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#87997
11/29/2002 2:01 AM
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833 |
Does "flank" generally, when used as a verb, imply that there is someone on either side? I just read this in a novel:
Mr Wu, flanked by one of the Queens of Illiteracy, watched as...the two women somersaulted simultaneously off the trapeze.
(the Queens of Illiteracy were a team in a spelling contest!)
I always thought of flanking as meaning being on either side of someone - ie, someone having a person on either side - o blast, I'm not explaining it very well. But I didn't think you could be flanked by one person.
What do y'all think? what's yer sense of "flank" as a verb? can it refer to only one flanker per flankee? or have you, like me, only ever (before today) seen it used as a plural kind o' thing?
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#87998
11/29/2002 2:46 AM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289 |
I believe that the verb was coined from a noun, 'flank', originally 'flaunch', pronounced to rhyme with 'ranch'. Flaunches are a heraldic charge and always come in pairs. Hence, I would say the answer to your question is, yes, since 'flank' in its original meaning implied one of something on each side of something/someone in the middle.
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#87999
11/29/2002 2:57 AM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Just one more case of verbing a noun.
flank
n.
5ME flanke < OFr flanc < Frank *hlanka, akin to OHG hlanka, a hip, flank: for IE base see LANK6
1 the fleshy side of a person or animal between the ribs and the hip
2 a cut of beef from this part: see BEEF, illus.
3 loosely, the outer side of the upper part of the human thigh
4 the side of anything
5 Mil. the right or left side of a formation or force, or of the projection of a bastion
adj.
of or having to do with the flank
vt.
1 to be at the side of
2 to place at the side, or on either side, of
3 Mil. a) to protect the side of (a friendly unit) b) to attack the side of (an enemy unit) c) to pass around the side of (an enemy unit)
vi.
to be located at the side: with on or upon
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#88000
11/29/2002 11:21 AM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
And it follows that a pair could flank someone in question on both sides.
And one person could flank someone in question on either the right or left side.
Flank steak is very good marinated in a honey-soy marinade.
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#88001
11/29/2002 7:55 PM
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
As the original that MG cited was a contest, I guess that this is being used in a military sense, in which case it does mean just one side - you attack the enemy in his (her?) flank; you outflank her (his?) attack, etc, etc.
It is used in all sorts of confrontational situations in this sense.
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