Wordsmith.org: the magic of words

Wordsmith Talk

About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us  

Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 11 of 12 1 2 9 10 11 12
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
W
wwh Offline OP
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Mieux vaut tard que jamais.


#45841 10/31/01 11:16 PM
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 1,385
P
veteran
Offline
veteran
P
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 1,385
And a concatenated coruscation of Catherine wheels, to celebrate plutarch's posting again.
Concatenating in the spirit of your coruscations, wwh, here is a quote which I admire ... which you might enjoy as well.
"May the scintillations of his wit be like the coruscations of summer lightning, lambent but innocuous."
Sorry I can't give the author credit.


#45842 10/31/01 11:50 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
W
wwh Offline OP
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
When I was in the Philippines there was a kind of lightning I have never seen here. At night there were always huge cumulous clouds like enormous creampuffs overhead that would light up brilliantly often enough that a flashlight was unnecessary when walking in the dark. It made no noise. I do not know the physics of it, but I suppose in the hot climate convection currents inside clouds built up sufficient charge to produce diffuse discharge.


#45843 11/01/01 01:08 AM
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
W
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296

#45844 11/01/01 02:36 AM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
W
wwh Offline OP
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
I'm not postive I have right name for those clouds. Dictionary says cumulous are flat and black on bottom. Those in Manila were not really flat on bottom, and they were pure white. On the troopship we used to sail under clouds that had rain coming down out of them and their bottoms were flat and black. We'd all get soaked, but fifteen minutes later we would be dry again. Actually we welcomed getting rain soaked, because we did not have fresh water showers. And in the tropics it was smart to bathe in rain with clothes on, the rain came down so hard. If it hit family jewels it was rather painful. And it did the laundry.


#45845 11/01/01 05:00 AM
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Perhaps Bill means sheet lightning. This is lightning that discharges in a higher layer of clouds and is grounded by clouds below. No discharge reaches the ground, but the clouds light up. It's the most common form of lightning where I come from originally. Fork lightning which hits the ground was most uncommon.

I've actually seen the effect occur from an aircraft at night over Indonesia. Spooky!



The idiot also known as Capfka ...
#45846 11/01/01 07:03 AM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
M
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
M
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409

#45847 11/01/01 08:57 AM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
J
jmh Offline
Pooh-Bah
Offline
Pooh-Bah
J
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
>Send me an address in PM and I'll mail you a pack for Christmas!

Oh, can I have some too? I haven't got a clue what they are.

In return, I'll send you a fisherman's friend!



Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
J
jmh Offline
Pooh-Bah
Offline
Pooh-Bah
J
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
How does Jo pronounce forks?

Like Fawkes. Is there an alternative? (Thank you for your brave attempt Maverick, it sounded faintly Geordie)


#45849 11/01/01 09:26 AM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
J
jmh Offline
Pooh-Bah
Offline
Pooh-Bah
J
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
>I was surprised to learn that Fireworks are a big deal out here on Hallowe'en. Not just sparklers but the whole 'works including community pyrotechnic displays. Is this a West Coast thing or just a British Columbia thing?

Maybe they are "cherry picking", rolling together bonfire night and halloween. Our bonfire night has bonfires from the tiny to the enormous (I think Shona put in some links last year), similarly the fireworks run from a few friends clubbing together to run a small display in the back garden for the tinies to huge pyrotechnic displays.

Last night we had friends round for halloween, one couple were from Philadelphia and another from Melbourne. The Australians took their children guising and found it very interesting as they had never celebrated halloween before, they particularly found it strange to be effectively, asking strangers for sweets. I hadn't realised that fireworks were banned in Australia and they had never celebrated bonfire night either. The Americans were suprised that the children were all dressed on a halloween theme (not as Disney characters, for example), we had some very spooky ghosts, especially the current fashion for a hood which makes you look as if you have no face (it is a one way gauze). Incidentally, I went into the local supermarket yesterday and the staff were dressed in a similar fashion but because they blended in and no-one really looked at them, it felt like this really was the land of Harry Potter, we were all muggles barely noticing them amongst us. The USns were also suprised that the children arrived with jokes (generally on a spooky theme) and songs to treat us before we treated them, we had some great entertainment. They said that in their part of the USA children all sing the same song.

I think that Edinburgh has had a long tradition of guising and seems to avoid the worst aspects of over-commercialisaion. I remember the little boy next door being far more excited about Halloween than Christmas.


Page 11 of 12 1 2 9 10 11 12

Moderated by  Jackie 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics13,912
Posts229,283
Members9,179
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members
TRIALNERRA, befuddledmind, KILL_YOUR_SUV, Heather_Turey, Standy
9,179 Registered Users
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 444 guests, and 3 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days)
Top Posters
wwh 13,858
Faldage 13,803
Jackie 11,613
tsuwm 10,542
wofahulicodoc 10,510
LukeJavan8 9,916
AnnaStrophic 6,511
Wordwind 6,296
of troy 5,400
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site. Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.

Home | Today's Word | Yesterday's Word | Subscribe | FAQ | Archives | Search | Feedback
Wordsmith Talk | Wordsmith Chat

© 1994-2024 Wordsmith

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5