Spondonicals
Margaret Covi
the word spondonicals (billy tongs/grips/lifters)began. It is not a word
I've found in a dictionary, & while a lot of walkers use the word, others
don't know of it. An internet search only revealed it as a piece of
equipment in equipment lists for some organisations.
I would appreciate any information about the word's derivation or origin or
use.
Thanks.
Margaret
Marshall Wilkinson
confusion as to the actual word - I thought billy grips were called
spondollicals.
Let the fun begin!
Marsh.
Laurie
John McLaine
Pronounced "Spondoricles" down here.
No idea of etymology.
cheers,
John
Michael
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"Margaret Covi" <mc...@hotkey.net.au> wrote in message
news:3d322...@news.iprimus.com.au...
David Noble
common here amongst bushwalkers in NSW in the 70's. Paddy Pallins used
to sell them. I think they had some guy who made rabbit traps make them
as a sideline. When he retired or died - then they were no longer
available unfortunately. Now they seem to be a prized possesion of
bushwalkers (like circular jaffle irons or palma brand lilos) - a know I
watch my pair of spons very carefully to make sure they are not
misplaced or stolen. Yes - like scissors you have a pair of
spondonicals (often called "spons" for short).
A friend of mine spotted a pair for sale in the Jolly Swagman shop in
Hobart a few years back. Naturally he snapped them up (they must have
been the last pair on sale in Australia) - and naturally, he lost them a
trip or two later......
Another friend copied the design and made a home made pair out of the
wire handle of a bucket. I don't think they worked too well.
I can recall asking on this newsgroup if anybody knew of any sources of
them a few years back. I got no replies.
Dave
David Springthorpe
<jmcl...@iprimus.com.au> wrote:
>Pronounced "Spondoricles" down here.
At the risk of being accused of being non-PC, is this why they were
also called (I think) "Chinese Billy Lifters".....?
D.S.
David Springthorpe
<dno...@ozemail.com.au> wrote:
>I'm pretty sure the term is pronounced "spondonical". They were very
>common here amongst bushwalkers in NSW in the 70's. Paddy Pallins used
>to sell them. I think they had some guy who made rabbit traps make them
>as a sideline. When he retired or died - then they were no longer
>available unfortunately. Now they seem to be a prized possesion of
>bushwalkers (like circular jaffle irons or palma brand lilos) - a know I
>watch my pair of spons very carefully to make sure they are not
>misplaced or stolen. Yes - like scissors you have a pair of
>spondonicals (often called "spons" for short).
I had a fellow walker coverting my spondonicles (sounds disgusting !)
recently when I told him I had one stashed away (I use much more
lighterTrangia aluminium lifters or equivalents now), and was offered
a king's ransom for purchase. Used spondonicles recently for the first
time for a long time with a recently purchased car-camping stove.....
D.S.
Paul Davis
didn't hear it) with Bruce Elder (I think) from the Australian National
Dictionary Centre.
Paul
G Hutch
Greg Hutch
"Paul Davis" <Proj...@nospamihug.com.au> wrote in message
news:ah03ts$cqo$1...@lust.ihug.co.nz...
Peter McGonigal
gives a number of sources for the word "Spondee" which means a
metrical foot - I think for music. Among the less direct sources are,
one, a Greek word for "a drink-offering" or "libation to the gods"
and, two, another similar Greek word for the verb "to pour out".
Even allowing for the ego of walkers, the last seems the most
likely. I can't guess where the ending of "onicals" originated -
sounds Irish. Are there any classic or Gaelic scholars amongst us?
Peter
Peter McGonigal
from medieval Latin as in "canonical" which is both an adjective and a
noun according to the Concise oxford Dictionary.
Laurie
Spoon - as it was originally 2 x Spoons that were used to remove a Billy
from a fire, one under the wire handle so you didn't burn your fingers, and
one under the bottom to tip it over - so you didn't burn your other hand.
This is how I was taught as a child. (then you grabbed hold of the handle,
and swung the Billy full of tea in 3 full swings over your shoulder to push
the tea leaves & maybe 1 or 2 gum leaves to the bottom)
"dicals" - contrived from spectacles/testacles (VUD's) - i.e. very useful
devices
A conglomerate formed to spon-dicals. Design changed and altered to suit -
but the name still sticks ??
Ozys don't speak latin very well.
Ken Brodrick
Trangia we bought 20 years ago.
"Margaret Covi" <mc...@hotkey.net.au> wrote in message
news:3d322...@news.iprimus.com.au...
Peter McGonigal
Swedish company, and yet using the term suggests that the word might
not have originated in Australia. I would be more inclined to
attribute the derivation to the use of a foreign word that means to
pour (the very activity for which Spondonicals are used) than one that
just coincidentally resembles a foreign word. By the way, one, I am
6th generation Australian - there were McGonigals with Macquarie's
regiment; two, I had to study three years of Latin and still remember
some; and three, the main source that I suggested was from the Greek -
so far as I know, the word is still used in modern Greek and there
have been quite a few people coming to Australia from Greece.
Peter
PeteM
used before, so it obviously never made it over here.
We use the little aluminium billy grips, but I only recall these being
around relatively recently.. ie. since 1980s.
I get the feeling from these postings that the original spondonicals from
the 1970s were something bigger.
Can anyone post a photo of what we are talking about somewhere?
"Ken Brodrick" <sta...@bigpond.com> wrote in message
news:nWyZ8.37987$Hj3.1...@newsfeeds.bigpond.com...
David Springthorpe
<pmcg...@bigpond.net.au> wrote:]
>..... I had to study three years of Latin and still remember
>some
A year of having to translate Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars (?) cured me
of Latin forever.....
Veni, vidi, velcro.....I came, I saw, I stuck around.....
D.S.
David Springthorpe
>As a Kiwi lurker on this thread. I have never heard the term spondonicals
>used before, so it obviously never made it over here.
You lot would probably call them spundunicals.....
>We use the little aluminium billy grips, but I only recall these being
>around relatively recently.. ie. since 1980s.
Either Trangia or Coughlans brands.....
>I get the feeling from these postings that the original spondonicals from
>the 1970s were something bigger.
And heavier, and because longer, more useful for lifting heavy billies
from hot fires without singing knuckles.....
>Can anyone post a photo of what we are talking about somewhere?
D.S.
PeteM
> >As a Kiwi lurker on this thread. I have never heard the term spondonicals
> >used before, so it obviously never made it over here.
>
> You lot would probably call them spundunicals.....
I was just picturing you guys talking about speendeenicles...
Roger Caffin
> A year of having to translate Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars (?) cured me
> of Latin forever.....
> Veni, vidi, velcro.....I came, I saw, I stuck around.....
10/10!
Cheers
Roger Caffin
(de Bello Gallico I think? Omnia Gallia in tres partes divisa est.)
Romano
mack
>
> Campfire discussion over the weekend raised the question as to where & when
> the word spondonicals (billy tongs/grips/lifters)began.
As explained to me by Dave Kelly, who introduced the term to me on a rainy,
multiday trip through Wollongambie on the Australia Day weekend of (I think)
'72.
It's from a Three Stooges movie where they are performing a surgical operation.
Larry (the guy with the straight hair anyhow) is the surgeon and the other
two are helpers.
Larry: "anaesthetic"
Helper passes large rubber mallet, Larry dongs patient on head.
Larry: "scalpel"
Helper (passes scalpel): "scalpel"
Larry: "scissors"
Helper (passes scissors): "scissors"
Larry: "spondonical"
Helpers:"spondonical?!" (rummage frantically through piles of instruments)
The pronunciation back in the 70's was "spondonical" or "spondonicle".
For the original spelling, we'll have to go back to the Three Stooges script.
I'm surprised people have forgotten this, it was common knowlege back then.
I'm sure I've explained this before on the newsgroup, but I didn't find it
in dejanews at least.
Joe
SUBW, early 70's
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David Springthorpe
>It's from a Three Stooges movie where they are performing a surgical operation.
>Larry (the guy with the straight hair anyhow) is the surgeon and the other
>two are helpers.
Wise guy, eeeeh.....?
D.S.
Marshall Wilkinson
but unfortunately I had no luck.
Marsh.
Ben David
"Spondonicals". Looks and sounds like a just another good Aussie
manufactured word.
--
"Marshall Wilkinson" <marsh...@ozemail.com.au> wrote in message
news:Rhv_8.4609$Cq.2...@ozemail.com.au...
Sir Nigel Puke-Fuui
> In Google only Australian websites are brought up with the word
> "Spondonicals". Looks and sounds like a just another good Aussie
> manufactured word.
>
the USA, most people I met didn't even know what a billy was, hence -
no need for spondonicals! Even the camping shops: "billy? what's that" -
and searching through said shops didn't produce anything that came
close to resembling a billy. When you learned to bushwalk in Australia,
it ain't easy living without your billy.