Dwarf

Dwarf (pronounced dwawrf)

(1) A person of abnormally small stature owing to a pathological condition, especially one suffering from cretinism or some other disease that produces disproportion or deformation of features and limbs.  (In human pathology, dwarfism is usually defined, inter-alia, as an adult height less than 1.47 m (4 ft 10 in).

(2) In zoology & botany, an animal or plant much smaller than the average of its kind or species.

(3) In European folklore, a being in the form of a small, often misshapen and ugly, man, usually having magic powers.

(4) In Norse mythology, any member of a race of beings from (especially Scandinavian and other Germanic) folklore, usually depicted as having some sort of supernatural powers and being skilled in crafting and metalworking, often as short with long beards, and sometimes as clashing with elves.

(5) In astronomy, a small version of a celestial body (planet, moon, galaxy, star etc).

(6) Of unusually small stature or size; diminutive; to become stunted or smaller.

Pre 900: From the Middle English dwerf, dwergh, dwerw & dwerȝ, from the Old English dweorh & dweorg (dwarf), replacing the Middle English dwerg and ultimately from the Proto-Germanic dwergaz.  It was cognate with the Scots dwerch, the Old High German twerg & twerc (German Zwerg), the Old Norse dvergr (Swedish dvärg), the Old Frisian dwirg (West Frisian dwerch), the Middle Low German dwerch, dwarch & twerg (German & Low German Dwarg & Dwarch) and the Middle Dutch dwerch & dworch (Dutch dwerg).  The Modern English noun has undergone complex phonetic changes. The form dwarf is the regular continuation of Old English dweorg, but the plural dweorgas gave rise to dwarrows and the oblique stem dweorge which led to dwery, forms sometimes found as the nominative singular in Middle English texts and in English dialects.  Dwarf is a noun and verb, dwarfness & dwarfishness are nouns, dwarfish & dwarflike are adjectives and dwarfishly is an adverb.  The plural forms are dwarves and dwarfs.  Dwarfs was long the common plural in English but after JRR Tolkien (1892-1973) used dwarves, his influence was enough to become the standard plural form for mythological beings.  For purposes non-mythological, dwarfs remains the preferred form.

The M Word

1970 MG Midget.

Dwarf seems still to be an acceptable term to describe those with dwarfism and Little People of America (LPA), the world’s oldest and largest dwarfism support organization (which maintains an international, membership-based organization for people with dwarfism and their families) has long campaigned to abolish the use of the word “midget” in the context of short humans.  The objection to midget is associative.  It was never part of the language of medicine and it was never adopted as official term to identify people with dwarfism, but was used to label used those of short stature who were on public display for curiosity and sport, most notoriously in the so-called “freak shows”.  Calling people “midgets” is thus regarded as derogatory.  Midget remains an apparently acceptable word to use in a historic context (midget submarine, MG Midget et al) or to describe machinery (midget car racing; the Midget Mustang aerobatic sports airplane) but no new adoptions have been registered in recent years.  The LPA is also reporting some supportive gestures, noting with approval the decision of the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) of the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) to revise the nomenclature used in the US standards for grades of processed raisins by removing five references to the term “midget”.  Although obviously a historically benign use of the word, its removal was a welcome display of cultural sensitivity.

An interesting outlier however is midget wrestling, a field in which the participants are said enthusiastically to support the label, citing its long traditions and the marketing value of the brand.  Although in the late twentieth century, midget wrestling’s popularity diminished in the last decade there’s be a resurgence of interest and the sport is now a noted content provider for the streaming platforms which run live and recorded footage.  Since the 1970s, midget wrestling has included styles other than the purely technical form with routines extending from choreographed parody and slapstick performances to simulated sexual assault.  These innovations have attracted criticism and the suggesting it’s a return to the freak shows of earlier centuries but audiences in the target demographic seem appreciative and, noting the success of a number of tours and operators, Major League Wrestling in 2022 announced the creation of a midget division.

The short stature of Victor Emmanuel III (1869–1947; King of Italy 1900-1946) with (left to right), with Aimone of Savoy, King of Croatia (Rome, 1943), with Albert I, King of the Belgians (France, 1915), with his wife, Princess Elena of Montenegro (Rome 1937) & with Adolf Hitler (1889-1945; Führer (leader) and German head of government 1933-1945 & head of state 1934-1945), observing navy manoeuvres (Gulf of Naples, 1938).  Note his sometimes DPRKesque hats.

Technically, Victor Emmanuel didn’t fit the definition of dwarfism which sets a threshold of adult height at 4 feet 10 inches (1.47 m), the king about 2 inches (50 mm) taller (or less short) and it’s thought the inbreeding not uncommon among European royalty might have been a factor, both his parents and grandparents being first cousins.  However, although not technically a dwarf, that didn’t stop his detractors in Italy’s fascist government calling him (behind his back) il nano (the dwarf), a habit soon picked up the Nazis as der Zwerg (the dwarf) (although Hermann Göring was said to have preferred der Pygmäe (the pygmy)).  In court circles he was know also, apparently affectionately as la piccola sciabola (the little sabre) a nickname actually literal in origin because the royal swordsmith had to forge a ceremonial sabre with an unusually short blade for the diminutive sovereign to wear with his many military uniforms.  His French-speaking Montenegrin wife stood a statuesque six feet (1.8 m) tall and always called him mon petit roi (my little king).  It was a long and happy marriage and genetically helpful too, his son and successor (who enjoyed only a brief reign) very much taller although his was to be a tortured existence.  Still, in his unhappiness he stood tall and that would have been appreciated by the late Duke of Edinburgh who initially approved of the marriage of Lady Diana Spencer (1960-1997) to the Prince of Wales (b 1948) on the basis that she “would breed some height into the line”.

In cosmology, the word dwarf is applied to especially small versions of celestial bodies.  A dwarf galaxy is a small galaxy of between several hundred and several billion stars, (the Milky Way may have as many as billion) and astronomers have identified many sub-types of dwarf galaxies, based on shape and composition.  A dwarf planet is a small, planetary-mass object is in direct orbit of a star, smaller than any of the eight classical planets but still a world in its own right.  Best-known dwarf planet is now Pluto which used to be a planet proper but was in 2006 unfortunately down-graded by the humorless types at the International Astronomical Union (IAU) who are in charge of such things.  It’s hoped one day this decision will be reversed so Pluto will again be classified a planet.  Dwarf planets are of interest to planetary geologists because despite their size, they may be geologically active bodies.  The term dwarf star was coined when it was realized the reddest stars could be classified as brighter or dimmer than our sun and they were created the categories “giant star” (brighter) and dwarf star (dimmer).  As observational astronomy improved, the

With the development of infrared astronomy there were refinements to the model to include (1) the dwarf star (the “generic” main-sequence star), (2) the red dwarf (low-mass main-sequence star), (3) the yellow dwarfs are (main-sequence stars with masses comparable to that of the Sun, (4) the orange dwarf (between a red dwarf and yellow/white stars), (5) the controversial blue dwarf which is a hypothesized class of very-low-mass stars that increase in temperature as they near the end of their main-sequence lifetime, (6) the white dwarf which is the remains of a dead star, composed of electron-degenerate matter and thought to be the final stage in the evolution of stars not massive enough to collapse into a neutron star or black hole, (7) the black dwarf which is theorized as a white dwarf that has cooled to the point it no longer emits visible light (it’s thought the universe is not old enough for any white dwarf to have yet cooled to black & (8) the brown dwarf, a sub-stellar object not massive enough to ever fuse hydrogen into helium, but still massive enough to fuse deuterium.

Coolest dwarf of all is (9) the ultra-cool dwarf (first defined in 1997), somewhat deceptively named for non cosmologists given the effective temperature can be as high as 2,700 K (2,430°C; 4,400°F); in space, everything is relative.  Because of their slow hydrogen fusion compared to other types of low-mass stars, their life spans are estimated at several hundred billion years, with the smallest lasting for about 12 trillion years.  As the age of the universe is thought to be only 13.8 billion years, all ultra-cool dwarf stars are relatively young and models predict that at the ends of their lives the smallest of these stars will become blue dwarfs instead of expanding into red giants.

The events towards the conclusion of the nineteenth century German fairy tale Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs make ideal reading for young children.  Her evil step-mother has apparently killed poor Snow White so the seven disappointed dwarfs lay her body in a glass coffin.  The very next, a handsome prince happens upon the dwarfs’ house in the forest and is so captivated by her beauty he asks to take her body back to his castle.  To this the dwarfs agree but while on the journey, a slight jolt makes Snow White come to life and the prince, hopelessly in love, proposes and Snow White accepts.  Back at the palace, the prince invites to the wedding all in the land except Snow White's evil stepmother.

Another sleeping beauty: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

The step-mother however crashes the wedding and discovers the beautiful Snow White is the bride.  Enraged, she attempts again to kill her, but the prince protects her and, learning the truth from his bride, forces step-mother to wear a pair of red-hot iron slippers and to dance in them until she drops dead.  That takes not long and once she drops dead, the wedding ceremony resumes.  The prince and Snow White live happily ever after.

DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion)

The condition achondroplasiaphobia describes those with a “fear of little people".  The construct is achondroplasia (the Latin a- (not) +‎ the Ancient Greek chondro- (cartilage) + the New Latin‎ -plasia (growth); the genetic disorder that causes dwarfism) + phobia (from the New Latin, from the Classical Latin, from the Ancient Greek -φοβία (-phobía) from φόβος (phóbos) (fear).  The condition, at least to the extent of being clinically significant, is thought rare and like many of the especially irrational phobias is induced either by (1) a traumatic experience, (2) depictions in popular culture or (3) reasons unknown.  Achondroplasiaphobia has never appeared in the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).  In 2006, it was reported that while dining at the Chateau Marmont hotel in Los Angeles, after noticing two people of short stature had entered the restaurant, Lindsay Lohan suffered an "anxiety attack" and hyperventilated to the extent she had to take "an anti-anxiety pill" to calm down.  To her companions she repeatedly said "I’m so scared of them!"  A spokesperson for the LPA responded by suggesting Ms Lohan should "...treat her fear the same as she would a fear of any other protected minority population.  If that fails, she might find diversity training to be useful."

Delta

Delta (pronounced del-tuh)

(1) The fourth letter of the Modern Greek alphabet (Δ, δ).

(2) The consonant sound represented by this letter.

(3) The fourth in a series of items.

(4) Anything triangular, an allusion to the Greek capital delta (Δ).

(5) In mathematics, an incremental change in a variable, as Δ or δ.

(6) A nearly flat plain of alluvial deposit between diverging branches of the mouth of a river, often, though not necessarily, triangular.

(7) A word used in communications to represent the letter D (usually initial capital letter); Used in the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) radiotelephony spelling alphabet (usually known as the NATO phonetic alphabet).

(8) In astronomy, a star that is usually the fourth brightest of a constellation (initial capital letter).

(9) In computing, a small but noticeable effect or the set of differences between two versions of a file; in informal use, a small but noticeable effect.

(10) In surveying, the angle subtended at the centre of a circular arc.

(11) A type of cargo bike that has one wheel in front and two in back.

(12) In electrical engineering (often attributive), the closed figure produced by connecting three coils or circuits successively, end for end, especially in a three-phase system.

(13) In finance, the rate of change in an option value with respect to the underlying asset's price.

(14) In chemistry, a value in delta notation indicating the relative abundances of isotopes or relating to or characterizing a polypeptide chain that is one of five types of heavy chains present in immunoglobins.

(15) In aerodynamics, a type of wing.

(16) The NATO code name for a class of Soviet nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine armed with sixteen multi-warhead missiles.

(17) In physics, of or characterizing the atom or radical group that is fourth in position from the functional group of atoms in an organic molecule.

(18) In US Space Force use, a unit, nominally headed by a colonel, equivalent to a USAF operations wing, or an army regiment.

(19)   In electrical engineering, the closed figure produced by connecting three coils or circuits successively, end for end, especially in a three-phase system.

Circa 1200: From the Middle English deltha from the Latin delta from the Ancient Greek δέλτα (délta), from the Phoenician dalet & daleth (tent door).  It was akin to the Hebrew dāleth.  It was the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet (equivalent to the Modern English D) and was shaped like a triangle (Δ).  The sense of a delta being a "triangular island or alluvial tract between the diverging branches of the mouth of a great river" is because the Ancient Greek writer Herodotus (circa 484–circa 425 BC) used it to describe the mouth of the Nile River (now known as the Nile Delta).  That was picked up in English during the 1550s and applied to other river mouths (often of quite different shapes) by 1790.  The related forms are deltaic and deltification.  In pre-modern medicine, the deltoid muscle (the large muscle of the shoulder; triangular, resembling the Greek letter delta) was described in 1758, the name from the Ancient Greek deltoeides (triangular, literally "shaped like the letter delta).  In modern use, the "deltoid muscle" gained the short-form “delts” in 1977.  The related form is deltoidal.

The delta-wing

Gloster Javelin (1951-1967).  The first twin-engined delta-wing in service, the Javelin was the UK’s long-term solution to its need for an all-weather interceptor, the post-war technology gap until then filled by the stop-gap Gloster Meteor and that most improbable cold-war fighter, the de Havilland Mosquito.  The Javelin was the last aircraft to bear the Gloster name, the company absorbed into the morass created by the mergers, acquisitions and nationalization that befell British industry between Attlee and Thatcher. 

In aviation, the delta shape pre-dated aircraft by centuries, triangular stabilizing fins for rockets described in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and the first lifting wing in delta form patented in 1867 for use by a dart-shaped, rocket-propelled airplane.  However, although there were prototypes and much theoretical work was done during the first half of the twentieth century, it wasn’t until the late-1940s when jet propulsion made possible high-speed subsonic and supersonic flight that it was possible to build airframes which could take advantages of the delta-wing’s unique properties.

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird (1963-1999).  A product of Lockheed’s Skunk Works, although in development as a high-altitude interceptor since 1959, the US government didn’t admit the SR-71 existed until 1964 and decided ultimately to use it for reconnaissance and research into supersonic flight.  The SR-71 in 1976 set the world record for the fastest flight by an air-breathing manned aircraft and the mark still stands.

The delta form offers structural advantages and aerodynamic characteristics suited to the fluid dynamics of airflow in supersonic conditions.  To suit different applications, design variations have evolved, with and without additional stabilizing surfaces.  The long root chord of the delta wing and minimal structure outboard is inherently structurally efficient, able to be built stronger and stiffer yet lighter than a swept wing of equivalent lifting capability.  It’s thus simple and relatively inexpensive to build.

Avro Vulcan (1956-1984).

Until the UK adopted the submarine-launched Polaris missile system, the Vulcan was the platform for the UK’s independent nuclear deterrent and it remained in service long enough to be deployed for its only combat mission, a flight of five aircraft used for (conventional bombing) missions during the 1982 Falklands War.  Each aircraft flew almost 4000 miles  (6,500 km) from Ascension Island, Victor tankers used for the air-to-air refueling, almost 1.1 million gallons (5 million litres ) of fuel burned each mission.

The long root chord also allows a deeper structure for a given aerofoil section, providing more internal volume for fuel and other storage without a significant increase in drag although, on supersonic designs, designers often take the opportunity to use a thinner aerofoil instead, thereby further reducing drag.  Usefully, the large root chord also provides a large surface area which assists in reducing the minimum speed; a low landing speed being a design objective in most military and civil applications.  Delta wings can be designed to induce vortex lift, so flow separation can be turned into a means of increasing lift and the whole structure is naturally stable in pitch, therefore not requiring a separate tail surface.

Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde (1969-2003).

The Anglo-French supersonic passenger jet operated commercially between 1976-2003.  Flying at twice the speed of sound and carrying up to 128 passengers, it was the longest lasting of its time, the Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 in passenger service only for a few years during the 1970s after which it operated both as a freighter and a research platform and the American SST never progressed beyond engineering mock-ups.  The Americans worked out the economics were never going to make sense; the Soviets had a different relationship to money and the Concorde lasted as long as it did only because the French & British governments wrote-off the development costs.

There are drawbacks.  The large wing area creates more viscous drag for the same amount of lift compared to a high aspect ratio wing; swept wings have a better lift-to-drag ratio than deltas.  Also, high-lift devices like fowler flaps are hard to integrate into delta wings with the rearward location of the trailing edge producing intolerable pitching moments when such flaps would be deflected.  In short, delta wings are superior only in supersonic flight; their best known design probably the Anglo-French Concorde.

Lindsay Lohan in delta skirts.

A delta skirt is characterized by its triangular shape, an allusion to the Greek letter delta (Δ); almost always, a delta skirt is fitted at the waist, flaring out towards the hem, creating the triangular silhouette.  The concept is adaptable and can be made from just about any fabric, the most popular including cotton, taffeta, silk and a variety of other synthetics.  Delta skirts tend to be shorter because to produce the triangular effect as length increases either some sort of internal structure is required or additional material needs to be used, increasing bulk and weight.  Although most associated with younger women, they have been adopted by a number sub-sets from the anime aesthetic, Goths and bohemians to hippies.

Butterfly

Butterfly (pronounced buht-er-flahy)

(1) Any of numerous diurnal insects of the order Lepidoptera, characterized by clubbed antennae, a slender body, and large, broad, often conspicuously marked wings which are typically closed when the creature is at rest (the adjectival form is lepidopteran).

(2) A person who moves effortlessly from one social situation to another, usually as “social butterfly”.

(3) Someone perceived as unserious and (originally) dressed gaudily; someone flighty and unreliable; a bolter (common between the seventeenth & nineteenth centuries; now archaic).

(4) In competitive swimming, a racing breaststroke, using a dolphin kick, in which the swimmer brings both arms out of the water in forward, circular motions.

(5) In carpentry, as butterfly joint (or wedge), a type of joint or inlay used permanently to hold together two or more pieces of timber, either as something aesthetic (usually with a contrasting color of timber) or merely functional (also known as the bow tie, dovetail key, Dutchman joint, or Nakashima joint).

(6) In sculpture, an X-shaped support attached to an armature.

(7) As butterfly arm, the swinging brackets of a butterfly table.

(8) In film editing, a screen of scrim, gauze, or similar material, for diffusing light.

(9) In cooking or the display of food, to spread open in halves what is being prepared, resembling the wings of a butterfly (the chef’s term being butterflied).

(10) In financial trading, the simultaneous purchase and sale of traded call options, at different exercise prices or with different expiry dates, on a stock exchange or commodity market; historically a combination of four options of the same type at three strike prices giving limited profit and limited risk.

(11) In medical & surgical dressings, a prepared bandage or the use of surgical tape, cut into thin strips and placed across an open wound in a manner which resembles the open wings of a butterfly, holding it closed.

(12) In mathematics and geometry, any of several plane curves that look like a butterfly and known as butterfly curves (transcendental & algebraic).

(13) In chaos theory and the discipline of alternate (counter-factual) history, as butterfly effect, a single event or random change in an aspect of the timeline seemingly unrelated to the primary point of divergence, resulting from the event.

(14) In automotive design (also used on certain airframes and nautical vessels) a style of door hinged from the A pillars (the windscreen frame).

(15) In engineering, a term applied to a number of fittings (butterfly valve, butterfly clamp, butterfly nut) with some resemblance to the open wings of a butterfly.

(16) As a motif, a widely use shape in fields such as architecture, stained glass, visual art and industrial design.

Pre 1000: From the Middle English buterflie, butturflye & boterflye, from the Old English butorflēoge, buttorflēoge & buterflēoge.  It was cognate with the Dutch botervlieg and the German Butterfliege (butterfly).  The construct was (with variations was butere (butter) +‎ fly.  Etymologists note alternative origins for the name.  Either (1) it was first applied to creatures with wings of a notably yellowish hue (perhaps the dominant or single species of the type in an area) or (2) as a response to the belief that butterflies ate milk and butter or (3) the first element may have originally been butor- (beater), a mutation of bēatan (to beat), a reference to the movement of the wings.  The idea of the fragile things as thieves of milk and butter is supported by similar instances in other European languages including the German Molkendieb (butterfly (literally “whey thief”) and the Low German Botterlicker (butterfly (literally butter-licker) & Bottervögel (butterfly (literally “butter-fowl”).  There was also the notion they excreted a butter-like substance, memorably expressed in the Dutch boterschijte (butterfly (literally “butter-shitter”).  Most memorable however is the explanation in the tales of the Brothers Grimm (die Brüder Grimm, Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859)) in which witches disguised themselves as butterflies.  The early forms in Middle English superseded the non-native Middle English papilion (butterfly) borrowed from the Old French.  Butterfly is a noun & adjective, butterflied is a verb & adjective and butterflying is a verb.  The noun plural is butterflies.

Anatomy of the butterfly valve (left), butterfly crochet (centre) & butterfly bandage (right).

Butter was from the Middle English buter & butter, from the Old English butere, from the Proto-West Germanic buterā, from the Latin būtȳrum, from the Ancient Greek βούτῡρον (boútūron) (cow cheese), the construct being βοῦς (boûs) (ox, cow) + τῡρός (tūrós) (cheese).  Fly was from the Middle English flye & flie, from the Old English flȳġe & fleoge (a fly, a winged insect), from the Proto-Germanic fleugǭ (a fly) & fleugon (flying insect), from the primitive Indo-European plewk- (to fly).  It was cognate with the Scots flee, the Saterland Frisian Fljooge, the German Low German Fleeg, the Danish flue, Norwegian Bokmål flue & Norwegian Nynorsk fluge, the Swedish fluga and the Icelandic fluga, the Old Saxon fleiga, the Old Norse fluga, the Middle Dutch vlieghe, the Dutch vlieg, the Old High German flioga and the German Fliege (fly (literally "the flying (insect))).  The Old English fleogende (flying) was from the primitive Indo-European root pleu- (to flow).

Social butterfly Lindsay Lohan in butterfly print swimsuit, Cannes, 2016.

Butterfly was applied first to people circa 1600, originally in reference to vain and gaudy attire, an allusion to the butterfly’s colors.  By 1806 it had become a class-based put-down referencing a transformation from a lowers social class to something better, invoking the idea of progression from sluggish caterpillar to graceful butterfly (essentially a synonym for bounder).  The reference to flitting tendencies (from one interest, occupation etc) dates from 1873 and the social butterfly (one who moves effortlessly between social encounters and events) emerged in the 1920s.  The swimming stroke was first defined in 1935.  As a general descriptor (butterfly agave, butterfly ballot, butterfly fish, butterfly flower, butterfly plant, butterfly bomb, butterfly keyboard, butterfly chair, butterfly ray, butterfly shell et al), it’s applied wherever the resemblance to the open wings appears compelling.

Native to the forests of Central and South America, the Blue Morpho is one of the world’s largest butterflies. The wings are bright blue with lacy black edges, the result of light reflecting off microscopic scales on the back of their wings.  Lovely though the blue appears, it’s often not seen because the underside of this butterfly’s wing is a dull brown which provides a camouflage against predators.  When the wings are closed as the Blue Morpho sits on a tree, it blends in well.

The highly qualified content provider "Busty Buffy" being adorned with body paint in the shape of a butterfly with open wings.

Butterfly valves came into use in the late 1700s and have been popular since for their ease of manufacture, simplicity of operation and low maintenance.  The butterfly nut appeared in 1869 although in some markets it usually called the wing nut; interestingly, the similar fastener with a male thread is known as a wing screw or wing bolt but apparently never a butterfly screw or bolt, presumably because the delicate butterfly is thought emblematically female.  The phrase “Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?” is from Alexander Pope's (1688-1744) Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot" (1735).  The allusion is to "breaking on the wheel", a form of torture in which victims had their long bones broken by an iron bar while tied to a Catherine wheel, the idea a critique of excessive effort or deployment of resources to solve a simple problem; the less confronting phrase “sledgehammer to crack a nut” means the same thing.  The phrase “butterflies in the stomach” is a descriptive reference to the mild stomach spasms induced by anxiety and dates from 1908.  The butterfly effect is the most celebrated idea from (the somewhat misleadingly named) chaos theory, introduced in the 1972 paper Predictability: Does the Flap of a Butterfly's Wings in Brazil Set Off a Tornado in Texas? by US academic meteorologist Edward Lorenz (1917–2008).  Lorenz had developed the theory based on his observations in the early 1960s (in one of the earliest big-data models) that a tiny change in one variable (one of a dozen numbers representing atmospheric conditions) had an extraordinary effect upon long-term outcomes.

1966 Dodge Polara convertible (left) and 1966 Dodge Monaco 500 two-door hardtop (right).

The use of the butterfly motif in industrial design in 1967 became a footnote in legal history in the trial of the boxers Rubin "Hurricane" Carter (1937–2014) & John Artis (1946-2021 for a triple murder committed at the Lafayette Bar and Grill in Paterson, New Jersey.  Evidence presented by the prosecution claimed that witness descriptions of the getaway car matched the hired car Carter was found driving in the vicinity of the Lafayette immediately after the killings, their statements even including a mention of the distinctive butterfly-shaped taillight chrome.  However, although a witness said the rear lights lit up across the back of the getaway car, the taillights on Carter's Dodge Polara, although there was certainly a butterfly chrome surround, lit up only at the edges; it was the more expensive Dodge Monaco which had the extended lights.  In the ever changing swirl of model names and trim levels which characterized the US industry during its golden age (1955-1973), in 1966 the Polara was Dodge’s entry-level full-size model, above which sat the higher-priced Polara 500, Monaco, and Monaco 500.  For some reason (and this was not unusual), the lineup’s nomenclature in Canada differed, being Polara, Polara 440, Polara 880, and Monaco.  In both markets however, it was only the Monaco which featured the extended tail lamps.

1966 Dodge Polara convertible (left) and 1966 Dodge Monaco two-door hardtop (right).

On a dark night, glimpsed by a traumatized witness for a second or two, that may have not been significant because tests did reveal the reflective silver finish on the Polara’s rear panel did indeed appear red at certain angles when the brake lights were activated but the distinction, along with a witness’s correction of this in the 1976 re-trial did lead some to suggest the police might have been coaching witnesses; “hardening the statement” in law enforcement lingo.  That actually aligned with the evidence provided by another witness and the prosecution would later suggest later suggested the confusion was caused by the defense misreading the court transcript.

2002 Ferrari Enzo (left) & 2016 Ferrari LaFerrari (right).

Butterfly doors are used on some high-performance cars and not wholly as a gimmick, the advantage being that in such usually low-slung vehicle, they do make entry and exit somewhat easier that scissor doors.  There’s even more functionally on certain competition cars because (1) they allow the carefully-crafted aerodynamics of the canopy to be preserved, (2) the driver can enter and leave the cockpit more quickly and (3) the design allows the structural integrity of the shell to be maximized.  Butterfly doors open upwards and outwards and in that they differ from scissor doors which are hinged to move only upwards, thus offering the possibility of a greater aperture while demanding more lateral clearance.  Exotic doors were seen in a handful of pre-war cars, none of which reached production, but it was the Mercedes-Benz 300SL (W194) race-car of 1952 which brought to public attention the idea car doors could be something different.  Such was the response that the factory used the gull-wing doors when, in 1954, the 300SL (W198) was offered in a road-going version although the engineering, like the concept, was not new, having before been used in both marine architecture and aircraft fuselages.  Similarly, the design elements which underlie butterfly and scissor doors can be found in buildings and machinery dating back in some cases centuries but of late, all have come most to be associated with exotic cars.

1967 Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale

Variations on the theme had appeared on the show circuit for some time before butterfly doors debuted on the Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale in 1967 which was much admired but it was thought the complexity of such things would limit their use to low volume runs such as the Stradale (of which only 18 were built) or one-off styling exercises such as the Alfa Romeo Carabo (1968) which used scissors.  However, scissor doors appeared on the prototype Lamborghini Countach (LP500) and, despite the doubts of some, were retained when the production version was released in 1974.  Since then, gull-wings (which open upward on a horizontal axis, hinged from the roof), scissors (which open upwards, rotating on a horizontal axis, hinged from the front), butterflies (which open upwards and outwards on an axis unaligned to the vertical or horizontal, hinged from the A (windscreen) pillar and dihedrals (scissors which move laterally while rotating ) have become common (relatively speaking) and designers seem intent on adding some new twist which seem sometimes to add no advantage but usually attract publicity (admittedly an advantage in the abstract), the most complex to date being the dihedral synchro helix doors which open forward, slide forward and rotate up.

Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR Coupé & Roadster (top) and McLaren MP4-12C Coupé & Spider (bottom).

When Mercedes-Benz released the SLR McLaren (2003-2009), in an attempt to make explicit the link with the 300SL, they laid it on with a trowel, the phrase “gullwing doors” appearing in the factory’s original press release no less than seven times, just in case people didn’t get the message.  Nobody was fooled and they’ve always been called butterflies.  One clever piece of engineering was seen when the SLR roadster was released, those butterfly doors made possible by using hinge points along the rather than at the top.  McLaren used a variation of this idea when it released the McLaren MP4-12C (2011-2014), omitting the top hinge which allowed the use of frameless windows even on the roadster (spider).

IBM's ThinkPad 701 series was available during 1995 and was that year's biggest seller in its class, its distinctive feature the "butterfly" keyboard, a design in response to the obviously contradictory demands that laptops be smaller and lighter while still equipped with keyboards big enough comfortably to be used (especially with the big, clumsy fingers of men).  The 701 was marketed in what was then an untypically IBM manner, newspaper advertisements in the run-up to the launch published with nothing but a butterfly in the corner, the IBM logo later added while a few days before the debut, the text "Watch for the announcement" appeared.  Butterfly had actually been the project's internal codename although it had never been intended for use as a product, apparently because IBM's corporate policies didn't permit the use of the names of living.  Still, the use in the teaser advertisements did suggest they planned it to catch on as a nickname and doubtlessly hoped for a better outcome than the last time a codename was picked-up, the unfortunate "peanut" (the PCjr (1984-1985)) not fondly remembered.

The 701 series, some models even offering a dual-boot into OS/2 Warp (3.0), was well-received and the butterfly keyboard much admired.  The main body of the keyboard was a two-piece construction, which, gear-driven by the movement of the lid, spread apart to become a single unit as the laptop was opened, the process reversed as the lid closed.  IBM actually called it the TrackWrite, but it was universally known as the butterfly and so compelling was the design that to this day, one is on permanent display in Manhattan's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).  Popular though it was, the market moved and the place on the demand curve at a price point which interested IBM was for laptops with larger screens so the need for the butterfly technology vanished, the 701 remaining unique.  Some patents have recently been filed which suggest manufacturers may be planning to release another laptop with a butterfly keyboard but, in an age of ultra-thin devices, it will presumably be a thing of low-tactility and thus lacking the responsiveness which had been one of the most attractive features of the original.

IBM Thinkpad 701 commercial, 1995.

Gunk

Gunk (pronounced guhngk) 

(1) Any sticky or greasy residue or accumulation.

(2) A sub-culture of twenty-first century US males, combining elements of the modern gothic culture with punk rock.

(3) In mereology, any whole, the parts of which have further proper parts.

1949:  An Americanism, used to describe (usually dirty or unwanted) viscous substances, derived from Gunk, the trademark for a degreasing solvent, a thick liquid soap patented in 1932 by the AF Curran Company of Malden, Massachusetts.  Origin of the name is wholly speculative, the most likely offerings being (grime + funk) or (grime + junk).  Disgusting gunk has many synonyms:  quagmire, goo, silt, slime, muck, sludge, gunk, waste, debris, trash, powder, mud, mucus, grease, sediment, residue, grit, smoke, ash, dirt, oily, filth.

Gunk in Mereology

Gunk Engine Degreasant.

In mathematical logic and philosophy, mereology is the study of parts and the wholes they form.  Unlike set theory, the basis of which is the relation between a set and its elements, mereology is about the meronomic (part-whole relationships).  In mereology, gunk is any whole, the parts of which have parts and because parts are intrinsically transitive, any part of gunk must also be gunk, the implication of which is that gunk cannot contain any (indivisible) single-point parts.  So, for it to operate as it does, the known universe depends on gunky stuff like time.  Immediately controversial because of its challenges to nihilism, the term was first applied by Princeton philosopher David Lewis (1941-2001) in his 1991 publication, Parts of Classes.  Lewis claimed traces of the ideas could be found in writings from antiquity, through René Descartes (1596–1650) to Bertrand Russell (1872-1970); others found this lineage “arguable”.  Lewis’ mind worked in abstract space.  His construct of realism was (1) possible worlds exist, (2) every possible world does exist, (3) any possible world is wholly separate from any other and (4), our world is one of the possible worlds.

Herbie gunking Lindsay Lohan in Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005).