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stranger
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stranger
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I was speaking with my Father about his Army days. Old Army. How old - Horses.
He described horses pulling the caisson, a wagon with ammunition for the artillery pieces. (The caissons go rolling along...)
Why is this also the term for an open bottomed apparatus used for underwater excavation?
Thanx
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Joined: Jan 2001
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Well, caisson is from Old French, meaning large box, so I suppose that is why the term came to mean both a structure used underwater and a horse-drawn vehicle used to draw cannon and ammunition. Caisson is also defined as a large box open on one side and the top, designed to fit against the side of a ship and used for underwater repair, as a floating structure used to close off a dock or canal, and as a device used to raise sucken objects. It seems that they are all just big boxes. More on the etymology: the Old French is an alteration of casson, from Italian cassone, augmentative of cassa, box, from Latin capsal.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
caisson
n.
5Fr < It cassone < cassa, a chest < L capsa, a box, CASE26
1 a chest for holding ammunition
2 a two-wheeled wagon for transporting ammunition
3 a watertight enclosure inside which underwater construction work can be done
4 a watertight box for raising sunken ships: after the box is sunk and attached, the water is forced out of it so that it floats
5 a hollow, boat-shaped box, used as a floodgate at a dock or basin
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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For State funerals the coffin is often carried on a caisson usually pulled by horses.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Sparteye: whoa, you go, girl! [impressed]
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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"and as a device used to raise sucken objects."
Ahhhh. Vampire caissons.
Tim didn't pass on my IM message?
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Joined: Jan 2001
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Actually, I don't need any caisson to raise sucken objects. 
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Caisson disease used to be a serious complication in workers before it was learned that
they had to be slowly decompressed, or bubbles could form in blood and block small
capillaries causing serious nerve damage.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Commonly known as "the bends" because of the sufferer's contortions due to muscle cramps.
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
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Posts: 315 |
the first italian meaning I thought of
the cassa del tesoro = the wooden cointeiner for gold and jewelry (stolen by pirates)
tesoro is treasure
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