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Carpal Tunnel
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I just read a story in the newspaper about some people fleeing arrest who "T-boned" another automobile. I'd seen it before, but it got me to wondering if it's in common use. Also, how about in other parts of world where the main language is English? If I say, We T-boned them but no one was hurt" would you know what I meant?

Also, any other words out there that are nouns or adjectives that have been verbed with a pretty much entirely different meaning from the original word?

TEd



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I wouldn't bet my rump on it, but I think I can figure out the meaning from the expression. Never heard it before.
edit: I just read Faldage's response. He's right. I wouldn't have a clue what it meant without the car context.

Good general question; should generate lots of responses!

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I'd think I'd need a little more context than just, "we t-boned them, but nobody was hurt". Hard to say given I had the fuller context of the original.


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Mercy yes, I'd know--it's in very common use, here. Interesting, though, that the expression for striking another vehicle broadside does not refer to the steak of the same sobriquet (er, can that expression apply to an object?), but to the shape created by the collision.
It would be more logical, wouldn't it, for the driver to say, "I T'd the other guy"?

There's another expression for driving, called 'threading the needle': when you are in the middle lane between at least two others, and pass ahead of two vehicles, one on either side of you. Is this what is also known as slingshoting?


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I would recognize immediately what the speaker meant. To "T-bone" another auto is to strike it at a 90 degree angle, i.e. broadside, such as when a person runs a red light and hits a car going through the intersection. BTW this is often fatal for the person in the car that is struck if enough speed is involved, as a result of injuries to the neck and brain.








#82021 09/27/02 07:51 PM
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To "T-bone" another

An analogous expression from naval warfare was described in Michener's Space (and other places, I'm sure): "crossing the enemy's T." It means taking your ships in a straight line perpendicular to and in front of your foe's line of ships, so that you can fire all your guns at the same time converging on the enemy ships, while their return fire has to be spread out and thus attenuated...



#82022 09/27/02 08:37 PM
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>when you are in the middle lane between at least two others, and pass ahead of two vehicles, one on either side of you. Is this what is also known as slingshoting?

Here it is known as illegal. We don't have freeways, the slowest traffic is in the left hand lane and the right hand lane is for overtaking only, so of course .. it just doesn't happen ...



#82023 09/27/02 08:45 PM
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Seems there's a racing expression: A driver is sandbagging.

I think that means that a driver in qualifying laps or maybe early in a long race doesn't show his true stuff. Then later in the race, he turns it on...shows his real power. People say he was sandbagging during qualifying or maybe during the early laps.

Please correct me if I've gotten this all wrong.


#82024 09/27/02 09:23 PM
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sandbagging is widely used in sports where it may be advantageous to hide your true skills until an appropriate moment, such as when a wager has been raised -- I've heard it used in bowling and golf and billiards. the betting aspect is actually a clue to its gaming origin, which is poker:

The specific "hang back" or "slack off" sense of "sandbag" you're wondering about comes from poker, where it originally described a player who held off raising the stakes in order to lull the other players into a false sense of security. The poker sandbagger would pounce late in the game, clobbering the other players with his good hand. More generally, "sandbag" has come to mean to under perform any task in order to gain some advantage.
-The Word Detective

the reference to "clobbering" gets at the ultimate origin, which is the use of a sock filled with sand to strike someone, the object of this being to inflict pain without leaving a mark.



#82025 09/27/02 09:32 PM
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slingshotting - Passing a car by first drafting to conserve power, then suddenly moving out of the slipstream and using the reserve power. [Auto Racing Glossary]



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