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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread breakers #108768 07/26/2003 11:27 PM Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 13,858 wwh Carpal Tunnel wwh Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 13,858 I have always thought of "breaker" as waves that break. But Darwin evidently uses the word for rocks close to shore. "The coast to the north of Punta Huantamó is exceedingly rugged and broken, and is fronted by many breakers, on which the sea is eternally roaring." Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: breakers #108769 07/26/2003 11:41 PM Joined: Sep 2000 Posts: 4,757 maverick Carpal Tunnel maverick Carpal Tunnel Joined: Sep 2000 Posts: 4,757 I seem to remember down on the Kent coast we used to refer to breakers as the man-made wooden structures stopping erosion of a beach...? ~ not entirely sure about that - meanwhile the obvious sound breaking on the beach of my mind is a poem you probably know... http://eir.library.utoronto.ca/rpo/display/poem2115.html edit: second thoughts, I think that was breakwaters, and breakers were indeed the waves that did... oh well, my memory also breaks down :) Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: breakers #108770 07/27/2003 2:37 AM Joined: Oct 2000 Posts: 5,400 rego park of troy Carpal Tunnel of troy Carpal Tunnel Joined: Oct 2000 Posts: 5,400 rego park Several beaches in NY have stone piers, sometimes called breakwaters, but my parents called them breakers,(there is an other term for them, and yes, they are used to catch sand, and to help keep a beach from washing away.) breakers are also the kids/machines (old/new) that break the clumps of coal as it comes out of the mine.. Oh sure if the news is true, a silk shirt is the first thing i'll buy, The calico shirt i'll throw in in the dirt If the breakers go back to full time (a coal miners song) my other obsession Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: breakers #108771 07/27/2003 12:35 PM Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 13,858 wwh Carpal Tunnel wwh Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 13,858 Dear Mav: that poem I have always thought poignant. I found another place where Darwin used "breakers" to mean the waves only. I have a lot more respect for him than I did before I read this. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------  Information and announcements  Q&A about words  Wordplay and fun  Words and languages in schools  Miscellany  Weekly Themes  Looking for (writers, speakers,... (Old) Weekly themes. (have been... ------  Words from medicine  Beheading words  Meta-words  Words from classical mythology  Animal Safari  Words with unusual etymologies  Eponyms or words derived from p...  Loanwords from German  English as a global language Print Thread Switch to Threaded Mode Show Likes Link Copied to Clipboard View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary

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