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Did you know? (Random things in life)

dbostedo

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^^^
Well those kayaks are still on water... I was thinking you meant these "boats" :

Ice+Boating+on+Calhoun.png
 

cantunamunch

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^^^
. I was thinking you meant these "boats" :
Ice+Boating+on+Calhoun.png

I had meant boats like them.

The point above was to notice that common language and common usage is not really appropriate for setting up definitions, and that our intuition is a really cr@p guide to definition and distinction before we even get to language. Notice that even your response above is tricky - pulling that kayak out of the meltwater and putting it on the solid glacier directly doesn't stop it from being a boat.


So, we can have things that are not in water that are boats, and things that are never meant to be in water that are boats (we have marble and metal statues to prove this). So what is a legitimate "boat"? Can't go by shape - the America's Cup cats and monohulls have shapes very little different than those ice boats above.

I submit that the most reliable guide to language is proven usage. Proven usage puts no quotes around the boat part of iceboat.
 
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James

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If it's on ice, can you really call it a boat?
No.

The America's Cup hydrofoil boats are insane. 50 knots, turn more like a car- almost flat. Made for exciting races in SF Bay. The chase boat with four 300hp engines couldn't keep up.
 

mister moose

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You keep saying that. How about some historical evidence? Everything I’ve seen from 200 yrs ago has been “in the wind”. Even Charles Dickens who seems pretty clued in to sailor talk.
It's not productive at all to spend the time and find internet sources that contradict your internet sources, and then debate who's internet source is better. I'm stating my experience in the historical language and context, you can Google to your hearts delight and read cut-and-paste recounting of innacurate reporting from 1850 if you like. Just because it's old, doesn't make it correct.

Here's an example of a somewhat Googleproof phrase - Pilot's Cross. (Or at least Google resistant) I didn't see the source, ie when and how this comes from in a few quick looks. You might think from Google that it's a military medal or a piece of jewelry, but it's not. This is something again, I personally know the derivation of.
 

James

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It's not productive at all to spend the time and find internet sources that contradict your internet sources, and then debate who's internet source is better. I'm stating my experience in the historical language and context, you can Google to your hearts delight and read cut-and-paste recounting of innacurate reporting from 1850 if you like. Just because it's old, doesn't make it correct.

Here's an example of a somewhat Googleproof phrase - Pilot's Cross. (Or at least Google resistant) I didn't see the source, ie when and how this comes from in a few quick looks. You might think from Google that it's a military medal or a piece of jewelry, but it's not. This is something again, I personally know the derivation of.
Lol. They’re not “internet sources” they’re quotes from historical documents. Charles Dickens is an author writing at the time.

“Out in left field” doesn’t make logical sense as more balls are hit to left than right.
 

mdf

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Pilot's Cross
It's a glory seen from an airplane. (Glories seen from a cliff are arguably better, since they are interactive (move your head!) and don't have a window in between.)

I'm guessing the phrase originates sometime after the invention of airplanes.
 

James

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It's a glory seen from an airplane. (Glories seen from a cliff are arguably better, since they are interactive (move your head!) and don't have a window in between.)

I'm guessing the phrase originates sometime after the invention of airplanes.
Well it could be jewelry...
If not, that’s way easier on even the current, polluted by ads, google than idioms.

 

geepers

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Well it could be jewelry...
If not, that’s way easier on even the current, polluted by ads, google than idioms.


That raises an interesting point. If you are flying in a gaggle of aircraft and their shadows are appearing below on the ground or on a cloud (as per the vid) then the shadow with the rainbow haze around it is your own aircraft.

Found that out flying in gaggles of hang gliders all trying to ride the same thermal. It got very exciting at times - too many pilots in too small a volume of air.

And one other thing - the bases of cumulus clouds (the puffy white one caused by thermal convection) are shaped like an inverted plate. When the rising column of air reaches the dew point it condenses to form the water of the cloud, releasing latent heat which creates more lift under the cloud and locally raises the dew point. The effect is bigger in the center hence the bowl shape. As you get closer to the cloud that effect draws in air from below independently of any thermal from the ground - cloud suck. It's not really a good idea to fly a hang glider into the cloud itself, doubly so if there are any other hang gliders around. Once cloud base at the center has been reached there's time for a quick look around at the cloud edges (which are now lower than you) and then it's time to put the bar to the knees (hang gliding equivalent of pedal to the metal) and get out of there.
 

Guy in Shorts

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Sand on the beach will squeak under your feet just like cold snow under your boots on a below zero degree morning. Even before my first beer thus zero sheets into the wind.
 

Bad Bob

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The Currie family hold more Nobel prizes than any other family. Mom Dad and daughter were all recipients. Smart folks. (I can tie my shoes)
 

mdf

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Sand on the beach will squeak under your feet just like cold snow under your boots on a below zero degree morning. Even before my first beer thus zero sheets into the wind.
Hence "Singing Beach" in Manchester-By-The-Sea, Massachusetts.
(I was only there 15 minutes to check it out because there are zero legal places for non-residents to park.)
 

Carolinacub

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Hence "Singing Beach" in Manchester-By-The-Sea, Massachusetts.
(I was only there 15 minutes to check it out because there are zero legal places for non-residents to park.)
There's also barking sands beach in Hawaii.
 

David Chaus

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I have not heard squeaking sand!
Did not know.
I’d forgotten about squeaking sand until I was walking barefoot on a beach on the Oregon coast. It did not make the same sound when I was walking with sandals or shoes.
 

Rod MacDonald

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It's a glory seen from an airplane. (Glories seen from a cliff are arguably better, since they are interactive (move your head!) and don't have a window in between.)

I'm guessing the phrase originates sometime after the invention of airplanes.
In hillwalking, (at least in Scotland) we call that a "broken spectre" .
Note that's "brokken " and not 'broeken" .
 

MarkP

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The Currie family hold more Nobel prizes than any other family. Mom Dad and daughter were all recipients. Smart folks. (I can tie my shoes)

Currie-osity gets the prize!
 

Bad Bob

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This is more about perception than knowing. You good people probably are already aware of the topic.
Hung out over at the National Bison Preserve South of Flathead Lake Yesterday, a recommended place to spend a day. Came upon this display dealing with Lake Missoula and the Central Washington Floods. Something I have always found fascinating since it created the geography of much of the PNW. The photo is of The Mission Mountains yesterday (yes I would like to ski some of the lines you see there too). The painting is an interpretation of what of what that scene would have looked like when Lake Missoula was filled. The placard explains the chain of events much better than I could. The dam would have been located at Hope Idaho just East of Sandpoint, ID.

There is virtually no archaeological record in the area affected, predating about 10,000 years ago. It was literally all washed away.

20190819_173146 (1).jpg

20190819_173121.jpg


20190819_173055.jpg
 

fatbob

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In hillwalking, (at least in Scotland) we call that a "broken spectre" .
Note that's "brokken " and not 'broeken" .

I love broken spectres because it's usually an unexpectedly great day on the fells when you experience them. Also had them at Yellowstone when positioned against a steaming pool.

Re the left field point - I cheated and googled it because I'd just made up a plausible backwards origin story about it origninating from cricket but turns out to be something about longer boundaries in ball parks.
 

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