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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 2
stranger
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stranger
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 2 |
My daughter is reading 'The Fifth of March - a story of the boston massacre' by Ann Rinaldi in her reading class - fifth grade.
There is a reference to the word 'dongled' in a sentence and I can't find an appropriate definition. I'm aware of the term as it is used in reference to computers - hardly the case in a revolutionary war timeframe.
So...... here's the sentence out of the book "Have the children settled down since being dongled awake by those tyrannical cannons?"
Any ideas -
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Welcome aBoard, markw.
Although a "ding, dong' sound is used more generally for bells than cannons, my guess is that this word is a combination of dong and jangled.
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
maybe it is a nonce inflection of dong, meant to suggest a deep sound, as that of a large bell -- I'm thinking along the lines of the "1812 Overture" with bells and cannons.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004 |
I'd tend to agree with Jackie and tsuwm - dongled probably means woken up by a loud reverbrating noise - as from nearby church bells.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 460
addict
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addict
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 460 |
Shorter Oxford only has --
Dongle: [Computing] A software protection device which must be plugged into a computer to enable the protected software to be used on it --
which is no use at all in the context of the book!
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 2
stranger
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stranger
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 2 |
Thanks everyone - the ringing of bells and the echo of cannons was what we were thinking!
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#8977
10/30/2000 11:13 PM
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788 |
I ran all my best sources (British and American) for a usage of the verb "to dongle" as you found it in your child's text ... without success. In the process, I learned a great deal about dongles -- devices which attach to a data port on a PC to limit access to a particular application, as part of a security package.
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