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wrote in message ... On Tue, 4 Jan 2005 08:51:03 -0000, "BAC" wrote: "Douglas" wrote in message news June Hughes Wrote: In message When did everybody start calling a tidal wave a tsunami and why? I had never heard of one until there was a programme on TV around a year or so ago. -- June Hughes Weather bosses decided that it needed a more up to date image and rebranding ............?? Could be they were looking for a short, snappy and memorable name for an unusually large ocean wave caused by an undersea earthquake. The japanese have a name for such waves, perhaps because they live on islands in an area of frequent earthquake activity, so it probably made sense to adopt the term. We have a term for it too Tidal Wave. True, however our language is peppered with words of 'foreign' origin, adopted for one reason or another, it's one way it evolves. |
#2
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We have a term for it too Tidal Wave. That's the trouble. It was misleading. A tsunami has nothing at all to do with tides, and that's why they changed it. L -- Remover the rock from the email address |
#3
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On Tue, 04 Jan 2005 11:25:36 +0000, Lazarus Cooke wrote:
We have a term for it too Tidal Wave. That's the trouble. It was misleading. A tsunami has nothing at all to do with tides, and that's why they changed it. L At least it indicates that it's a wave, whereas the word "tsunami" tells the uninitiated naff-all. Do you object to the name "slow worm"? Or toadstool? (to add the gardening topic). -- Tim C. |
#4
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"Tim Challenger" wrote in message news:1104838745.68a636cbd747e5fb5e2516c27b1790a8@t eranews... On Tue, 04 Jan 2005 11:25:36 +0000, Lazarus Cooke wrote: We have a term for it too Tidal Wave. That's the trouble. It was misleading. A tsunami has nothing at all to do with tides, and that's why they changed it. L At least it indicates that it's a wave, whereas the word "tsunami" tells the uninitiated naff-all. What happened to the term "episodic wave"? I haven't heard that one for a while. I don't know if it's technically different to a tsunami or tidal wave or both, but then I don't suppose it makes a lot of difference if you're 30ft under it all of a sudden. Steve |
#6
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__________________
Well use it to fertilise the Christmas trees then. I have a feeling the market is going to peak sometime next January. |
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"JeffC" wrote in message ... -- (remove the troll to reply) Always look on the bright side of life (De do, de do, de doody doody do) "Tim Challenger" wrote in message news:1104838745.68a636cbd747e5fb5e2516c27b1790a8@t eranews... On Tue, 04 Jan 2005 11:25:36 +0000, Lazarus Cooke wrote: We have a term for it too Tidal Wave. That's the trouble. It was misleading. A tsunami has nothing at all to do with tides, and that's why they changed it. L At least it indicates that it's a wave, whereas the word "tsunami" tells the uninitiated naff-all. Do you object to the name "slow worm"? Or toadstool? (to add the gardening topic). -- Tim C. If the uninitiated don't know what a tsunami is by now, then all I can say is they'd best stay uninitiated and perhaps not travel to the south seas. Tidal waves are caused by the sun and moon's effect on the earths gravity Not really. The earth's gravitational field is constant for all practical purposes. The tides are caused by the gravirational effects of the moon and the sun on the distribution of the water in the oceans. and therefore predictable to a certain degree. Waves caused by earthquakes, volcanoes and hurricanes are not predictable and therefore cannot be called tidal. |
#9
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#10
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Quote:
And what is more, where possible, instead of inventing new words, they simply get their existing words and stick them all together, so you get trully monsterous things and have so many letters in them it is almost obscene!* Taking exsisting words and adapting/modernising them..... I like that. * - the 47 letter word we were shown at school, I can't remember what it is now, that basically means: The Referee of the last big international football match. Talk about sticking everything together!
__________________
Well use it to fertilise the Christmas trees then. I have a feeling the market is going to peak sometime next January. |
#11
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Big snip In message , JeffC writes I accept that "tidal wave" is in common use to describe big waves of any nature. But it still does not alter the fact that it is incorrect in the case of this appalling disaster. In the absence of an alternative word, then I would accept "tidal wave" as a description, but in view of the fact there is a local word for the phenomena a "tsunami" then I prefer to use that instead. Modern dictionaries now make a distinction between the two; Even bigger snip What do you consider modern? Our Concise Oxford Dictionary printed in 1968 distinguishes between the two. Having defined tidal wave it goes on to state:- tidal wave (Improper) any extraordinary ocean wave e.g. one attributed to earthquake tsunami:- sea wave caused by disturbance of ocean floor or seismic movement. My better half (B.Sc. Geography 1965) concurs with the above as the correct technical analysis. It's just that the media has only discovered the word tsunami in the last couple of years or so, but better late than never. -- hugh Reply to address is valid at the time of posting |
#12
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On Fri, 07 Jan 2005 01:35:51 GMT, "JeffC"
wrote: For those interested in technicalities, the following may be of use http://www.fluidmech.net/tutorials/ocean/tsunami.htm http://www.es.flinders.edu.au/%7Emat...lecture10.html -- Chris E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net |
#13
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"Lazarus Cooke" wrote in message om... We have a term for it too Tidal Wave. That's the trouble. It was misleading. A tsunami has nothing at all to do with tides, and that's why they changed it. Well, the OED definition of 'tidal wave' is "Geog. an exceptionally large ocean wave esp. one caused by an underwater earthquake or volcanic eruption.", so it isn't misleading if one is familiar with the definition. I believe the literal translation of 'tsunami' is 'harbour wave', and, if so, that might itself be considered misleading, since tsunami are not limited to harbours, and not all waves in harbours are tsunami, either. Perhaps the fact most English speakers are not Japanese speakers and are hence unlikely to be confused by possible quibbles regarding the literal meaning of the term is one reason many of us consider 'tsunami' a more apt term than 'tidal wave'. Whatever we choose to call them doesn't alter their destructive powers, of course, but if there is an almost universally understood term for the phenomenon, I can't see the harm in using it. |
#14
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On Tue, 4 Jan 2005 11:47:10 -0000, BAC wrote:
Perhaps the fact most English speakers are not Japanese speakers and are hence unlikely to be confused by possible quibbles regarding the literal meaning of the term is one reason many of us consider 'tsunami' a more apt term than 'tidal wave'. I'd have thought that as most English speakers speak English, they might be more likely to know what the work tidalwave means that tsunami. -- Tim C. |
#15
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"Tim Challenger" wrote in message news:1104840072.98438ddeea2045e62f46ffa1c2f70c96@t eranews... On Tue, 4 Jan 2005 11:47:10 -0000, BAC wrote: Perhaps the fact most English speakers are not Japanese speakers and are hence unlikely to be confused by possible quibbles regarding the literal meaning of the term is one reason many of us consider 'tsunami' a more apt term than 'tidal wave'. I'd have thought that as most English speakers speak English, they might be more likely to know what the work tidalwave means that tsunami. The point is, a person who doesn't speak Japanese either knows what the term tsunami means, or does not, so no confusion, whereas an English speaker who does not know the accepted definition of 'tidal wave' might be tempted to derive a definition intuitively, hence the possibility of confusion. |
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