http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3515788.stm
an interesting article in it's own right, but I'm curious about this phrase:

"But it was on 4 November, as Active Region 486 was being carried out of sight around the Sun's western limb by solar rotation, that the most extraordinary flare let rip."

let rip? I have used this many times, also "let her rip", but what's the origin of this?

I have used this many times, also "let her rip", but what's the origin of this?

Where were you when you used it, etaoin?

I think "flare let rip" pretty much captures it all.

>>but I'm curious about the phrase...'let rip'<<

I'm with you, etaoin. The phrase is familiar, but the use is not. It may be a question of agency, 'to let rip,' 'let her rip,' 'to rip a f*rt,' all involve the action of an agent on something else. In this case, that something else is, probably unintentionally, given as the agent itself 'a flare let [itself] rip,' rather than, '[the sun] let rip [a flare]'. Or?

But the image is approriate. Here are the results of a quick Sherlock search:

\Rip cord\ (A["e]ronautics) A cord by which the gas bag of a balloon may be ripped open for a limited distance to release the gas quickly and so cause immediate descent.

to rap out, to utter hastily and violently; as, to rip out an oath. [Colloq.] See To rap out, under Rap,

2. To hasten. [Obs.] --Piers Plowman.

thanks, insel, that's starting to get somewhere. I hadn't thought of the rap-rip(rip-rap!) idea. or rip cord.
it occurs to me that the "let" is almost more curious than the rip, and I think you've gotten to that with 'a flare let [itself] rip,' hmmm. there's a given in there that I hadn't seen.

grapho, I have used it as in the example and also as insel demonstrates.

Eta:

While you know what the author is trying to get across, in my view it's lousy English. "let loose" would have been effective, as would "exploded," "erupted," or just plain "blew."

"Let 'er rip" was, I presume, derived from rip as to go at an unspecified high speed.

Ted

lousy English

yeah, it seemed a bit pesante for a science article.

You might want to remember that the author was British. This usage does have a bit of the British feel to it.

And what is the basis for the assumpting that the thing which will rip is female?

Let her rip.

good point. I suppose is the same old assumpcision about boats, cars, etc., being women...

I was mildly amused by the gas-bag plus parachute item.
When early pilots had to "bail out" with parachutes,
there was a "rip cord" they had to pull to eject the small chute which could drag the big chute out of the pack.

assumpting that the thing which will rip is female?

I suspect it's more a phonological thang than grammatical. "Let 'er rip" is easier to say than "let it rip" or "let 'im rip."

And are you sure that shouldn't be 'assumptating'?

"Assumpting" goes better with eta's "assumpcision."

"assumpcision."

Then I might suggest "assumpcising" or "assumpcizing" if you're one of USn.

assumpcizing

do I get points for the assist?

Re: "flare let rip". "It seemed a bit pesante for a science article."

Oh, I don't know, etaoin.

It sounds poetic, even electrifying to me.

Like lightning ripping through the stillness of an ink black night. Or a canon ripping through the silence of a village green.

I'm surprised nobody else has noticed that if you capitalize "rip" the meaning is just the opposite.
In hallowed ground, Requjiescat In Pace.

what's the origin of this

eta, the first thing that comes to mind is, tear with force', essentially implying a lack of control (irregular, jagged edges) over the process. In your example, the imagery is that of flames ripping through (tearing through) the solar atmosphere without control.

[aside] Needlework was mandatory learning in one of the schools I attended, and I was extremely poor at it. To get the threads in a straight neat line was, for me, an impossible task. The only thing that stays with me after all this time, is the teacher's desperate cry (more like an angry bark actually) every time she saw my work - 'Rip it out'!