| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 1185.1 | | JRDV04::DIAMOND | segmentation fault (california dumped) | Thu Jan 30 1997 17:39 | 10 |
| >Do you suppose he meant "circumnavigate"?,
Only if he knew that word :-)
>or that Steve Fossett was attempting some new terresterial avoidance
>technique?
Nope, he was attempting a very old terrestial avoidance technique.
Balloons, just like newer technologies that usually surpass them,
aren't supposed to crash.
|
| 1185.2 | Whacky Etymology | WHOS01::BOWERS | Dave Bowers, NSIS/IM | Fri Jan 31 1997 08:44 | 7 |
| Actually...
the "vent" in "circumvent" copmes from the latin "ventum", meaning
"wind" (same root as the Frech "vent"). Thus, "circumvent" means "to be
blown around" (the world, in this case) ;^)
\dave
|
| 1185.3 | | SMURF::BINDER | Errabit quicquid errare potest. | Mon Feb 03 1997 05:50 | 3 |
| Re .2
Forty whacks for that plausible-sounding bit of imagination!
|
| 1185.4 | | TAVIS::JONATHAN | | Wed Feb 05 1997 06:05 | 18 |
| re .0
> "Steve Fossett, in his attempt to _circumvent_ the
> earth ....."
"Circumvent" simply means to go around.
re .2
> the "vent" in "circumvent" copmes from the latin "ventum", meaning
> "wind" (same root as the Frech "vent"). Thus, "circumvent" means "to be
> blown around" (the world, in this case) ;^)
Well, it's more than 35 years that I looked at a Latin book, but I think that
the "vent" in "circumvent" comes from the verb veno, venere, veni, ventum
meaning "to go". So "circumvent" = "to go around".
Jonathan
|
| 1185.5 | | WHOS01::BOWERS | Dave Bowers, NSIS/IM | Wed Feb 05 1997 09:10 | 9 |
| re .4;
While "go around" might be the literal etymology, in common usage the
word is seldom used with respect to physical objects.
As far as the Latin root goes, I made that up (there IS a smiley at the
end);^)
\dave
|
| 1185.6 | | SSDEVO::BRUZENAK | | Wed Feb 05 1997 09:31 | 16 |
| No matter what the roots of the word are, the usage
of 'circumvent' by the announcer seems a stretch.
My personal use of the word has been where you might want to
'circumvent a process' , meaning to go around the proscribed
methods. Am I mistaken or is there some negative or
slightly illegal connotation there?
In any case, then, I circumvented the parking lot this
morning looking for a parking spot. My 'route' (pronounced
as 'root') took me past the same place several times, leading
me to 'vent' in a decidedly non-Deccie manner. :-)
Bruzer
|
| 1185.7 | | TAVIS::JONATHAN | | Wed Feb 05 1997 23:36 | 21 |
| re.5
> While "go around" might be the literal etymology, in common usage the
> word is seldom used with respect to physical objects.
and .6
>No matter what the roots of the word are, the usage
>of 'circumvent' by the announcer seems a stretch.
>My personal use of the word has been where you might want to
>'circumvent a process' , meaning to go around the proscribed
>methods. Am I mistaken or is there some negative or
>slightly illegal connotation there?
I remember the word "circumvent" from 5th grade history when we learnt
about the sea explorers - Magellan, Vasco da Gama et al. - who circumvented
this or that. But who does those things these days? That's probably why
the main connotation of the word is used for inanimate objects.
You won't hear about an athlete who circumvents the track :-)
Jonathan
|
| 1185.8 | | PENUTS::DDESMAISONS | person B | Thu Feb 06 1997 09:06 | 8 |
| > <<< Note 1185.7 by TAVIS::JONATHAN >>>
> I remember the word "circumvent" from 5th grade history when we learnt
> about the sea explorers - Magellan, Vasco da Gama et al.
I think my teachers were more fond of "circumnavigate" when
speaking of these explorers.
|
| 1185.9 | | NOTIME::SACKS | Gerald Sacks ZKO2-3/N30 DTN:381-2085 | Fri Feb 07 1997 10:55 | 1 |
| Jonathan, where were you educated?
|
| 1185.10 | | TAVIS::JONATHAN | | Sun Feb 09 1997 04:53 | 7 |
| Various State Schools in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
(State meaning run by the State government - in the US, I think you
call them Public Schools. "Public Schools" in Melbourne are very
exclusive church schools with fees running in the thousands of dollars
per annum - probably modelled on the English Public Schools, a la Eton,
Harrow, Winchester etc. where the "real gentlemen" went to school.)
|
| 1185.11 | | NOTIME::SACKS | Gerald Sacks ZKO2-3/N30 DTN:381-2085 | Mon Feb 10 1997 07:19 | 3 |
| It must be a difference between American usage and Australian usage.
"Circumvent" in this context is very strange to this native speaker
of American English.
|
| 1185.12 | | CSC32::BROOK | | Mon Feb 10 1997 10:54 | 9 |
| And to this speaker of Candadian and British English ...
I have heard of circumventing authority or red tape etc ... it
definitely has the "avoid something awkward or difficult" sense
whenever I've seen it, and never in regard to physical movement.
Magellan circumnavigated the world.
Stuart
|
| 1185.13 | | AUSSIE::WHORLOW | Digits are never unfun! | Sat Mar 15 1997 01:02 | 6 |
| G'day,
Did any of teh circumnavigators measure their trips??
djw
|