonathan Morton" <jonathan.mortonb...@btinternet.com>
>> writes:
>
>>> "Dr Peter Young" <pny...@ormail.co.uk> wrote in message
>>> news:2cdaaafe5...@pnyoung.ormail.co.uk...
>>>>
>>>>> The usual term for the place where two (or more) rivers meet is
>>>>> "confluence".
>>>
>>> As would I.
>>>
>>>> I would agree with this. Also, if you want to be obscure and archaic,
>>>> there is a place outside Tewkesbury, not far from here, called The
>>>> Mythe. According to Wikipedia
>>>> ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mythe ) Mythe is an Old English
>>>> word meaning the joining of two rivers, appropriate as this is where
>>>> the Avon flows into the Severn.
>>>
>>> Ah, I'm familiar with the area but had no idea what the word meant.
>
>> A bit lower down the Severn splits into two channels which join again.
>> These are called the "Upper Parting" and the "Lower Parting". I've
>> always found the second of those rather odd.
>
> I thought that these names referred to the places where the river
> divided and re-joined, rather than the two channels. However, I stand
> to be corrected. The Ordnance Survey map would seem to agree with me.
I actually meant the places - it was poorly written. My OS Explorer 179
calls them the "East Channel" and, well you can guess.
Jonathan Morton
news:87d3ymm...@temporary-address.org.uk...
>>
>>> A bit lower down the Severn splits into two channels which join again.
>>> These are called the "Upper Parting" and the "Lower Parting". I've
>>> always found the second of those rather odd.
>>
>> I thought that these names referred to the places where the river
>> divided and re-joined, rather than the two channels. However, I stand
>> to be corrected. The Ordnance Survey map would seem to agree with me.
>
> I actually meant the places - it was poorly written. My OS Explorer 179
> calls them the "East Channel" and, well you can guess.
Actually I can now see what Nick meant by the two "Partings" being odd. The
second should be a reunion - but it depends which way you are travelling, of
course.
Regards
Jonathan
id4sain...@gmail.com
> Hello:
>
> I'm not sure if:
> ---
> watershed
>
> 1 : WATER PARTING
>
> 2 : a region or area bounded peripherally by a water parting and
> draining ultimately to a particular watercourse or body of water : the
> catchment area or drainage basin from which the waters of a stream or
> stream system are drawn
>
> 3 : something (as a sloping contour or member) introduced into a
> structure primarily to shed or throw off water <a narrow watershed
> over a car window>
>
> 4 : a crucial or dividing point, line, or factor <his achievement
> would rank as a watershed in recent European history -- Newsweek>
> <without crossing the watershed of war -- H.L.Stimson> <the watershed
> moments of history -- C.H.Sykes>
>
> M-W U
> ---
> also works for the place where two rivers meet and combine their
> waters.
>
> --
> Thanks.
> Marius Hancu
Dingbat
> or Coblence in the French spelling derives its name from the Latin
> Confluentes, the meeting point of the Moselle with the Rhine.
Often, when the name of one of the rivers is retained after the confluence,
it is said that the other river flows into it rather than that they meet.
Be that as it may, the Sanskritic word for confluence is sangam. The
world's most well attended festival, the Kumbh Mela, is held at
Allahabad, aka Prayag, the confluence of the Ganga (Ganges) and Yamuna.
> The word watershed has developed two contradictory meanings in BrE and
> AmE. In BrE the word retains the meaning from the Germanic root -scheid
> meaning to divide or split, as in the verb scheiden, meaning to divorce
> in the modern language. So a watershed (German: Wasserscheide) is the
> division line between two drainage basins. In AmE the term watershed
> refers to the drainage basin itself.
... and what is a 'watershed event' in US vs UK English?
When I first reached the US, I'd heard only of watershed events, not watershed
moments.