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have you ever heard of it? http://makeashorterlink.com/?Z3B525F34 the paper does not give a definition and google is finding pages about methaphor downshifting...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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(take off the first http:// in your address; and better yet, take that address to http://www.makeashorterlink.com) I believe it comes from cars, downshifting to a lower, slower gear. sounds good to me, though I notice that most the folks doing it are financially able to. for too many people it is a forced way of life... which may be a good thing in the long run...
formerly known as etaoin...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Let Grandpa tell you. Back in the twenties most cars lacked power enough to climb
steep hills in third gear. No automatic shifts then. And if you didn't downshift
into second gear about halfway up the hill, your engine was very likely to stall.
Sometimes going down very steep hills, it was also desirable to downshift into second
gear to have engine act as brake and avoid going too fast. I heard of trucks having
brakes fail, and with a hairpin turn at bottom of hill, going off road right through a house.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Even manual transmission cars these days have what is known as synchromesh, which facilitates the engaging of the gears in a downshift. The problem is that one end of the transmission is connected directly to the car's engine and the other end is connected directly to the drive shaft, which is moving at a speed directly proportional to the speed of the drive wheels. The gears in between aren't necessarily going to want to mesh with each other when those speeds are mismatched as they will be when you change gears. Before the days of synchromesh, there was a technique called double clutching that was used, mostly in downshifts, to match the speed of the gears to each other when making the shift. It involved depressing the clutch pedal, shifting into neutral, lifting your foot off the clutch pedal, revving the engine to the speed it would be going at the speed you are travelling in the gear you are shifting down to, depressing the clutch pedal, and completing the shift into the new, lower gear. It sounds terribly complicated from the description but it becomes second nature once you get the feel for it. My first vehicle was a 1950 Ford F-1 pickup truck with no synchromesh. I loved driving it. But I learned to double clutch on a 1939 GMC wrecker at my job at the sawmill. To this day, I will double clutch when downshifting on a manual transmission car.
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Pooh-Bah
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But, Vika, carefully note that "downshifting" is an Americanism of the first water. I've never heard it used in Brit-speak territory. We call it "changing down".
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Carpal Tunnel
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Downshifting is a very common term here, Vika. The overall, general meaning is to slow down, which fits the theme of your article.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Is this what we used to call "dropping out?"
Or am I hopelessly out of date?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Sounds more like Dropping Out Lite™.
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Dear Faldage Your comments are just too good and always on point Psssst : I owe you a big hug collectable on demand. Just don't tell AnnaS! But then maybe I've finally reached the age when I no longer inspire jealousy by younger and lovlier ladies. Ah, well. Sigh.
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Carpal Tunnel
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In reply to:
But, Vika, carefully note that "downshifting" is an Americanism of the first water. I've never heard it used in Brit-speak territory.
The Telegraph using Americanisms! [Thuds from fainting brigadiers emoticon]
Bingley
Bingley
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The Telegraph using Americanisms! Oh, horrors. [heavy sarcasm e] Um, the Telegraph is a London paper, right? [ditto]
Yes, wow, the article describes what sounds like dropping out to me. What was that old, 3-part saying? Something something, (maybe) drug in, drop out? Dropping out is pretty much what I did, I guess, when I quit working the summer before my kids started to school. We're really influenced by our parents, or however we were raised, aren't we? My mom worked full time until she reached retirement age, so that we could have a better lifestyle and so that I could have a college education. I honestly don't know how we would have fared on my father's salary alone, but that's neither here nor there. I remember that she couldn't come to PTA meetings or other daytime school functions. Nowadays, it has sometimes seemed like I'm the only mom who doesn't work. My husband and I felt that, since you only get one childhood, we'd like for one of us to be more involved in our kids'. So I bought most of their clothes and toys at yard sales and consignment shops, and have never regretted my choice. I have been privileged to be very involved in their school lives, and they have seemed to enjoy it, by and large. Yes, I was a bit lonesome for adult company at times, but I'd do the same thing again without hesitation. However, this place sure helps fill in that gap, now! :-)
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Hi Jackie...I think what you're referring to is 60's LSD guru Timothy Leary's mantra: turn on, tune in, drop out. God forbid he'd be behind the wheel in any gear atall. Basically a shiftless character.
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Pooh-Bah
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The Telegraph using Americanisms! [Thuds from fainting brigadiers emoticon]But, Bingley, old chap, you will note that they quoted it. That's allowed, even in the Telegraph. Don't know about The Times, though; it might be considered to be too down market. And, anyway, in case you hadn't noticed, I confined my remarks to what happens when you use gearsticks! 
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When I was driving a TR years ago, it was widely accepted that downshifting is a better way to reduce speed going into a corner than braking. I'm not 100% sure that this is true, but we all thought it was true.
Any race car drivers out there?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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widely accepted that downshifting is a better way to reduce speed going into a corner than braking
Click and Clack would beg to differ. They say that it's hard on the transmission and transmissions are more expensive than brakes.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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You should be in a gear which is appropriate to your speed. When I approach a corner, and I'm in no real hurry, I let the car slow down of its own accord until its well within the rev range for the next lower gear, then change down to that gear and begin to apply the brakes at about the same time. If I'm in a hurry (i.e. racing), I shift down the gears under braking. Thus the gears give me some braking to aid the brakes, with the added benefit that I'm usually in the correct gear for accelerating out of the corner. I THINK the theoricians agree with my approach, but I'm too tired to LIU. Help yourselves and tear me to shreds.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Nothing saying you shouldn't downshift once you get to the lower speed. The question was whether you should use the engine or the brakes to slow you down. In fact, Pfranz, your technique, that of letting the car slow down of its own accord and downshifting when you get to the slower speed, is precisely the one the Car Guys recommend as the best procedure.
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