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"Dave" wrote in message ... Tim Challenger writes 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. Well maybe the 100 or so Thai and other nationalities saved by an 11 year old girl shouting 'Tsunami' might disagree with you there. Had she not have just studied it at school and recognised the sudden drop in the shoreline water, they might all be dead. IMHO some of these catastrophes deserve an unusual and unique title recognised around the world. Words do change their meaning - tidal to me implies something predictable, and a tidal wave means maybe a severn bore or a predicted high water being pushed down the North Sea at a slow rate of knots, not an unexpected two or three metre wall of several cubic kilometres travelling at several hundred miles an hour. A given high tide goes right round the earth in 24 hours. That makes its speed at the equator in the unobstructed ocean slightly over 1000 mph. Franz |
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