A strong? - Wordsmith.org

From H. G. Wells's The Invisible Man:

Quote:

On the village green an inclined strong, down which, clinging the while to a pulley-swing handle, one could be hurled violently against a sack at the other end, come in for considerable favour among the adolescent, as also did the swings and the cocoanut shies.

Chapter X. Mr. Marvel's Visit to Iping

Sounds like a flying fox ; but I can't find a single noun for strong; though:

Quote:

Strong ORIGIN Old English, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch and German streng, also to string.

looks like it was a typo in some editions.

edit: and here.

You're right.

I actually checked with Gutenberg before posting, and the edition I quoted from is a modern one.

I only discovered the Amazon search-this-book function two days ago, and am not yet in the habit of using it.

Great tool though.

Typo aside, it's a dog's breakfast of a sentence Mr Wells.

Originally Posted By: The Pook

... it's a dog's breakfast of a sentence ...

Love the expression, TP, and I agree with you 983%

Chapter 22, there's another anomaly: The phrase: "gave a view hallo!" of a shopkeeper upon spotting the invisible man (clothed) whom they've been chasing about a department store.

Google turns up some curious results (a painting, the script of Mary Poppins, a ghoulish method of execution) but no definition that I can find.

(It's not a typo this time; I checked with Amazon $;\)$ )

this time I resort to.. wait for it..

OED2: view-halloo

The shout given by a huntsman on seeing a fox break cover. Also fig.

your particular variant is first attested to Baron Edward G. E. L. Bulwer-Lytton, in My Novel (1853): "The Squire.. bellowed out with all the force of lungs accustomed to give a View-hallo!" [yes, that Bulwer-Lytton.]

-joe (hello, sailor) friday

Thanks for that.

I knew what a hunter's halloo was, just curious as to see an entry for "view-hallo".

That's some dictionary you got there. What's the 2? Second edition?

what?! you've not heard of the Oxford English Dictionary Second Edition, 1989?? [commonly abbrev. OED2]

-joe (now I am shocked) friday

I am unfamiliar with anything but concise versions of the OED because a 20 volume dictionary is a little out of my price range.

Feel free to be shocked at my indigence as well as my ignorance.

allow me to disabuse you of any ignorance in this regard (indigence too) -- if you have access to a good library, you maybe can arrange through them to get (FREE) online access to OED2+ via a subscription account. twenty(20) volumes? feh!

edit: from the OED home page..
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Latest additions: June 2008

On 12 June, the revised range quittal to ramvert was added to the Dictionary. The Chief Editor reviews some of the most interesting linguistic developments in this range more�

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Access the whole OED from home by using your local library's subscription. (Most UK public libraries subscribe.) more� [as well as many US ones - tsuwm]

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