"Podium" vs "Lectern"
Daniel P. B. Smith
I believe a podium is something you stand on, like that little platform
an orchestra conductor uses. I believe the big thing you stand behind,
that you put your notes on, that sometimes has a microphone and a little
light on it and a hotel logo on the front of it, is a "lectern."
But I've about decided this is a lost cause and am thinking about giving
up the good fight. Please strengthen my resolve! Tell me that I'm
absolutely right, and that this is an issue of vital importance
to all red-blooded Americans!
--
Daniel P. B. Smith
dpbs...@world.std.com
alan auerbach F
One of my favorite words happens to be rostrum.
Hey let's get serious. Is a handbook so called because you
can comfortably carry it in your hand, or because you keep it at hand?
--
Al.
eril...@win.bright.net
In article <DtELz...@world.std.com>, dpbs...@world.std.com (Daniel P.
B. Smith) wrote:
> I believe a podium is something you stand on, like that little platform
> an orchestra conductor uses. I believe the big thing you stand behind,
> that you put your notes on, that sometimes has a microphone and a little
> light on it and a hotel logo on the front of it, is a "lectern."
Tell me that I'm
> absolutely right, and that this is an issue of vital importance
> to all red-blooded Americans!
Yes, you are absolutely right. I was one of two and am now, I believe the
only FACULTY MEMBER at my school who makes this distinction. Never give in
to language smudgers!
erilar
Daniel P. B. Smith
In article <DtFB3...@info.uucp>,
Hmmmm... rostrum... means "beak?" That would be something you stand IN?
Like a pulpit? (Except my dictionary says a "pulpit" can be something
you stand on OR a lectern OR--no kidding--a platform in a whaling boat...)
>Hey let's get serious. Is a handbook so called because you
>can comfortably carry it in your hand, or because you keep it at hand?
The first dictionary I looked in didn't say. I have a very vague notion
that "handbook" and "textbook" are actually derived from German words,
handbuch or something, and refer to something or other in medieval German
universities. Free-associating wildly, "handbook" might be a synonym
for "vade mecum," go with me. My own feeling is that so many things that
are called "handbooks" are actually massive reference books. The thing
that makes them "handbooks" is the fact that they have everything you need
in them, which makes them big and heavy--just barely portable. So I
think a handbook is something you keep handy. I can't think of anything
pocket-sized that's called a "handbook;" can you? Birders have their
"field guides," printers have their "Pocket Pal," Scrooge McDuck's
nephews have their "Junior Woodchucks' Guidebook."
Truly Donovan
alan auerbach F wrote:
>
> Hey let's get serious. Is a handbook so called because you
> can comfortably carry it in your hand, or because you keep it at hand?
I'm of the opinion that the meaning doesn't necessarily have to be one
or the other. Depending on the circumstances of use, it could be one or
the other or both or *neither*.
Truly Donovan
Anno Siegel
In alt.usage.english article <DtFF0...@world.std.com>,
>>Hey let's get serious. Is a handbook so called because you
>>can comfortably carry it in your hand, or because you keep it at hand?
>
>The first dictionary I looked in didn't say. I have a very vague notion
>that "handbook" and "textbook" are actually derived from German words,
>handbuch or something, and refer to something or other in medieval German
>universities.
I believe, E "handbook" and G "Handbuch" are both loan translations of
L "manualis". As for "textbook", the similar German "Textbuch" is literally
the book that contains the text of a drama or opera. The meaning is quite
distinct from the English "a book that lays out the principles of a
subject". I don't think German has much to do with the English word.
Anno
Paul J. Kriha
In article <31CE0B...@lunemere.com>,
Truly Donovan <tr...@lunemere.com> wrote:
>alan auerbach F wrote:
>>
>> Hey let's get serious. Is a handbook so called because you
>> can comfortably carry it in your hand, or because you keep it at hand?
>
>or the other. Depending on the circumstances of use, it could be one or
>the other or both or *neither*.
>
>Truly Donovan
In my family we used to have a book called "Welt Handatlas".
It most definitely did not belong into the first category.
The size of it was 3 feet by 2 feet by 7 inches. :-)
Paul JK.