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Joined: Oct 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
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might very well be related (Envelope is the message signal which is off set by a constant value to avoid synchronization at the receiver. ) since the information was plotted in a graph format, and looked like a sine wave.. (well, not quite a sine wave, but a amplification wave.. (starting the left, with a steep rise, cresting, coming down a bit, staying almost level for a while, then a steep decline.. (dating myself--but very much like the signal from an old vacuum tube!)))
and since circut boards (integrated circuts) and transistors were just coming into play with the new jets, and -- and there use and performence was being tested at the same time.. the engineers would likely look at the graph and see it similar to the envelope
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Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 47
newbie
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newbie
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The phrase pushing the envelope arises from an East Anglian religious sect called the Broad Barringtons who broke away from Methodism in 1924 after a heated disagreement over the use of minor chords in hymns. Edgar Eldridge, founding member of the Barrington group composed a letter to the local circuit minister, the Rev Bill Norman, outlining their objection to the use of these "decadent" chords. There was an altercation outside the General Stores between Norman and Eldridge on 2nd November 1924 which resulted in Elridge composing a letter. On 3rd November 1924, the Broad Barringtons gather round the local Post Office daring Eldridge to send the letter i.e "push the envelope." This led to the famous pub song "Push The Envelope Edgar" which is still sung by ruddy-faced cider drinkers in the East Anglia area to this day. It also led to the expression in question.
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Joined: Jun 2002
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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were they named for Major Barrington? seems a natural.
formerly known as etaoin...
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
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Hmm, I'd always guessed it was the mathematical/physical meaning...Quinion agrees that it is, and specifically popularized by The Right Stuff. You can look at his whole article here: http://www.quinion.com/words/qa/qa-pus1.htm
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Joined: Jul 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
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Kudos! Kudos!
I think you will fit in very well around here. PLEASE keep posting!
TEd
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veteran
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veteran
Joined: Oct 2000
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I think you will fit in very well around hereAgreed! Welcome aBoard, Maurice Miner. Great bio. 
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467 |
Yes. I think this is the first time I've ever corresponded with an OBE.
Here in the military part of the US bureaucracy OBE means "overcome by events." "You can stop working on that project, it's been OBE-ed." And in this illustration it is pronounced Oh Bee Eed with the last word rhyming with screed.
Brings up a possible new topic of verbing an acronym, come to think on it.
TEd
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Joined: Dec 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661 |
This led to the famous pub song "Push The Envelope Edgar" which is still sung by ruddy-faced cider drinkers in the East Anglia area to this day. It also led to the expression in question.
I feel a slight tugging sensation coming from my lower extremities!
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,788 Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,788 Likes: 2 |
Here in the military part of the US bureaucracy OBE means "overcome by events." "You can stop working on that project, it's been OBE-ed." And in this illustration it is pronounced Oh Bee Eed with the last word rhyming with screed.
...been called a lot o' things in my time, but this is the first time ever in the pluperfect subjunctive...
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
were they named for Major Barrington? seems a natural.
Certainly not - we Brits try to avoid the cult of personality, especially in our religious sects (admittedly, not always successfully.)
No: the "Broad" in question is one of the smaller Norfolk Broads - the name given to stretches of water in the flat fenlands of Norfolk, mostly connected to the River Yare and covering many acres of countryside between inland Norwich and Yarmouth, on the coast.
Barrington Broad is one of the most remote and can only be reached by water or by a small, unmetalled road, which is often impassable because of floods. The inhabitants are very inbred, and their Methodism harks back to the days when the Rev. George Beaumont, having been expelled from the Methodist New Connexion, brought his very fiery (and very political!) brand of methodism to Norwich, founding an independent congregation at the Ebenezer Chapel on Ber Street round about 1815. Several branches were formed round the area, including the one at Broad Barrington (confusingly, the name of the village at Barrington Broad.)
Despite a unification of the Methodists during the latter part of the C19, the Barrington lot didn't do much more than pay lip service, so it was quite on the cards that the split described by Maurice should take place.
Musick, you mention an extensive feeling to your lower limbs - have a look at Pooh-Bah's reply to Nanky-Poo in The Mikado !!!!
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