Probe
(pronounced prohb)
(1) To search into or examine thoroughly;
question closely; an investigation, especially by a legislative committee, of
suspected illegal activity.
(2) To examine or explore with or as if with a
probe; the act of probing.
(3) A slender surgical instrument for exploring
the depth or direction of a wound, sinus, or the like.
(4) In aerospace, an unmanned exploration
spacecraft.
(5) A projecting, pipe-like device on a receiving
aircraft used to make connection with and receive fuel from a tanker aircraft
during refuelling in flight.
(6) A device, attached by cord to an oven that
can be inserted into food so the oven shuts off when the desired internal
temperature of the food is reached.
(7) In biochemistry, any identifiable substance
that is used to detect, isolate, or identify another substance, as a labelled
strand of DNA that hybridizes with its complementary RNA or a monoclonal
antibody that combines with a specific protein.
(8) In electronics, a lead connecting to or
containing a measuring or monitoring circuit used for testing; a conductor
inserted into a waveguide or cavity resonator to provide coupling to an
external circuit
1555–1565: From the Medieval Latin proba (examination (“test” in Late
Latin)), derivative of probāre (to
test, examine, prove), from probus
(good). The Spanish tienta (a surgeon's probe) came from tentar (try, test). The dual
meanings in Latin ((1) instrument for exploring wounds etc and (2) an
examination) persist in English. The
sense "act of probing" is from 1890, from the verb; the figurative
sense of "penetrating investigation" is from 1903. The use to describe a "small, unmanned
exploratory spacecraft" is attested from 1953; unrelated to this is the
curious popularity of aliens subjecting humans to examinations with anal probes
in stories of alien abduction. Probe is
a noun & verb, probing & probed are verbs, probeable is an adjective
and probingly is an adverb; the noun plural is probes.
Of the many inconsistencies in English spelling, none must
be seem more mystifying to anyone learning the language than those words
affected by the “mute e rule”: the inflections and derivatives formed from
words ending in a “silent e”. The question
always is: to e or not to e? Deciding whether to retain or omit the last
letter is easier than once it was because dictionaries seem now to be more
consistent in their approach, presumably one of the benefits of their shift to becoming
on-line resources although, for historic reasons, we seem stuck with what seem
ancient, arbitrary decisions such as ageing and icing continuing in peaceful
co-existence. So, there are words where
centuries of particular spellings have become entrenched that to suggest a
change would be absurd and that means any rule would have both examples which
conform and those which defy. Henry Fowler
(1858–1933) in his A Dictionary of Modern
English Usage (1926) acknowledged the impossibility of constructing a rule
of absolute validity but as a guide offered (1) an indicative rule and (2) a
guide to the exceptions. The (1) rule
was “when a suffix is added to a word
ending in a mute e, the mute e should be dropped before a vowel but not before
a consonant”. The condition for (2)
an exception was “the mute e should be
kept even before a vowel if it is needed to indicate the soft sound of a preceding
g or c or to distinguish a word from another with the same spelling”. Probe is such an exception because if one has
a probe, it’s helpful to know if something (or someone according to those who
have been abducted by aliens) is probeable and that adjective can’t be spelled “probable”
because that has another meaning.
The Mazda MX-6-based Ford Probe (1988-1997, left) and the car it was once mooted to replace, the long-serving “Fox” Mustang (1978-1993).
A competent, inoffensive coupé, the Ford Probe would
probably have existed for a decade as a moderate success and then, having been discontinued
without a direct replacement, been soon forgotten, had it not been for the furore
which ensued when the idea surfaced it might be the company’s replacement for
the Mustang. In 1987, by means of a “controlled
leak” the pro-Mustang faction (the beer drinkers) within the corporation let it
be known Ford was planning to replace the Mustang with a modified version of a
Mazda (championed by the chardonnay faction).
The reaction was vociferous & voluminous, Ford’s mailbox (and in 1987
mail came in envelopes with stamps attached) soon overflowing with complaints,
the idea of a front-wheel-drive (FWD) Mustang anathematic, the absence of a V8
apparently beyond comprehension (although the Mustang II had suffered that fate in 1973-1975). They
also put their money where their poison pens were because the previously moribund
sales of Mustangs suddenly spiked, the thought that this might be the last
chance to buy a “proper” rear-wheel-drive (RWD), V8 powered Mustang enough to
push the thing back up the sales chart.
The flow of letters and cash proved enough to persuade Ford and the
platform was reprieved, the Mustang surviving to this day as a unique and highly profitable
niche. The Mazda co-project however was
well advanced so the decision was taken to proceed and offer both and, badged as
the Ford Probe, the modified Mazda lasted a decade-odd and it’s doubtful it cannibalized
much of the Mustang’s market, its competition the other mid-sized, FWD Japanese
coupés which had become popular. A
typical Japanese product, well engineered with a high build-quality, the Probe
was a success (though it never realised Ford’s hopes in overseas markets) and
when production ended, the only reason it wasn’t replaced was because the
demographic buying the things had shifted to other segments, notably the sports
utility vehicles (SUV) which would soon dominate.
1969 M-505 Adams Brothers Probe 16 (Durango 95)
The still controversial film A Clockwork Orange (1971) was based on the dystopian 1962 novel of
the same name by Anthony Burgess (1917–1993).
At the time shocking in its depiction of violence, it's set some time in
the future and as part of the verisimilitude the car used in the "driving
scene" was a M-505 Adams Brothers Probe 16, one of three built. Only 34 inches (864 mm) high (the prototype
was 5 inches (125 mm) lower!), it emerged from the studios of the designers of
the quirky Marcos sports cars which were idiosyncratic even by the standards of
the cottage industry of low-volume sports cars which flourished in the UK until
the early 1970s. Although utterly
impractical (passengers entered and exited through a sliding glass roof) it
certainly looked futuristic but performance was disappointing because of the
limited power. To create the mid-engined Probe, the designers used the engine
and gearbox from the modest Austin 1800, moving the FWD package amidships, an approach
later adopted by a number of manufacturers.
Had it been built using the mechanicals from the contemporary Cadillac
Eldorado (which improbably had a 472 cubic inch (7.7 litre) V8 driving the
front wheels through a chain-drive transaxle), assuming such a thing could be
made to fit, it would have offered performance to match the promise of the
looks. In the film, the Probe was given
the name “Durango 95” a name which seems to have chosen for no particular
reason although the “95” may have been an allusion to 1995, decades away when
the book was written. Although A Clockwork Orange is perhaps not
something with which manufacturers would like their products to be associated, many have since used the Durango name for a variety of purposes.
Newspaper headline writers like the word “probe”. Within the industry, short, punchy words like “probe”, “jab”, “fix”, “bid” et al are part of a subset of English called “headline language”.
Driving scene in A Clockwork Orange (1971): 1969 M-505 Adams Brothers Probe 16 (Durango 95).
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