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Carpal Tunnel
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Hi All,
Was at the beach this evening, chatting with a few other sunset-watchers and we began to reminisce about The Old Days and the Carousel that used to be at the amusement park down the road. Some called the animals we rode on "hobby horses" and others, including me, called them "dobby horses." The OED CD I have has both expressions, with Dobby-horse having a mention as part of a carousel or amusement park ride.
How about you? Are you a hobby-horse or dobby-horse person?
Is this a regional thing? Or an age thing?
The carousel is gone and I miss it but learned tonight the "Flying Horses" Carousel is now enjoying a happy life and bringing joy to yet more generations at a park in San Diego, Cal. Hurrah!
WOW
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
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Wow,
I don't know how representative I am of my fellow OzLanders, but to me:
1. a "merry-go-round" is the thing you call a carousel.
2. a hobby horse is per Merriam Webster's definition (3), i.e. a. a stick having an imitation horse's head at one end that a child pretends to ride b : ROCKING HORSE c : a toy horse suspended by springs from a frame
Primarily definition (a), I'd say. There are no hobby horses on merry-go-rounds. I have never heard a special word for them.
Cheers,
Marty
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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as per usual, Marty, never say never... 4. A stick with a horse's head which children bestride as a toy horse. b. A wooden horse fixed on a ‘merry-go-round’ at a fair. c. A rocking-horse for the nursery. 1741 Gray Let. Poems (1775) 114 A Fair here is not a place where one eats gingerbread or rides upon hobby-horses. 1842 S. C. Hall Ireland II. 340 The merry-go-rounds and hobby-horses ‘crammed’. [OED - I'm going to petition Anu and his next 'chat' guest for an OED icon  ]
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Carpal Tunnel
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Along with Marty, Kywys typically call carousels "merry-go-rounds". Try as I might, I can't ever remember ever haring or using a term for the horses. "Stiff" probably describes them, though. Hobby-horses were always the horse's head on a stick with an optional wheel at the other end.
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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addict
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addict
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How, Wow!
Shorter Oxford also has 'dobbin': a pet name for a draught horse or farm horse.
One of the great attractions of carousels was their mechanical steam organ which used flexible cardboard strips in a similar manner to piano rolls. A wonderful musical sound that's almost completely disappeared.
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
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a "merry-go-round" is the thing you call a carousel.
Sheesh! You guys won't let anyone show off will ya' ! We called them merry-go-rounds too. I was trying to be less provincial in case merry-go-round was a regional or just a USA thing. To get back to the question : do you call 'em Hobby or Dobby horses? They weren't all horses although that seems to be a generic term for all the animals on the ride. They had a few benches for parents to sit on and other animals to ride like Lions and Tigers, Oh, my! Some of the animals were stationery others went up and down. My favorite ride was a white horse that went up and down. Yes, the music was wonderful! And if you caught the brass ring you got a free ride. Aha! There's another language thing-a-me ...catching the the brass ring. Comments anyone? wow
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Carpal Tunnel
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Wow posted: catching the the brass ring. Comments anyone? [/blue}
Never heard of that - it must be Parochial Americarna.
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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Carpal Tunnel
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i've never gotten the brass ring! i have been on several carousels that offered a ring--but never got the brass ring.
--many carousels had a post, off to the side, and high up, that had a box that dispenced rings, (about the size of a key ring--) when your horse was high, if you stood in the stirups, you might be able to reach the rings-- most were just steel, or tin or something, but once in a while you could reach out and get a brass ring! a brass ring could be turned in for a free ride!
it took skill and daring just to reach for a ring-- and then most of time, you got nothing for your effort. but to get the brass ring, it to take a risk, and win! joy!
but carousel horse where just carousel horses-- or lions or some other animals. but horses where the best.
(actually what i like best for many years was watching the gearing-- i love watching machines work!)
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In reply to:
One of the great attractions of carousels was their mechanical steam organ
If you knew of a carousel or merry-go-round with a steam organ, it would have been most unusual.
A steam organ is called a calliope, usually used by circuses and occupying its own wagon. It would lnot have been used for a carousel because of the danger of explosion with a lot of children close by. What was used for a carousel was a mechanical pneumatic organ, an instrument with a very distinguised pedigree -- Mozart composed at least one piece for mechanical organ.
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Carpal Tunnel
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of troy has given you the literal explanation of the phrase; figuratively it has come to mean success through grasping an opportunity (carpe curvus!).
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