Helicopter

[john ashby]

When they were re-furbbishing Gay Graybles after the exploding kitchen
did they presciently install a helipad so that Rishi could prolong his
D-Day celebrations at Ambridge Hall? All this talk of an ITV interview
is just a cover for his wife wanting one of Chlelsea's Victory Rolls,
isn't it?

john

[v***@gmail.com]

Post by john ashby
When they were re-furbbishing Gay Graybles after the exploding kitchen
did they presciently install a helipad so that Rishi could prolong his
D-Day celebrations at Ambridge Hall? All this talk of an ITV interview
is just a cover for his wife wanting one of Chlelsea's Victory Rolls,
isn't it?
john

Perhapy not his wife but he himself wanted a victory roll with her.
I know not BT but MV

[Iain Archer]

Post by john ashby
When they were re-furbbishing Gay Graybles after the exploding kitchen
did they presciently install a helipad so that Rishi could prolong his
D-Day celebrations at Ambridge Hall? All this talk of an ITV interview
is just a cover for his wife wanting one of Chlelsea's Victory Rolls,
isn't it?
john

Perhapy not his wife but he himself wanted a victory roll with her. I
know not BT but MV

Could just be a mildly salaciously hinted cocktail.
Would there be variants perhaps, ... in the hay, on the beach,
over the town hall, ...? And isn't helicopter a strange word. I don't think
I know any other copters. Helis are rather thin on the ground too.

[Jim Easterbrook]

Post by Iain Archer

Post by john ashby
When they were re-furbbishing Gay Graybles after the exploding kitchen
did they presciently install a helipad so that Rishi could prolong his
D-Day celebrations at Ambridge Hall? All this talk of an ITV interview
is just a cover for his wife wanting one of Chlelsea's Victory Rolls,
isn't it?
john

Perhapy not his wife but he himself wanted a victory roll with her. I
know not BT but MV

Could just be a mildly salaciously hinted cocktail.
Would there be variants perhaps, ... in the hay, on the beach,
over the town hall, ...? And isn't helicopter a strange word. I don't
think I know any other copters. Helis are rather thin on the ground too.

I hope you have no personal experience of Helicobacter pylori. Or
pterodactyls.

[Iain Archer]

Post by Jim Easterbrook

Post by Iain Archer

Post by john ashby
When they were re-furbbishing Gay Graybles after the exploding kitchen
did they presciently install a helipad so that Rishi could prolong his
D-Day celebrations at Ambridge Hall? All this talk of an ITV interview
is just a cover for his wife wanting one of Chlelsea's Victory Rolls,
isn't it?
john

Perhapy not his wife but he himself wanted a victory roll with her. I
know not BT but MV

Could just be a mildly salaciously hinted cocktail.
Would there be variants perhaps, ... in the hay, on the beach,
over the town hall, ...? And isn't helicopter a strange word. I don't
think I know any other copters. Helis are rather thin on the ground too.

I hope you have no personal experience of Helicobacter pylori. Or
pterodactyls.

H. pylori's good for Nobel prizes,I know, but no personal knowledge.
The helico-pterodactyl in my mind isn't getting off the ground at all,
I'm afraid, but looks very capable of causing a nasty accident.

Great Aunt Ada Pter too, does tend to drone on about her wings
and wanting to fly, but I don't think she's managed to yet either.

[nick]

Post by Iain Archer
"Why is a helicopter like a hamburger?"

Ooh! Wait! Wait! I know this one!

..because the Adder 'ad 'er 'ankerchief.

No, that can't be right...

..because they are both kept in the dark and fed on sh*t?

Ah, yes, I remember..

..because they are both words which are made by joining two
other words (portmanteau words?) but over time they have kept
the joined-together meaning but a part of the word has been
dropped - though not at the point where they were originally
joined. Rebracketing, I think they call it. For example,
Hamburger originally came from the city of Hamburg in Germany
so -er was tacked onto Hamburg to demonstrate the origin. Now
we just call them burgers, having dropped the Ham - but that
wasn't where the words were originally fused. Hamburg-er
became (Ham)-burger.

Is there a prize?


Nick

[Iain Archer]

Post by nick

Post by Iain Archer
"Why is a helicopter like a hamburger?"

Ooh! Wait! Wait! I know this one!
..because the Adder 'ad 'er 'ankerchief.
No, that can't be right...
..because they are both kept in the dark and fed on sh*t?
Ah, yes, I remember..
..because they are both words which are made by joining two other words
(portmanteau words?) but over time they have kept the joined-together
meaning but a part of the word has been dropped - though not at the
point where they were originally joined. Rebracketing, I think they call
it. For example, Hamburger originally came from the city of Hamburg in
Germany so -er was tacked onto Hamburg to demonstrate the origin. Now we
just call them burgers, having dropped the Ham - but that wasn't where
the words were originally fused. Hamburg-er became (Ham)-burger.

That's it. I got it from the crib in the WikiP helicopter article, but there's
more interesting stuff in the Rebracketing one. For one thing, it's
reminded me that the shift of a single letter[1] from even one syllable to
its neighbour has happened numerous times historically. It also
makes a nice reminder for hardline prescriptivists, that occasionally
usage shifts occur that eventually become the accepted and
undisputed 'correct' version.

[1] Do we perchance have any Greek speakers here? The 'inital' Pt in
πτέρυγα sounds to me, from an online pronouncer, like two individual
letters, linked by the briefest of schwas. But I'd be interested to know
what happens in Greek when it's preceded by a vowel, in maybe
the equivalent of the English archaeopteryx. Does it join the preceding
vowel or stay in the Pt?

Post by nick
Is there a prize?

A cocoa nut is I think traditional. Ask finance for a voucher.

Iain
"Hot buttered crumpets in June. Who'd have thought it?"

[Chris]

Post by Iain Archer

Post by nick

Post by Iain Archer
"Why is a helicopter like a hamburger?"

Ooh! Wait! Wait! I know this one!
..because the Adder 'ad 'er 'ankerchief.
No, that can't be right...
..because they are both kept in the dark and fed on sh*t?
Ah, yes, I remember..
..because they are both words which are made by joining two other words
(portmanteau words?) but over time they have kept the joined-together
meaning but a part of the word has been dropped - though not at the
point where they were originally joined. Rebracketing, I think they call
it. For example, Hamburger originally came from the city of Hamburg in
Germany so -er was tacked onto Hamburg to demonstrate the origin. Now we
just call them burgers, having dropped the Ham - but that wasn't where
the words were originally fused. Hamburg-er became (Ham)-burger.

That's it. I got it from the crib in the WikiP helicopter article, but there's
more interesting stuff in the Rebracketing one. For one thing, it's
reminded me that the shift of a single letter[1] from even one syllable to
its neighbour has happened numerous times historically. It also
makes a nice reminder for hardline prescriptivists, that occasionally
usage shifts occur that eventually become the accepted and
undisputed 'correct' version.
[1] Do we perchance have any Greek speakers here? The 'inital' Pt in
πτέρυγα sounds to me, from an online pronouncer, like two individual
letters, linked by the briefest of schwas. But I'd be interested to know
what happens in Greek when it's preceded by a vowel, in maybe
the equivalent of the English archaeopteryx. Does it join the preceding
vowel or stay in the Pt?

Post by nick
Is there a prize?

A cocoa nut is I think traditional. Ask finance for a voucher.
Iain
"Hot buttered crumpets in June. Who'd have thought it?"

Dumrat isn’t here often but she had no Greek.

Mrs McT

[Rosie Mitchell]

Post by Iain Archer
[1] Do we perchance have any Greek speakers here?

I can do

ὁ ἄνθρωπος ζῷον πολιτικὸν

and

ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος

But that's about it so not much help. We did Latin at school but as it
was a pleb school we weren't offered Greek (down Britters, it wasn't
that kind of school).

Is Modern Greek necessarily much use in this case??

Rosie

[Sam Plusnet]

Post by Iain Archer

Post by john ashby
When they were re-furbbishing Gay Graybles after the exploding kitchen
did they presciently install a helipad so that Rishi could prolong his
D-Day celebrations at Ambridge Hall? All this talk of an ITV interview
is just a cover for his wife wanting one of Chlelsea's Victory Rolls,
isn't it?
john

Perhapy not his wife but he himself wanted a victory roll with her. I
know not BT but MV

Could just be a mildly salaciously hinted cocktail.
Would there be variants perhaps, ... in the hay, on the beach,
over the town hall, ...? And isn't helicopter a strange word. I don't think
I know any other copters. Helis are rather thin on the ground too.

Re: Helicopter.
Many years ago there was a radio interview with a Vatican Cardinal (an
American, IIRC) who was responsible for ensuring all announcements were
made in proper Latin.
He specifically mentioned translating "Helicopter" into Latin as an
example of his method.

If the Romans had helicopters, Constantine wouldn't have had to fight
his way over the Milvian Bridge (with Divine intervention) and the
history of the World would have turned out very differently.

[J. P. Gilliver]

In message <UfJ8O.18$***@fx16.iad> at Fri, 7 Jun 2024 20:33:08, Sam
Plusnet <***@home.com> writes
[]

Post by Sam Plusnet
Re: Helicopter.
Many years ago there was a radio interview with a Vatican Cardinal (an
American, IIRC) who was responsible for ensuring all announcements were
made in proper Latin.
He specifically mentioned translating "Helicopter" into Latin as an
example of his method.

[]
Had he coined a complicated Latin phrase, or found something short?

German had a word for hovercraft: Luftkissenboot, air-cushion boat.
Quite reasonable. But I think "Das Hovercraft" was also common.

France tried to pass a law in the '70s - pressure from the Academie
Francaise - against common foreign intrusions. Mr. Philbey our French
master brought in Le Monde from the day after it was passed, and it was
as full of things like "le weekend" as ever.

[Rosie Mitchell]

Post by J. P. Gilliver
[]

Post by Sam Plusnet
Re: Helicopter.
Many years ago there was a radio interview with a Vatican Cardinal
(an American, IIRC) who was responsible for ensuring all
announcements were made in proper Latin.
He specifically mentioned translating "Helicopter" into Latin as an
example of his method.

[]
Had he coined a complicated Latin phrase, or found something short?
German had a word for hovercraft: Luftkissenboot, air-cushion
boat. Quite reasonable. But I think "Das Hovercraft" was also common.
France tried to pass a law in the '70s - pressure from the Academie
Francaise - against common foreign intrusions. Mr. Philbey our French
master brought in Le Monde from the day after it was passed, and it
was as full of things like "le weekend" as ever.

We used to have a Queen's English Society, formerly the King's English
Society, which attempted the same sort of thing but it laid itself down
as a bad job before it could revert to its former name.

Rosie

[Rosie Mitchell]

Post by Iain Archer

Post by john ashby
When they were re-furbbishing Gay Graybles after the exploding kitchen
did they presciently install a helipad so that Rishi could prolong his
D-Day celebrations at Ambridge Hall? All this talk of an ITV interview
is just a cover for his wife wanting one of Chlelsea's Victory Rolls,
isn't it?
john

Perhapy not his wife but he himself wanted a victory roll with her. I
know not BT but MV

Could just be a mildly salaciously hinted cocktail.
Would there be variants perhaps, ... in the hay, on the beach,
over the town hall, ...? And isn't helicopter a strange word. I don't think
I know any other copters. Helis are rather thin on the ground too.

You shouldn't be looking for copters, you should be looking for pters,
and you should find quite few. Pterodactyls for example, and pterosaurs,
and gyropters.

Philip Pullman got it right when he put gyropters in Northern Lights in
1995, but to my great dismay reverted to the unjustifiable 'gyrocopter'
in The Secret Commonwealth in 2019. I think he's losing it a bit to be
honest.

Rosie

[v***@gmail.com]

Post by john ashby
When they were re-furbbishing Gay Graybles after the exploding kitchen
did they presciently install a helipad so that Rishi could prolong his
D-Day celebrations at Ambridge Hall? All this talk of an ITV interview
is just a cover for his wife wanting one of Chlelsea's Victory Rolls,
isn't it?
john

I suppose they couldn't sell drinks. Should have had it at The Bull.

[Sam Plusnet]

Post by john ashby
When they were re-furbbishing Gay Graybles after the exploding kitchen
did they presciently install a helipad so that Rishi could prolong his
D-Day celebrations at Ambridge Hall? All this talk of an ITV interview
is just a cover for his wife wanting one of Chlelsea's Victory Rolls,
isn't it?

Having Rishi campaigning on TA might not square with the Beeb's General
Election Purdah.
(Though one could argue which party gains the most benefit from Rishi's
campaign efforts.)