Tank

[Tony Cooper]

As a reader of political news, I often come across "tank", "tanking",
and "tanked" as a description of some politician's declining approval
rating. I assume it comes from "into the septic tank". It's also
used in describing plummeting earnings or revenue figures in business
reporting.

Polls were not as much in the news years ago, so the forms of "tank"
were usually applied to an athlete - usually a boxer - deliberately
losing.

I'm OK in Googling out facts about, say, limestone, but I don't know
how to go about finding when terms first came into use. I wonder when
"tank" (and the forms of "tank") started being used to describe
declining figures in polls, earnings, and such.


--

Tony Cooper Orlando Florida

[Mark Brader]

Tony Cooper:

> As a reader of political news, I often come across "tank", "tanking",
> and "tanked" as a description of some politician's declining approval
> rating. I assume it comes from "into the septic tank".

I would not have guessed that. Places where septic tanks are used are
not ones I would generally think about. But it is a sensible guess,
I guess.

> It's also used in describing plummeting earnings or revenue figures
> in business reporting.

And according to the OED Online, that seems to be where it started.
They group this with tank v.2, though only by way of a draft addition
in 2005. The original meanings of this verb refer to things literally
being put in a tank (whether for measuring, storage, or treatment);
later meanings refer to consuming alcohol, adding fuel to a plane or
car, and figurative variations on this.

They define this newer sense as:

# intransitive. colloquial (originally U.S.). To fall rapidly in
# estimation, value, etc.; to fail; spec. (of an economy or share
# price) to crash.

The earliest cited are from 1979 and 1984 and refer to stock markets.

> Polls were not as much in the news years ago, so the forms of "tank"
> were usually applied to an athlete - usually a boxer - deliberately
> losing.

They list this as sense 6 of tank v.2, and define it as applying
specifically to tennis, or as they put it, to Lawn Tennis. There
are two cites, dated 1976 and 1979.


By the way, the OED Online has two other verbs "tank". Tank v.1 means
to hit, beat up, or defeat soundly; tank v.3 refers to using the armored
war machine.
--
Mark Brader | "If communication becomes impossible, it is expected that
Toronto | both parties will... notify the other that communication
m...@vex.net | has become impossible..." --memo to university staff

My text in this article is in the public domain.

[Snidely]

Lo, on the 9/22/2021, Tony Cooper did proclaim ...

Google NGrams is part of the answer to "how to", but my simple-minded
attempts aren't turning up much. I don't get a valid ngram result from
"approval tanking", "tanking approval", "tanking rating", or even
"tanking team".

/dps

--
"That's a good sort of hectic, innit?"

" Very much so, and I'd recommend the haggis wontons."
-njm

[Snidely]

Snidely explained on 9/22/2021 :

> Lo, on the 9/22/2021, Tony Cooper did proclaim ...
>> As a reader of political news, I often come across "tank", "tanking",
>> and "tanked" as a description of some politician's declining approval
>> rating. I assume it comes from "into the septic tank". It's also
>> used in describing plummeting earnings or revenue figures in business
>> reporting.
>>
>> Polls were not as much in the news years ago, so the forms of "tank"
>> were usually applied to an athlete - usually a boxer - deliberately
>> losing.
>>
>> I'm OK in Googling out facts about, say, limestone, but I don't know
>> how to go about finding when terms first came into use. I wonder when
>> "tank" (and the forms of "tank") started being used to describe
>> declining figures in polls, earnings, and such.
>
> Google NGrams is part of the answer to "how to", but my simple-minded
> attempts aren't turning up much. I don't get a valid ngram result from
> "approval tanking", "tanking approval", "tanking rating", or even "tanking
> team".

"_NOUN_ is tanking" has a small bump 1900-1911 and sweeps up in 1982
before beginning to tank in 2010, currently discounted by 1/3 since the
peak.

/dps

--
Who, me? And what lacuna?

[Jerry Friedman]

Well put.

--
Jerry Friedman

[Jerry Friedman]

Shocking. /Green's Dictionary of Slang/ has a more plausible origin and
earlier dates.

tank v.1
[SE tank, a swimming pool, thus the boxer ‘takes a dive’]

1. to abandon deliberately, to give up, poss. for illicit monetary gain,
esp. in boxing.

1961 [US] J. Scarne Complete Guide to Gambling 692:
Tanked or Tank job – crooked, as in prize fight. ‘The bookies
say the fight is tanked.’.

[No more citations]

2. to fail.

1943 [US] ‘Whitman College Sl.’ in AS XVIII:2 Apr. 154/2: tank. To fail.

[More citations]

And under "In Compounds":

tank job (n.) (also tank act)
a corrupt sporting contest with a pre-arranged result.

1938 [US] D. Runyon ‘The Big Umbrella’ in Runyon on Broadway
(1954) 557: She can spot a tank job as far as anybody. [Ibid.]
558: The dough is rolling in on Spider and Jonas just with tank
acts.

https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/j2yb4ka

I don't know why he doesn't put things in order of first use.

--
Jerry Friedman

[Lewis]

In message <d5ankg5vp4q03e34a...@4ax.com> Tony Cooper <tonyco...@gmail.com> wrote:
> As a reader of political news, I often come across "tank", "tanking",
> and "tanked" as a description of some politician's declining approval
> rating.

More common is a project failing, especially in a costly manner.

> I assume it comes from "into the septic tank". It's also used in
> describing plummeting earnings or revenue figures in business
> reporting.

> Polls were not as much in the news years ago, so the forms of "tank"
> were usually applied to an athlete - usually a boxer - deliberately
> losing.

I think of the sports 'tank' as being quite separate from the
'spectacular and costly failure' tank, thiugh they are obviously
related. When a movie tanks, there is no implication that it was
intentional though, so I'd separate those definitions based on that
alone.

That said, I agree that they both probably come from "in the tank".

> I'm OK in Googling out facts about, say, limestone, but I don't know
> how to go about finding when terms first came into use. I wonder when
> "tank" (and the forms of "tank") started being used to describe
> declining figures in polls, earnings, and such.

In the political sense of falling popularity I suspect it is quite
recent. Searching google for hits from 2000 for "tanked polls" they refer to
the economy, the movie Tank Girl, and several other movie related hits.
There is only one result in the first ten that looks like it might be
political, but the actual page does not contain 'tanked'.

There are very few instances of 'tanked' in the ngram viewer for before
2001, and a lot of them are OCR errors for "tanker" or referring to
planes that are 'tanked' to carry water or herbicide or somesuch. This
is not surprising given ngram's sources; I know the sports use has been
around in AmE for decades.

--
"Are you pondering what I'm pondering?"
"I think so, Brain. But would the villains really have gotten away
with it, if it weren't for those pesky kids and their dog?"

[Lewis]

In message <puidnQx2p7FhKNb8...@giganews.com> Mark Brader <m...@vex.net> wrote:
> By the way, the OED Online has two other verbs "tank". Tank v.1 means
> to hit, beat up, or defeat soundly;

Does the OED not list usage notes or regions? It is my understanding
that that use of tank is only northern UK, possibly only Scotland
(though perhaps it has spread from headline writers?). I have a friend
in Nottingham who uses it that way, but his brother lives in Scotland,
so...

--
M is for MAUDE who was swept out to sea
N is for NEVILLE who died of ennui

[Ross Clark]

Last time this came around these parts was, I think, in 2014.
If I may quote myself from that occasion:

"This tank (vi) = "fail" is something I've only noticed in recent years,
esp. relating to movies, the economy and other big enterprises. But
J.Green has a note of its use as "Whitman College slang" from 1943
(recorded in American Speech). He connects it with the boxing sense,
which seems to be from the same metaphor as "take a dive". There's a
quote from Damon Runyon (1938) with "tank job" meaning "a corrupt

sporting contest with a pre-arranged result"."

To this let 2021-me add that Wentworth & Flexner (Dictionary of American
Slang, 1960) have "tank (vi) To fail (Not commmon)". But they also
refer to "tank fight A prize fight in which one fighter is paid or
bribed to lose, as by his opponent or gamblers; a fixed prize fight; one
in which a fighter takes a dive." And a synonym for "take a dive" is "go
in the tank To allow oneself to lose a prize fight; to throw a fight".

"Tank (n)" must have been common usage for a swimming pool at one time,
to account for "tank top" and "tank suit" but I can't get any definite
dates on it.

[Jerry Friedman]

On Wednesday, September 22, 2021 at 7:24:32 PM UTC-6, Lewis wrote:
> In message <puidnQx2p7FhKNb8...@giganews.com> Mark Brader <m...@vex.net> wrote:
> > By the way, the OED Online has two other verbs "tank". Tank v.1 means
> > to hit, beat up, or defeat soundly;

> Does the OED not list usage notes or regions?

...

It does. The "hit" or "criticize, reprimand" meaning is "English
regional (midlands)." The "beat up" meaning is "colloquial
(originally U.S.)." And the "defeat soundly" meaning is
"Chiefly Scottish and Irish English (northern)."

--
Jerry Friedman

[Tony Cooper]

On Thu, 23 Sep 2021 01:21:10 -0000 (UTC), Lewis
<g.k...@kreme.dont-email.me> wrote:

>In message <d5ankg5vp4q03e34a...@4ax.com> Tony Cooper <tonyco...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> As a reader of political news, I often come across "tank", "tanking",
>> and "tanked" as a description of some politician's declining approval
>> rating.
>
>More common is a project failing, especially in a costly manner.

Googling for "poll numbers tanking" provides articles about Joe Biden,
Kamela Harris, and Donald Trump "tanking" in the polls.

"Common" is a tricky term. "Common over the past 10 years" can be one
thing, but "Common at this time" can be quite another.

Also, what you read can determine what is "common". I read a lot of
political news, so I'm likely to see poll results. I do have stock
investments, so I follow some business reports, but none of the stock
I'm holding is likely to tank.

Of course, the whole market could tank if they can't break up the
logjam in DC.

[Garrett Wollman]

In article <d5ankg5vp4q03e34a...@4ax.com>,

Tony Cooper <tonyco...@gmail.com> wrote:
>As a reader of political news, I often come across "tank", "tanking",
>and "tanked" as a description of some politician's declining approval
>rating.

Not to be confused, of course, with a "tankie", who is a Stalinist (or
sometimes another flavor of hard-line communist).

-GAWollman

--
Garrett A. Wollman | "Act to avoid constraining the future; if you can,
wol...@bimajority.org| act to remove constraint from the future. This is
Opinions not shared by| a thing you can do, are able to do, to do together."
my employers. | - Graydon Saunders, _A Succession of Bad Days_ (2015)

[Mark Brader]

Jerry Friedman:

> /Green's Dictionary of Slang/ has a more plausible origin and
> earlier dates.
>
> tank v.1

> [SE tank, a swimming pool, thus the boxer 'takes a dive']

Makes sense to me; thanks.
--
Mark Brader | "I doubt that many people have changed their views...
Toronto | If you'd like to continue, please take both sides,
m...@vex.net | arguing with yourself." --Charles Bishop

[soup]

On 23/09/2021 02:28, Ross Clark wrote:
>
> "Tank (n)" must have been common usage for a swimming pool at one time,

> to account for "tank suit" but I can't get any definite
> dates on it.

I thought it was more literal than that actually being close fitting
clothing (tank-top) [1] or as a coverall to keep uniform clean/from
snagging (tank-suit)for wear inside a tank.

Tank-top:- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweater_vest
No mention of military use, ah-well

Tank-suit :-
https://thumbs.worthpoint.com/zoom/images1/360/0515/12/british-ww2-denim-tank-suit_360_54f3bb6de1de338716272607dccc3a2f.jpg

[1] May be one of the ways BrE is different to AmE.
Here Scotland UK a tank-top is a sleeveless sweater vest whilst (it
seems in the US it is a type of sleeveless T-shirt

[Ross Clark]

I think both were inspired by what used to be the upper half of (male?)
bathing apparel (late 19th-early 20th century?). Trouble is I can't find
any use of either expression before the 1950s, or any clear indication
of when/where "tank" was used for a swimming pool.

[Jerry Friedman]

"Princeton's unbeaten swimming team tightened its hold on first place
in the Intercollegiate League by defeating Pennsylvania in a dual meet
in Brokaw tank to-night by a score of 31 to 22."

https://www.nytimes.com/1907/03/07/archives/tigers-good-swimmers-defeat-pennsylvania-in-dual-meet-in-brokaw.html

"The basement [of the gymnasium] will contain three bowling alleys, a
base-ball court 28 by 80 feet, baths, lockers and toilet rooms, together
with a large plunge tank 80 by 16 feet."

/The Wesleyan University Bulletin/, Nov. 1, 1893

https://books.google.com/books?id=Mq9GAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA12-PA9

I wonder what they did on a 28-by-80-foot baseball court. Batting
practice? Playing catch?

--
Jerry Friedman

[CDB]

On 9/22/2021 6:37 PM, Tony Cooper wrote:

> As a reader of political news, I often come across "tank",
> "tanking", and "tanked" as a description of some politician's
> declining approval rating. I assume it comes from "into the septic
> tank". It's also used in describing plummeting earnings or revenue
> figures in business reporting.

> Polls were not as much in the news years ago, so the forms of "tank"
> were usually applied to an athlete - usually a boxer - deliberately
> losing.

That is, taking a dive.

Tank: "A pond, pool, or small lake, natural or artificial"

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tank

[CDB]

[sigh]

[Ross Clark]

Thanks. I tried searching g-books for "tank top" before 1950, but it
gave me nothing but naval journals talking about the tops of actual
tanks (large metal containers). And the ProQuest NY Times simply wasn't
working. I got discouraged. But somewhere in my mind a voice was saying
"If you confess your failure, maybe Jerry will find something." I feel
better now.

[Garrett Wollman]

In article <0a15ce0d-0cdc-49ed...@googlegroups.com>,

Jerry Friedman <jerry_f...@yahoo.com> wrote:

>"Princeton's unbeaten swimming team tightened its hold on first place
>in the Intercollegiate League by defeating Pennsylvania in a dual meet
>in Brokaw tank to-night by a score of 31 to 22."
>
>https://www.nytimes.com/1907/03/07/archives/tigers-good-swimmers-defeat-pennsylvania-in-dual-meet-in-brokaw.html

That's a really interesting citation, thanks. (And in edited prose,
even.)

Interestingly, the part of an aquatics facility where diving
competitions are held is often called a "diving well", presumably
because of the depth. Of course these days competition-standard
facilities usually put both in the same "natatorium". Many times,
major championships will actually be held in temporary facilities --
because most club or university natatoriums aren't appropriately
equipped for a large audience and live broadcasting -- so they build a
pool in a large indoor[1] arena; there are a couple of pool builders
that specialize in this.

-GAWollman

[1] Outdoor, in the case of high diving, since there are few indoor
facilities that can accommodate a 27-meter tower.

[Peter Moylan]

On 23/09/21 23:34, Jerry Friedman wrote:

> "The basement [of the gymnasium] will contain three bowling alleys,
> a base-ball court 28 by 80 feet, baths, lockers and toilet rooms,
> together with a large plunge tank 80 by 16 feet."
>
> /The Wesleyan University Bulletin/, Nov. 1, 1893
>
> https://books.google.com/books?id=Mq9GAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA12-PA9
>
> I wonder what they did on a 28-by-80-foot baseball court. Batting
> practice? Playing catch?

It might be a typo for "basketball court". The size of a basketball
court probably hadn't been standardise by then.

The idea of playing baseball in a basement sounds weird.

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

[Jerry Friedman]

Glad you and Garrett found it interesting.

> I tried searching g-books for "tank top" before 1950, but it
> gave me nothing but naval journals talking about the tops of actual
> tanks (large metal containers).

I can't find anything before 1950 for wearable "tank tops" either.

> And the ProQuest NY Times simply wasn't
> working. I got discouraged. But somewhere in my mind a voice was saying
> "If you confess your failure, maybe Jerry will find something." I feel
> better now.

And I feel predictable--and I guess it was also predictable that no one else
would try.

--
Jerry Friedman

[Jerry Friedman]

On Thursday, September 23, 2021 at 7:17:44 PM UTC-6, Peter Moylan wrote:
> On 23/09/21 23:34, Jerry Friedman wrote:
>
> > "The basement [of the gymnasium] will contain three bowling alleys,
> > a base-ball court 28 by 80 feet, baths, lockers and toilet rooms,
> > together with a large plunge tank 80 by 16 feet."
> >
> > /The Wesleyan University Bulletin/, Nov. 1, 1893
> >
> > https://books.google.com/books?id=Mq9GAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA12-PA9
> >
> > I wonder what they did on a 28-by-80-foot baseball court. Batting
> > practice? Playing catch?

> It might be a typo for "basketball court". The size of a basketball
> court probably hadn't been standardise by then.

Hm! Basketball was only two years old then, it seems, but also catching
on very quickly. It still seems surprising to me that a university would
devote that much building space to a sport that might have been a flash
in the pan.

> The idea of playing baseball in a basement sounds weird.

To me too.

--
Jerry Friedman

[Quinn C]

* Garrett Wollman:

> [1] Outdoor, in the case of high diving, since there are few indoor
> facilities that can accommodate a 27-meter tower.

27 meters, seriously? I hadn't heard about that and had to go confirm.
Apparently, there aren't many permanent facilities anywhere. I'm not
planning on watching that; I find the regular diving competitions
nerve-wracking already.

--
Perhaps it might be well, while the subject is under discussion,
to attempt the creation of an entirely new gender, for the purpose
of facilitating reference to the growing caste of manly women and
womanly men. -- Baltimore Sun (1910)

[Jerry Friedman]

On Thursday, September 23, 2021 at 7:15:25 PM UTC-6, Garrett Wollman wrote:
> In article <0a15ce0d-0cdc-49ed...@googlegroups.com>,
> Jerry Friedman <jerry_f...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> >"Princeton's unbeaten swimming team tightened its hold on first place
> >in the Intercollegiate League by defeating Pennsylvania in a dual meet
> >in Brokaw tank to-night by a score of 31 to 22."
> >
> >https://www.nytimes.com/1907/03/07/archives/tigers-good-swimmers-defeat-pennsylvania-in-dual-meet-in-brokaw.html
> That's a really interesting citation, thanks. (And in edited prose,
> even.)
>

Well, if Princeton called it a tank, the NYT might not have had much choice.

> Interestingly, the part of an aquatics facility where diving
> competitions are held is often called a "diving well", presumably
> because of the depth.

I'd never heard that. All the diving from boards I've ever seen, and the
small amount I've done, has been in the deep end of a swimming pool.

> Of course these days competition-standard
> facilities usually put both in the same "natatorium". Many times,
> major championships will actually be held in temporary facilities --
> because most club or university natatoriums aren't appropriately
> equipped for a large audience and live broadcasting -- so they build a
> pool in a large indoor[1] arena; there are a couple of pool builders
> that specialize in this.

Crazy.

> [1] Outdoor, in the case of high diving, since there are few indoor
> facilities that can accommodate a 27-meter tower.

Crazier.

--
Jerry Friedman

[Tony Cooper]

On Fri, 24 Sep 2021 08:27:00 -0700 (PDT), Jerry Friedman
<jerry_f...@yahoo.com> wrote:

>On Thursday, September 23, 2021 at 7:15:25 PM UTC-6, Garrett Wollman wrote:
>> In article <0a15ce0d-0cdc-49ed...@googlegroups.com>,
>> Jerry Friedman <jerry_f...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>> >"Princeton's unbeaten swimming team tightened its hold on first place
>> >in the Intercollegiate League by defeating Pennsylvania in a dual meet
>> >in Brokaw tank to-night by a score of 31 to 22."
>> >
>> >https://www.nytimes.com/1907/03/07/archives/tigers-good-swimmers-defeat-pennsylvania-in-dual-meet-in-brokaw.html
>> That's a really interesting citation, thanks. (And in edited prose,
>> even.)
>>
>Well, if Princeton called it a tank, the NYT might not have had much choice.
>
>> Interestingly, the part of an aquatics facility where diving
>> competitions are held is often called a "diving well", presumably
>> because of the depth.
>
>I'd never heard that. All the diving from boards I've ever seen, and the
>small amount I've done, has been in the deep end of a swimming pool.

When I was at Indiana University, the swimming team led the nation
under coach Doc Councilman. That led me to see if IU's natatorium has
a "diving tank".

I couldn't determine that, but the IUPUI (Indiana University/Purdue
University/Indianapolis) natatorium has a "diving well".

https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/2015/03/24/iupui-natatorium-undergo-million-phase-renovation/70399320/

The "deep end" of a swimming pool is usually about 8 feet deep. A
pool used for Olympic diving must have a 16.5 foot-deep diving well.

Paddling a bit...Speaking of "tank tops" and swimming attire, this is
a photograph that includes my (fraternal) grandparents (far right and
front right) and my father (front) in bathing costumes of the 1920s.

https://folio.ink/k7dIeK

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Friday, September 24, 2021 at 11:27:03 AM UTC-4, Jerry Friedman wrote:
> On Thursday, September 23, 2021 at 7:15:25 PM UTC-6, Garrett Wollman wrote:
> > In article <0a15ce0d-0cdc-49ed...@googlegroups.com>,
> > Jerry Friedman <jerry_f...@yahoo.com> wrote:

> > >"Princeton's unbeaten swimming team tightened its hold on first place
> > >in the Intercollegiate League by defeating Pennsylvania in a dual meet
> > >in Brokaw tank to-night by a score of 31 to 22."
> > >https://www.nytimes.com/1907/03/07/archives/tigers-good-swimmers-defeat-pennsylvania-in-dual-meet-in-brokaw.html
> > That's a really interesting citation, thanks. (And in edited prose,
> > even.)
>
> Well, if Princeton called it a tank, the NYT might not have had much choice.
>
> > Interestingly, the part of an aquatics facility where diving
> > competitions are held is often called a "diving well", presumably
> > because of the depth.
>
> I'd never heard that. All the diving from boards I've ever seen, and the
> small amount I've done, has been in the deep end of a swimming pool.

Maybe it was Beijing, maybe it was London, that it was made clear that
swimming and diving were done in different parts of the same "building."
Maybe that's how Olympics normally do it.

In 2005, when I asked for a new subway map, I happened to be
given one that included a map of the locations planned for the
2012 Olympics bid (when NY came second to London). Water
polo was set for two locations -- the Olympic Water Polo Center
in Flushing Meadows, apparently part of what is now the Billie
Jean King Tennis Cemter, and at the Olympic Aquatic Center,
at Williamsburg [Brooklyn] Waterfront Park. Swilling, Synchronized
Swimming, and Water Polo are all arrowed to one dot, Diving to an
adjacent one, and Beach Volleyball to a third.

I suppose the map is fairly rare and perhaps of some monetary
value.

I also have a regular 2005 one.

> > Of course these days competition-standard
> > facilities usually put both in the same "natatorium". Many times,
> > major championships will actually be held in temporary facilities --
> > because most club or university natatoriums aren't appropriately
> > equipped for a large audience and live broadcasting -- so they build a
> > pool in a large indoor[1] arena; there are a couple of pool builders
> > that specialize in this.
> Crazy.
> > [1] Outdoor, in the case of high diving, since there are few indoor
> > facilities that can accommodate a 27-meter tower.
>
> Crazier.

That would be cliff-diving, no?

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Friday, September 24, 2021 at 11:54:29 AM UTC-4, Tony Cooper wrote:

> Paddling a bit...Speaking of "tank tops" and swimming attire, this is
> a photograph that includes my (fraternal) grandparents (far right and
> front right) and my father (front) in bathing costumes of the 1920s.
>
> https://folio.ink/k7dIeK

Oh, dear. Your brother had different grandparents from you?

Only about one of them looks happy to be there.

[Tony Cooper]

You'd be unhappy, too, in a scratchy wool bathing costume.

[soup]

On 24/09/2021 16:27, Jerry Friedman wrote:
> On Thursday, September 23, 2021 at 7:15:25 PM UTC-6, Garrett Wollman wrote:
>> In article <0a15ce0d-0cdc-49ed...@googlegroups.com>,
>> Jerry Friedman <jerry_f...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>>> "Princeton's unbeaten swimming team tightened its hold on first place
>>> in the Intercollegiate League by defeating Pennsylvania in a dual meet
>>> in Brokaw tank to-night by a score of 31 to 22."
>>>
>>> https://www.nytimes.com/1907/03/07/archives/tigers-good-swimmers-defeat-pennsylvania-in-dual-meet-in-brokaw.html
>> That's a really interesting citation, thanks. (And in edited prose,
>> even.)
>>
> Well, if Princeton called it a tank, the NYT might not have had much choice.
>
>> Interestingly, the part of an aquatics facility where diving
>> competitions are held is often called a "diving well", presumably
>> because of the depth.
>
> I'd never heard that. All the diving from boards I've ever seen, and the
> small amount I've done, has been in the deep end of a swimming pool.

The Commonwealth pool in Edinburgh (Scotland) has three pools all in the
one building.
https://www.heraldscotland.com/sites/default/files/pool6.jpg

The deep blue area is the diving pool, the light blue area is the main
swimming pool whilst behind the white facia (with the
scoreboard/viewscreen[black rectangle]) , the kid's pool[1] can be made out.

[1] This is only about a foot deep and is kept rather warm.
Most days I would estimate it is 50% urine (<spot the hyperbole)
because of all the babies/toddlers . [2]
[2] This may be a training pool now I haven't been to the "Commie" in years.

[Snidely]

I understand it isn't scratchy when when wet, a common state for the
long-legged version worn by lumberjacks.

/dps

--
Who, me? And what lacuna?

[CDB]

On 9/24/2021 12:58 PM, Peter T. Daniels wrote:
> Jerry Friedman wrote:

What, chlorinated water? milkshakes? Thought high-level competitions
always involved wieners.

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Saturday, September 25, 2021 at 7:47:32 AM UTC-4, CDB wrote:
> On 9/24/2021 12:58 PM, Peter T. Daniels wrote:

> > In 2005, when I asked for a new subway map, I happened to be given
> > one that included a map of the locations planned for the 2012
> > Olympics bid (when NY came second to London). Water polo was set for
> > two locations -- the Olympic Water Polo Center in Flushing Meadows,
> > apparently part of what is now the Billie Jean King Tennis Cemter,
> > and at the Olympic Aquatic Center, at Williamsburg [Brooklyn]
> > Waterfront Park. Swilling,
>
> What, chlorinated water? milkshakes? Thought high-level competitions
> always involved wieners.

What an odd typo. Not on the same finger, and no nearby letters
mistyped by the hand being misaligned by one key.

They didn't site anything at Coney Island, where the annual Nathan's
Famous Hot Dog Eating Competition is held.