Panda

Panda (pronounced pan-duh)

(1) A black & white, herbivorous, bearlike mammal (in popular use sometimes as “giant panda”), Ailuropoda melanoleuca (family Procyonidae), now rare with a habitat limited to relatively small forested areas of central China where ample growth exists of the stands of bamboo that constitutes the bulk of the creature’s diet.

(2) A reddish-brown (with ringed-tail), raccoon-like mammal (in the literature often referred to as the “lesser panda”), Ailurus fulgens (that inhabits mountain forests in the Himalayas and adjacent eastern Asia, subsisting mainly on bamboo & other vegetation, fruits, and insects).

(3) In Hinduism, a brahmin (a member of the highest (priestly) caste) who acts as the hereditary superintendent of a particular ghat (temple) and regarded as authoritative in matters of genealogy and ritual.

(4) In colloquial use (picked up as UK police slang) as “panda car” (often clipped to “panda”), a UK police vehicle painted in a two-tone color scheme (originally black & white but later more typically powder-blue & white) (historic use only).

(5) Used attributively, something (or someone) with all (or some combination of) the elements (1) black & white coloration, (2) perceptions of “cuteness” and (3) the perceived quality of being “soft & cuddly”.

1835: From the French (Cuvier), a name for the lesser panda, assumed to be from a Tibeto-Burman language or some other native Nepalese word.  Cuvier is a trans-lingual term which references the French naturalist and zoologist Georges Cuvier (1769–1832) and his younger brother the zoologist and paleontologist Frédéric Cuvier (1773–1838).  The term was use of any of the Latinesque or pseudo-Latin formations created as taxonomic names for organisms following the style & conventions used by the brothers.  Most etymologists suggest the most likely source was the second element of nigálya-pónya (a local name for the red panda recorded in Nepal and Sikkim), which was perhaps from the Nepali निँगाले (nĩgāle) (relating to a certain species of bamboo), the adjectival form of निँगालो (nĩgālo), a variant of निङालो (niṅālo) (Drepanostachyum intermedium (a species of bamboo)).  The second element was a regional Tibetan name for the animal, related in some way to ཕོ་ཉ (pho nya) (messenger).  The use in Hinduism describing “a learned, wise; learned man, pundit, scholar, teacher (and specifically of the Brahmin (a member of the highest (priestly) caste) who was the hereditary superintendent of a particular ghat (temple) and regarded as authoritative in matters of genealogy and ritual, especially one who had memorized a substantial proportion of the Vedas)” was from the Hindi पंडा (paṇḍā) and the Punjabi ਪਾਂਡਾ (pāṇḍā), both from the Sanskrit पण्डित (paṇḍita) (learned, wise; learned man, pundit, scholar, teacher).  The English word pundit (expert in a particular field, especially as called upon to provide comment or opinion in the media; a commentator or critic) entered the language during the British Raj in India, the use originally to describe native surveyor, trained to carry out clandestine surveillance the colonial borders.  The English form is now commonly used in many languages but the descendants included the Japanese パンダ (panda), the Korean 판다 (panda) and the Thai: แพนด้า.  Panda is a noun and pandalike (also as panda-like) is an adjective (pandaesque & panderish still listed as non-standard; the noun plural is pandas.

Charismatic creature: Panda with cub; like the dolphin with its permanent "happy smile", pandas gained much of their popularity from the genetic accident of their appearance, making them ideal as a model for plushies (stuffed toys).

Illustrative examples of PANDA as an acronym include (1) antiProton ANnihilation at Darmstadt (a particle physics experiment at GSI Darmstadt, Germany), (2) Professional Adult Nightclub DJ (Disc Jockey) Association, (3) Protocol for the Assessment of Non-Violent Direct Action and (4) Programa Nacional Contra el Desarrollo de Pandillas (Spanish: National Development Program against Gangs) while, uniquely, PANDAS stands for Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcal Infection.  As a word, panda has been productive.  The portmanteau noun pandemonium (the blend being panda +‎ (pande)monium was a humorous construct describing the reaction often seen in zoos when pandas appear and was on the model of fandemonium (the reaction of groupies and other fans to the presence of their idol).  The "trash panda" (also as "dumpster panda" or "garbage panda") was of US & Canadian origin and was an alternative to "dumpster bandit", "garbage bandit" or "trash bandit", describing the habit of raccoons foraging for food in trash receptacles.  The use was adopted because the black patches around the creature's eyes are similar to the markings of the giant panda.  The Australian equivalent is the "bin chicken", an allusion to the way the elegant ibis has adapted to habitat loss by entering the urban environment, living (very well) on food scraps discarded in rubbish bins.

Lindsay Lohan with “panda” eye makeup (left) and a cat managing the look, "makeup free" (right).  The companion term is "reverse panda", a usually unintended effect caused by light makeup around the eyes appearing as white circles or patches.  The look sometimes is exaggerated in photographs because of the use of studio lighting or a camera's flash.

The “panda crossing” was a pedestrian safety measure, an elaborate form of the “zebra crossing”.  It was introduced in the UK in 1962, the name derived from the two-tone color scheme used for the road marking and the warning beacons on either side of the road.  The design worked well in theory but not in practice and all sites had been decommissioned by late 1967 (although in New Zealand some were still in use in the 1990s).  The panda’s twotonalism led to the adoption of “panda dolphin” as one of the casual tags (the others being "jacobita", "skunk dolphin", "piebald dolphin" & "tonina overa" (the latter for the black & white Commerson's dolphin (Cephalorhynchus commersonii)).  In English, the first known reference to the panda was as a “carnivorous raccoon-like mammal (the lesser panda) of the Himalayas” while the giant panda was first described in 1901 although it had been “discovered” in 1869 by French missionary priest and zoologist Armand David (1826-1900); it was known as parti-colored until the name was changed after evidence of the zoological relationship to the red panda was accepted.  The giant panda was thus once included as part of the raccoon family but is now classified as a bear subfamily (Ailuropodinae), or as the sole member of a separate family (Ailuropodidae (which diverged from an ancestral bear lineage)).  The lesser panda (the population of which has greatly been reduced by collectors & hunters) is now regarded as unrelated to the giant panda and usually classified as the sole member of an Old World raccoon subfamily, Ailurinae, which diverged from an ancestral lineage that also gave rise to the New World raccoons, most familiar in North America.  As late as the early twentieth century, the synonyms for the lesser panda included "bear cat", "cat bear" & "wah", all long obsolete.

Panda diplomacy

Lindsay Lohan collecting Chinese takeaway from a Panda Express outlet, New York City, November 2008.

Although the first pandas were gifted by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek’s (1887-1975; leader of the Republic of China (mainland) 1928-1949 & the renegade province of Taiwan 1949-1975) Chinese government in 1941, “panda diplomacy” began as a Cold War term, the practice of sending pandas to overseas zoos becoming a tool increasingly used by Peking (Beijing after 1979) following the Sino-Soviet split in 1957.  Quite when the phrase was first used isn’t certain but it was certainly heard in government and academic circles during the 1960s although it didn’t enter popular use until 1972, when a pair of giant pandas (Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing) were sent to the US after Richard Nixon’s (1913-1994; VPOTUS 1953-1961 and POTUS 1969-1974) historic visit to China, an event motivated by Washington’s (1) interest in seeking Peking’s assistance in handling certain aspects of the conflict in Indochina and (2) desire to “move Moscow into check on the diplomatic chessboard”.  Ever since, pandas have been a unique part of the ruling CCP's (Communist Party of China) diplomatic toolbox although since 1984 they’ve been almost always leased rather than gifted, the annual fee usually over US$1 million per beast, the revenue generated said to be devoted to conservation of habitat and a selective breeding program designed to improve the line’s genetic diversity.  Hong Kong in 2007 was gifted a pair but that’s obviously a special case ("one country, two pandas") and while an expression of diplomatic favour, they can be also an indication of disapprobation, those housed in the UK in 2023 returned home at the end of the lease and not replaced.  In the CCP's world view, there are countries in "the panda house" and those in "the doghouse".

It’s one of a set of such terms in geopolitics including  “shuttle diplomacy” (the notion of a negotiator taking repeated "shuttle flights" between countries involved in conflict in an attempt to manage or resolve things (something with a long history but gaining the name from the travels here & there of Dr Henry Kissinger (1923-2023; US national security advisor 1969-1975 & secretary of state 1973-1977) in the 1960s & 1970s)), “ping-pong diplomacy” (the use of visiting table-tennis teams in the 1960s & 1970s as a means of reducing Sino-US tensions and maintaining low-level cultural contacts as a prelude to political & economic engagement), “commodity diplomacy” (the use of tariffs, quotas and other trade barriers as “bargaining chips” in political negotiations), “gunboat diplomacy” (the threat (real or implied) of the use of military force as means of coercion), “hostage diplomacy” (holding the nationals of a country in prison or on (sometimes spurious) charges with a view to exchanging them for someone or something) and “megaphone diplomacy” (an official or organ of government discussing in public what is usually handled through “usual diplomatic channels”; the antonym is “quiet diplomacy”).

Panda diplomacy in action.  Panda up tree can be dubbed "Beijing" and one attempting climb, "Renegade".

A case study in the mechanics of panda diplomacy was provided by PRC (People’s Republic of China) Premier Li Qiang (b 1959; premier of the PRC since 2023) during his official visit to Australia in June 2024.  Mr Li’s presence was an indication the previous state of “diplomatic deep freeze” between Beijing and Canberra had been warmed to something around “correct but cool”, the earlier state of unarmed conflict having been entered when the CCP didn't react well to public demands (delivered via “megaphone diplomacy”) by previous Australian prime minister Scott Morrison (b 1968; Australian prime-minister 2018-2022) for an international enquiry into the origin of the SARS-Covid-2 virus which triggered the COVID-19 pandemic.  Such a thing might have been a good idea but underlying Mr Morrison’s strident call was that he was (1) blaming the PRC and (2) accusing the CCP of a cover-up.  Mr Morrison is an evangelical Christian and doubtlessly it was satisfying for him to attend his church (one of those where there’s much singing, clapping, praising the Lord and discussing the real-estate market) to tell his fellow congregants how he’d stood up to the un-Christian, Godless communists but as a contribution to international relations (IR), it wasn’t a great deal of help.  His background was in advertising and coining slogans (he so excelled at both so clearly it was his calling) but he lacked the background successfully to handle the demands of IR (international relations).  The CCP’s retributions (trade sanctions and declining to take Canberra's phone calls) might have been an over-reaction but to a more sophisticated (if less godly) prime minister they would have been reasonably foreseeable.

Two years on from Mr Morrison's self-inflicted diplomatic injury and with Australia now under new management, Mr Li arrived at Adelaide Zoo for a photo-opportunity to announce the impending arrival of two new giant pandas, the incumbent pair, Wang Wang and Fu Ni, soon to return to China after their 15 year stint.  Wang Wang and Fu Ni, despite over those years having been provided “every encouragement” (including both natural mating and artificial insemination) to procreate, proved either unable or unwilling so, after thanking the zoo’s staff for looking after them so well, the premier announced: “We will provide a new pair of equally beautiful, lovely and adorable pandas to the Adelaide Zoo.”, he said through an interpreter, adding: “I'm sure they will be loved and taken good care of by the people of Adelaide, South Australia, and Australia.”  The duo, the only giant pandas in the southern hemisphere, had been scheduled to return in 2019 at the conclusion of the original ten year lease but sometime before the first news of COVID-19, this was extended to 2024.  Although their lack of fecundity was disappointing, there’s nothing to suggest the CCP regard this as a loss of face (for them or the apparently unromantic couple), Wang Wang & Fu Ni able to enjoy a comfortable retirement, munching on abundant supplies of bamboo.  Unlike some who have proved a “disappointment” to the CCP, they’ll be spared time in a “re-education centre”.

Despite tensions between Beijing and Washington, panda diplomacy remains a “headline element” in foreign policy.  During a recent visit to the US, Xi Jinping (b 1953; General Secretary of the CCP and paramount leader of the PRC since 2012) announced a breeding pair of giant pandas would be sent to Zoo Atlanta in Georgia, the “envoys of friendship” (Ping Ping & Fu Shuang) arriving within days.  Whether the alleged “subliminal messaging” (China not as a threatening predator but rather cuddly companion) still works (or ever did) isn’t clear but they’re certainly a popular attraction with crowds at zoos, making the annual lease-fee (up to US$1.2 million per panda with an additional US$600,000 payable for each cub born) sound value.  It’s also a good case study for those writing contracts, China retaining ownership of not only the leased adults but also any offspring and additionally, facilities often pay up to US$2 million for “sponsorship” and “research” funding.  While hard to be definitive, the “panda-rental” programme may be self-funding, one US think tank estimating gross-income between 1994 and 2023 of some US$300 million from its panda-rental program.  Given that, Guinness World Records listing the giant panda as the “most expensive species in captivity” (costing more even than Taylor Swift’s (b 1989) cats) is understandable.

Panda diplomacy in action.

As an example of the craft of legal drafting, the contracts are about as one-sided as it possible to achieve, the lessor able unilaterally to terminate (without notice or compensation) any agreement, effectively without having to cite any reason for the premature recall.  Although a number of potential grounds are mentioned (including “unauthorized release of relevant information”), the vista is so wide they can mean whatever the CCP on the day decides they mean and although some of proscribed words seem innocuous (“lease”; “rental”; “loan”; “contract”), clearly they are thought “sensitive” in Beijing.  That does seem strange given the essentially “transactional” nature of panda diplomacy is hardly a secret and were there any doubts, recalling two US-born panda cubs after the White House announced Barack Obama (b 1961; POTUS 2009-2017) would not cancel his meeting with the 14^th Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso, b 1935) illustrated how these things work.  From the point of view of assisting in the conservation of a vulnerable species, panda diplomacy does seem to be a positive force, arguments the bears are being “exploited for commercial and diplomatic purposes” a little abstract given their apparent contentment during the “overseas holidays”.  However, whether their presence in zoos here and there is a meaningful measure of bilateral relations is now questionable but what might be indicative of something is that the number of countries with leased pandas has dropped from (a pre-COVID-19) 21 in 2019 to 16 by 2026.  More fun is to compare the creatures with the PRC’s foreign policy.  Panda’s are popular as plushies because the appears so placid and cuddly but, in reality, are quite formidable with long, sharp claws and a bite with a force similar to that of an adult male lion and, as more than one political scientist has observed, even when sitting docile, a panda cannot conceal its teeth.

Pandas on four wheels

Top row: A classic UK police Wolseley 6/80 (1948-1954, left) in black, a staple of 1950s UK film & television, a brace of Adaux era Hillman Minxes (1956–1967, the time of the first "true" black & white "panda cars", centre) and Jaguar Mark 2 (1959-1969, right).

Bottom row: Ford Anglia 105E (1958-1968, in one of the pastel blues that replaced the gloss black, left) on postage stamp issued by the Royal Mail in 2013, Rover Rover 3500 (SD1, 1976-1984, centre) in one of the deliberately lurid schemes used in the 1970s & 1980s (UK police forces stockpiled Rover 3500s when it was announced production was ending; they suspected what would follow would be awful and they were right) and BMW 320d (right) in the "Battenburg markings" designed by the Police SDB (Scientific Development Branch).

Until the 1960s, the fleets of cars run by most of the UK’s police forces tended to be a glossy black.  That began to change when, apparently influenced by US practice, the front doors and often part or all of the roof were painted white, the change said to be an attempt to make them “more distinctive”.  The new scheme saw them soon dubbed “panda cars”, the slang picked up by police officers (in their economical way, often clipped to “panda”) and use persisted for years even after the dominant color switched from black to pastels, typically a duck-egg blue.  Things got brighter over the years until the police developed the high-visibility “Battenburg markings” a combination of white, blue and fluorescent yellow, a system widely adopted internationally.  Interestingly, although the black & white combination was used between the 1960s-1990s by New Zealand’s highway patrol cars (“traffic officers” then separate from the police), the “panda car” slang never caught on.

The Fiat Panda

Basic motoring: 1980 Fiat Panda.

Developed during the second half of the troubled and uncertain 1970s, the Fiat Panda debuted at the now defunct Geneva Motor Show in 1980.  Angular, though not a statement of high rectilinearism in the manner of the memorable Fiat 130 coupé (1971-1977), it was a starkly functional machine, very much in the utilitarian tradition of the Citroën 2CV (1948-1990) but visually reflecting more recent trends although, concessions to style were few, the asymmetry in the frontal facia one of the few imaginative hints and even that was an example of production-line rationalization, the grille to the left on models with an air-cooled engine and to the right for water-cooled versions, the single panel simply rotated prior to assembly.  In the design brief, Fiat had made clear it wanted a car with the cross-cultural appeal of its earlier Cinquecento (500, 1957-1975 and in some markets dubbed Bambino).  Dating from the eighteenth century, the Italian bambino was used of "a child or baby, especially a representation in art of the infant Christ wrapped in swaddling clothes" and the tiny 500 was, like the BMC (British Motor Corporation, 1952-1968) Mini (1959-2000) or denim jeans, able to transcend class, valued by all for practicality.  Designed from “the inside out” in the Fiat's 600 Multipla's (1956-1967) tradition of pure functionalism, the passenger compartment’s dimensions defined the basic structure atop the mechanical components, the body built around those parameters.

1985 Fiat Panda 4x4.  Although basic, the modularity throughout made the structure highly adaptable.  At the time, green interiors were still a thing.

The focus always was on minimizing the number of components, simplifying manufacturing and assembly processes with the final package designed to render maintenance as infrequently required and inexpensive as possible.  One "retro-innovation" which seemed at the time a money-saving device was that all glass was flat, something that had fallen from fashion for windscreens in the 1950s and for side windows a decade later because it was a simple way to increase interior space.  In theory, reverting to the pre-war practice should have meant lower unit costs and greater left-right interchangeability but no manufacturer in Italy had maintained the machinery to produce such things so consequently, the cost per square metre proved higher than would have been the case for curved glass.  Over three generations until 2024, the Panda was a great success although one that did stray from its utilitarian origins as European economies recovered from the strains of the 1970s.  There was in the 1990s even an electric version which, very expensive and with capabilities (performance & range) limited by the technology of the time, was not a success.

The name came from mythology, Empanda, a Roman goddess who was patroness of travelers and controversial among historians, some regarding her identity as but the family name of Juno, the Roman equivalent of Hera, the greatest of all the Olympian goddesses.  Whatever the lineage, she was a better choice for Fiat than Pandarus (Πάνδαρος) who came from the city of Zeleia, Apollo himself teaching him the art of archery.  Defying his father’s advice, Pandarus marched to Troy as a foot soldier, refusing to take a chariot & horses; there he saw Paris & Menelaus engaged in single combat and the goddess Athena incited Pandarus to fire an arrow at Menelaus.  In this way the truce was broken and the war resumed, the coda being Pandarus then fought Diomedes but was killed, his death thought punishment for his treachery in breaking the truce.  Although neutral on the mythology, the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) had objected to Fiat using the name of an endangered species but, pragmatically, agreed when the company made a “substantial financial contribution” that could be devoted to conservation programmes.  A cheque (check) could then validly be written on any surface so a Panda was delivered to the WWF with the relevant words and numbers on the hood (bonnet).

Press-kit images for 2024 Fiat Grande Panda issued by Stellantis, June 2024.  Despite the advertising agency's efforts, bright colors have yet to make much of a comeback. 

In June 2024, Fiat announced the fourth generation Panda and advances in technology meant the "mild hybrid" and all-electric power-trains were mainstream products, competitive on all specific measures (except price breakdown where the Chinese industry enjoys advantages perhaps beyond what an analysis of production and distribution costs would reveal).  The Grande Panda was built on the new Stellantis “Smart Car Platform” (shared with the Citroën ë-C3), offering seating capacity for five.  Unlike the original, the 2024 Panda features a few stylistic gimmicks including headlights and taillights with a “pixel theme”, the look extended to diamond-cut aluminum wheels, a homage to geometric motifs of the 1980s and the earlier Panda 4x4.  Although an accomplished piece, it lacks the style and charm of what Fiat produced between the 1950s and 1970s although, to be fair, the new Pandas apparently are commendably rust-resistant.

Homer's other odyssey: Homer vs Dignity 

Panda scene from Homer vs Dignity.

Pandas (real & fake) have a role in Homer vs Dignity, (November, 2000, episode 5, season 12 of the animated television series The Simpsons (on the Fox network 1989-2024, on Disney+ since 2024)).  The plot line involved evil nuclear power-plant owner Montgomery Burns hiring Homer Simpson as his “prank monkey”, staging public antics and publicly humiliating himself, all for Mr Burns’ amusement.  The most controversial scene was the one in which Homer, dressed in a panda suit, enjoyed (in two of "enjoyed" several senses) intimacy with a real captive panda (presumably this was referred to and signed-off by Fox's lawyers).  On The Simpsons, there’d not before been a scene like it and despite the cartoon South Park (on Paramount+'s Comedy Central since 1997) raising (or lowering, depending on the degree of one's nihilism) the cartoon bar, there’s not since been another in its ilk.

Psychological moment, Homer Simpson being dragged into panda’s den.  In the age of #metoo, Fox’s lawyers might have suggested a script-revision, “Homer being violated by a panda” just not as funny anymore.

Homer vs Dignity was at the time cited by some as a “jumping the shark” moment although it’s regarded now as a marker of a trend towards cheerfully deliberate inconsistencies (it is, after all, a cartoon show) rather than an aberration or harbinger of decline.  The idiomatic “jumping the shark” is a reference to some creative endeavor having worked the concept dry and resorting instead to gimmicks and absurdities.  The term dates from 1985 and was coined by US media personality Jon Hein (b 1957) as a belated response to an episode in the fifth season of the ABC sitcom Happy Days (1974-1984) in which a character, most incongruously, performs a water ski jump over a caged shark.  However, although Homer vs Dignity widely was panned, typically it doesn't appear in the various “top five worst episodes ever” lists, headed often by The Principal and the Pauper (September, 1997, episode 2, season 9) in which school principal Seymour Skinner is revealed to be an imposter and dismissed from his position.  However, Principle Skinner was needed as an ongoing character so the writers resolved things by having the entire population of Springfield assemble and declare never again to speak of the matter, the town's resident judge imposing the order under penalty of torture.  While the internal logic was faultless, even by cartoon standards it was an obvious fudge.

Centaur

Centaur (pronounced sen-tawr)

(1) In classical mythology, one of a race of monsters having the head, trunk, and arms of a man, and the body and legs of a horse (modern depictions in the age of the internet seem to prefer the upper body of a woman).  The synonym is hippocentaur.

(2) In astronomy, the constellation Centaurus (initial capital letter).

(3) In astronomy, any of a group of icy bodies with the characteristics of both asteroids and comets, orbiting the Sun in elliptical paths, mostly in the region between Saturn & Neptune.

(4) In modern slang, a skillful (male or female) rider of a horse.

(5) In rocketry, a US-designed and built upper-stage (with re-startable liquid-propellant engine), used with an Atlas or Titan booster to launch satellites and probes.

(6) In chess, team comprising a human player and a computer.

(7) By extension, in AI (artificial intelligence), a human and some form or AI, working together.

1325–1375: From the Middle English, from the Old English, from the Latin centaurus, from the Ancient Greek, from Κένταυρος (Kéntauros), thought to mean “a member of a savage race from Thessaly” although some etymologists are sceptical.  Historically, Thessaly was known as Αἰολία (Aiolía (Aeolia in modern use)) and that’s how it was referred to in the Odyssey (Homer’s epic poem from the eighth or seventh century BC); the gentlemen in Athens were quick to describe those from elsewhere as savages or barbarians, .  The half-human, half horse Centaur from Greek mythology belongs in the class of mixtumque genus, prolesque biformis (a mixed or blended race, offspring of two forms), the phrase made famous when it appeared in the Roman poet Virgil’s (Publius Vergilius Maro (70–19 BC)) Aeneid (29-19 BC) description of the Minotaur, the mythical creature with the head of a bull atop a human body.  The most common use of the adjective centauric was a reference to the mythological creatures (resembling or of the nature of a centaur) but in the sometimes weird world of spiritualism it was defined as "characterized by an integration of mind and body for consciousness above the ego-self" (whatever that means).  When the adjective is used in SF (SciFi or science fiction) it's with an intital capital if referring to the residents or natives of the constellation Centaurus.  The case difference matters because there no reason why in SF half human, half-horse beasts can't be part of the ecosystem in Centaurus and they would have to be described as Centauric centaurs.  In fantasy fiction, a centauress was a female centaur (a she-centaur) and the term centaurette has also been used; it does not (as the -ette prefix might be thought to imply) mean a “a small centaur”).  Presumably, a centauress, while possessing the secondary sex characteristics of a human female could, anatomically, in the hind quarters either colt, stallion, filly or mare so it could be helpful if authors differentiated centauress & centaurette thus.  Centaur & centaurdom are nouns, centaurian is a noun & adjective and centauresque, centaurial & centauric are adjectives; the noun plural is centaurs.

In the sky

Judy Volker’s annotation of Sea & Sky’s sky-chart of the Centaurus constellation.

Centaurus is one of two constellations said to represent Centaurs and is associated primarily with Chiron (Cheiron), a wise, immortal being who was king of the Centaurs and said to be a scholar & prophet skilled in the healing arts.  In some of the myths, from his cave on Mount Pelion, he is said to have raised, tutored, or counselled several figures prominent in Greek mythology, including Jason, Heracles and Asclepius.  Of Chiron's association with the constellation, there are several tales.  In one legend, Chiron was the first to identify the constellations and teach them to mortal humans, placing an image of himself in the sky to help guide Jason on his quest for the Golden Fleece.  A different story has Chiron placed in the sky by Zeus and of this telling there are variants but the most common element is Chiron being accidentally wounded by a poisoned arrow and giving up his immortality as a way to escape the never-ending pain.  A twist on this has Chiron simply bored with life and wanting it to be over and this came to the attention of Prometheus, the Titan undergoing permanent torture for stealing fire from the gods to give to humans.  For Prometheus to be released from his torture, an immortal had to volunteer to renounce eternal life and go to Tartarus in his place.  Someone (Zeus, Heracles, or Chiron himself depending on the author) suggested Chiron's offer be used to release Prometheus and for this Zeus honored Chiron with his place in the sky.  There’s even a tale in which the constellation represents the Centaur Pholus, honoured thus by Zeus for his skill in prophecy.

Centaurus, copperplate engraving by Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius (1611–1687) from Firmamentum Sobiescianum sive Uranographia (1687), his atlas of constellations.

In English, the southern constellation of Centaurus has been so described since the 1550s but was known by that name to the Romans (to the Greeks it was Centaur).  The ninth largest constellation, visible in the far southern sky in the months around March, since classical times, it has been confused with Sagittarius.  In astronomy, a centaur is a small, icy celestial body orbiting the Sun in an in elliptical paths, most tracking between Jupiter and Neptune, the name gained from them typically having the characteristics of both asteroids and comets, that dual-nature the link with the half-human, half-horse from mythology.  Centaurs are considered transitional objects that may originally have been KBOs (Kuiper Belt Object) and often have unstable orbits due to gravitational interactions with the giant planets.  Orbiting mostly between 5.5-30 AU (an “astronomical unit”, the average distance between the Earth and Sun (about 150 million km (93 million miles)) from the sun, such is the gravitational effect of the big planets that most centaurs (which range in diameter between 100-400 km (60-250 miles) are expected over millennia to be sent into the inner solar system or even ejected into interstellar space.  Astronomers first became aware of the objects in 1977 with the discovery of Chiron but the technology of the time didn’t permit the structure fully to be understood and the body was thus initially classified both as a comet (95P/Chiron) and minor planet.  It was improvements in observational hardware which demonstrated that while appearing as asteroids, when closer to the sun the comet-like behavior of developing a coma or tail will manifest.  The largest known centaur is 10199/Chariklo.  Listed as a minor planet, it orbits the Sun between Saturn and Uranus and in 2014 it was announced it possessed two rings (nicknamed Oiapoque and Chuí after the rivers that define Brazil's borders), the existence confirmed by observing a stellar occultation.  One implication of the rings is it's likely it also has at least one shepherd moon and infrared images indicate the Chariklo is named after the nymph Chariclo (Χαρικλώ), the wife of Chiron and the daughter of Apollo.

On four hooves

Front (left) and rear (right) of the gatefold cover of the album Ride a Rock Horse (1975) by The Who's lead singer Roger Daltrey (b 1944).  The artwork was the work of his cousin Graham Hughes who produced a number of album covers during the 1970s.  Until the early 1980s when the CD (compact disc) reduced the size of packaging, the album cover was the most distributed form of pop-art. 

Things rarely were consistent in the evolution of the myths from Antiquity and the mythical centaurs were described variously as being wholly equine from (human) torso down or with the from parts of the legs also human, the latter a popular depiction during the Medieval period while in Classical era, they had four horses' hooves and two human arms.  Living on raw flesh and inhabiting mountains and forests, they were descended either from Centaurus (the son of Apollo & Stilbe) or of Ixion & Nephele although the Centaurs Chiron and Pholus were of a different descent lineage: Chiron was the son of Philyra & Cronus while Pholus was fathered by Silenus and born of an unnamed Nymph; what distinguished that pair was that unlike the other herds, they were hospitable and non-violent.  The cooking of food being a marker of civilization, it was recorded that when Heracles was hunting the Erymanthian boar, he visited Pholus who received him hospitably, giving him cooked meat whereas Pholus himself ate exclusively raw food.

When Heracles asked for wine, Pholus told him that there was only one jar, which either belonged communally to the Centaurs or had been a gift from Dionysus who had told them to open it only if Heracles should be their guest.  Telling his host not to be afraid, Pholus broke the seal but when the Centaurs smelled the wine they galloped from the mountains, armed with rocks, fir trees and torches to attack the cave.  The first two Centaurs to attack were Anchius and Agrius (killed by Heracles) but Pholus was killed in the aftermath of the fight: while burying a fallen Centaur he drew one of Heracles' poisoned arrows from a wound but it fell from his grasp, piercing his leg and almost instantly he died.  Heracles drove off the remaining Centaurs and pursued them to Cape Malea where they took refuge with Chiron.  In the ensuing battle Heracles shot Elatus in the elbow, but Chiron either dropped one of Heracles' arrows on his foot or was shot in the knee by Heracles.  The wounds of Heracles' arrows could not be healed and the immortal Chiron begged the gods to make him mortal.  It was Prometheus agreed to take on his immortality, and Chiron died, leaving most of the Centaurs to take refuge in Eleusis.  Their mother (Nephele) aided them by summoning a rain storm but that didn’t deter Heracles who slaughtered a dozen including Daphnis, Argeius, Amphion, Hippotion, Oreius, Ispoples, Melanchaetes, Thereus, Doupon, Phrixus & Homadus.

Wedding reception gone bad: Rape of Hippodamia (The Lapiths and the Centaurs) (1636-1637), oil on canvas by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, Spain.  The painting was one of a large cycle of mythologies by Rubens for the Torre de la Parada, Philip IV's (1605–1665; King of Spain 1621-1665 and (as Philip III) King of Portugal 1621-1640) newly built hunting lodge on the outskirts of Madrid.  One of Rubens’ oil sketches for the work is on display at Musees Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique in Brussels, Belgium and is of interest to art students and critics because of the detail differences in the final composition.  On the basis of content shared on the internet, wedding receptions these days are sometimes torrid affairs. 

Lindsay Lohan AI generated as a centaur by EnjoyLingerie on DeviantArt.

The Centaurs also fought a legendary battle against the Lapiths (a Thessalian people who originally inhabited Pindus, Pelion and Ossa; they drove out the native people, the Pelasgians).  Pirithous invited the Centaurs (who regarded themselves as his parents) to his wedding feast and it went well until, unaccustomed to the effects of wine, the Centaurs became drunk and one of them tried to rape (in the classical sense of "abduction") Deidamia (Pirithous' bride and more commonly known as Hippodamia), resulting in a violent brawl which ended with the Lapiths driving the Centaurs out of Thessaly after killing many.  Containing so many wonderful subjects (Centaurs, a feast, a rape scene, a brawl), the disrupted wedding reception (which came to be known as “the Centauromachy”) for centuries drew artists to the theme.  In Antiquity, the Centaurs got a bad press because they appear in so many legends involving rape, abductions and violence.  In many ways the myths can be deconstructed as violent soap operas with an undercurrent of licentiousness, typified by the tales of Eurytion attempting to rape Hippolyta or Mnesimache, the daughter of Dexamenus.  In one version Dexamenus had betrothed his daughter to Azan (an Arcadian) and Eurytion (again as a guest at the wedding feast) attempted a kidnapping but she was saved by the hero Heracles arrived in time to kill him, returning bride safely to groom.  Most scribes were members of the Heracles admiration society and there also the story of how Heracles, on his way to Augias, seduced the girl, promising to marry her upon his return.  While he was away, forcibly she was betrothed to Eurytion but just as the wedding ceremony was about to begin, Heracles stormed in, killed the Centaur and had himself declared her husband.

Cupid and Centaur (1992), photograph by US photographer Joel-Peter Witkin (b 1939).

Based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, recurring themes in Mr Witkin’s work includes death and corpses (or dismembered body-parts), often artfully arranged for staged photo-shoots, his subjects including dwarfs, transgender and intersex persons.  As might be imagined, his images sometimes attracted controversy although some in the disabled community did praise his depictions of those living with a range of physical features not often documented in art.  Witkin claims his elaborate creations are not at all exploitative and are intended to “honor and elevate” those often neglected and “hidden from view”, rarely presented in an artistic context, motifs sometime drawn from paintings in both the sacred and secular traditions.  In an interview, Mr Witkin recalled his interest in what would many would think macabre was trigged when, as a child, he saw the decapitated head of a young girl killed in an automobile accident.

On four wheels

1976 Chrysler Centura GL.  Despite the visual resemblance, the (optional) styled steel wheels were unrelated to those used on Oldsmobiles between 1966-1987.

Whatever processes led to Chrysler Australia adopting the name “Centura” for their local version of the European Chrysler 180 (1970-1982) may still exist in the corporation’s archives but it seems the details have never been published though it can be assumed it was not an Anglicized adaptation of the Romanian centură (belt, girdle).  In Latin centum meant "one hundred" and the term centuria referred to (1) a unit of the Roman army, nominally consisting of 100 soldiers (historians suggest in practice the establishments varied between 60-160) and headed by a centurion, (2) in real estate a unit of area, equal to 100 heredia or 200 iugera (circa 125 acres (50  hectares)), (3) a group of citizens eligible to vote, the system apparently one of the reforms introduced by Servius Tullius (king of Rome 578-535 BC) and based on the ownership of land, one of the many systems which, over millennia, have codified a relationship between ownership of property (usually land) with a right to in some way participate in the polity (usually by voting) and (4) figuratively or literally, things in some way related to "100".  In modern Romance languages, things of course evolved: the Romanian centura (belt or girdle) was from the French ceinture (belt), from the Latin cinctura (girdle, belt), thus by extension used also to refer to the to beltways (ring roads) around cities.  In Spanish & Portuguese, the related cintura (waist; belt) is from the same Latin root cingere (to gird; surround).

The name of the short-lived Chrysler Centura (1975-1978) may have been an allusion to the Centaurs of myth because, like them it had a dual nature, combining the platform of a European four-cylinder with a much more powerful (and heavier) Australian built six.  That had been a concept Holden (GM's (General Motors) Australian outpost) in 1969 introduced when they installed their six-cylinder engine in a modified Vauxhall Viva and called it the Torana.  It proved a great success and Ford Australia in 1972 responded by fitting still larger displacement sixes to the Cortina which, being longer than the Viva, didn’t need the four inch (100 mm) stretch of the wheelbase required for things (tightly) to fit in the Torana.  Given the way local journalists would within a few years decry the inherently unbalanced Cortina six, it is remarkable how well the press received the thing upon debut.

1975 Chrysler Centura brochure shot (GL left; XL right).

Had the Centura been released in 1973 as planned, it might have found success but the timing was unfortunate, the decision by the French government of Georges Pompidou (1911–1974; President of France 1969-1974) to conduct tests of nuclear weapons in its South Pacific territories, prompting the leadership of Australian trade unions to blacklist French goods arriving in ports (Australian trade unions in those days running an independent foreign policy and the ACTU (Australian Council of Trade Unions) a kind of co-government).  As a consequence, it wasn’t until 1975 the Centura arrived in showrooms and by then the market had moved on, competition rather more intense.  Although the Centura offered class-leading performance (indeed, in a straight line it was quicker than many V8s) by virtue of its optional 4.0 litre (245 cubic inch) straight-six (even the 215 (3.5) version could run with the 4.1 (250) Cortinas), increasingly buyers were more tempted by the equipment levels and perceptions (sometimes true) of superior build quality and economy of operation offered by vehicles with origins in the Far East.  As it was, Chrysler in 1976 began local production of the Japanese Mitsubishi Sigma and it proved a great success, even without the six cylinder engine once thought such a selling point.  Tellingly, although a prototype Centura with a 5.2 (318) V8 was built, the project rapidly was abandoned.  Officially, the explanation was the body lacked the structural rigidity to handle the additional torque, the same reason Ford never contemplated their V8 Cortina entering production; engineers familiar with the structures of both platforms agree that was true of the Cortina but maintain the Centura was robust enough and suspect both companies, having observed the subdued demand for the V8 Holden Toranas (1974-1978) decided Holden was welcome to its exclusive presence in the niche sector.  Fewer than 20,000 Centuras were built during its dismal three year run, a fraction of what was projected as its annual production.

On three wheels

Rupp Super Sno-Sport, 1969.  If an object moves (or can be made to move), the chances are high an American will at some point have installed a V8.

Although it seems now the company’s best-remembered product, the Rupp Centaur was built only during 1974-1975 with production reaching barely four figures.  A fibreglass-bodied, wheeled tricycle available in red, white, blue, and yellow, the Centaur was something of a departure from Rupp’s traditional lines and its existence was a product of (1) climatic conditions, (2) a downturn in the economy and (3) the sharp increase in the price of gas (petrol), induced by the first oil-shock of 1973-1974.  Rupp Manufacturing had in 1959 been founded in Mansfield, Ohio by Herbert Edward “Mickey” Rupp (1936–2023), initially as a small-scale operation producing Dart Go-Karts but the venture proved successful enough for the company to expand and in 1960 a line of mini-bikes was introduced.  Simple to manufacture and sold with an attractive margin, the cash–flow enabled further development and by 1964 Rupp’s prototype snowmobiles had been sufficiently refined to be suitable for mass production, an encouraging 500 sold the following year, demand steadily increasing.  By the end of the decade, Rupp Manufacturing had a staff of over 400 and a catalogue of RVs (recreational vehicles) including mini-bikes, small ATVs (all-terrain vehicles) and a signature range of Sno-Sport snowmobiles, by then available in five models.  This being the US, there was also the sport of “snowmoble drag-racing” and Mickey Rupp fabricated the “Super Sno-Sport”, a genuinely exotic entrant using a special 308 cubic inch (5.0 litre) V8 from Ford’s racing research department with braking provided by a combination of disk brakes on the drive axle and a parachute, activated by a cable-release mechanism.  Whether it ever attained its theoretical maximum speed (150 mph (241 km/h)) isn’t clear but, in 1969, it was recorded at 95.5 mph (153.7 km/h) during a run at West Yellowstone.

Rupp advertising, 1970.

While the V8 Super Sno-Sport was a useful publicity tool, Rupp Manufacturing’s core business was more modestly powered snowmobiles and the company entered the 1970s as one of the industry’s most successful, annual production in 1970-1971 reaching almost 40,000 units.  However, while the economy was beginning to slow, what really affected things was two successive seasons of poor snow conditions, Rupp especially suffering because it had borrowed money to expand production and built up a large inventory of product to meet an anticipated strong demand,  With falling sales and rising debt-servicing costs, the rapidly dwindling profits of 1972 quickly became unsustainable losses and, in 1973, facing imminent bankruptcy, a controlling interest was sold to a investment group (what would now be called a PE (private equity) company).  The takeover provided the necessary injection of cash but of course involved also the inevitable “restructuring” (lay-offs and cost-cutting), leading to a market perception was of reduced quality and the possibility of Rupp being closed once the new owners worked out an asset-strip would likely be more lucrative than on-going production.  However, defying expectations, product development continued and in 1976 Rupp introduced its “Nitro” line of snowmobiles, now with liquid-cooled Xenoah power-plants.  These were a considerable technical advance and reviews were glowing but development costs had been high and the sector had become crowded; although sales were encouraging, profits became marginal as the machines often had to be sold at a discount.  In 1977, despite the publicity generated by the Rup 440 Nitro being capable of a genuine 80 mph (130 km/h), the company filed for bankruptcy, even a joint venture with the more stable Arctic Cat operation unable to stave off the inevitable.  In 1978, Rupp was wound up.

1974 Rupp Centaur (single seater).  Based on the photographic record, most buyers seemed to have chosen red.

The change in ownership and troubled history of the early 1970s explains the existence of the Centaur.  With an existing product line rendered unsuitable by the sudden decline in the snowmobile market, Rupp needed a new offering that could (1) quickly be developed, (2) be produced using existing assembly lines and (3) be sold at a price acceptable to its market segment and for that roll of the dice, planners settled on a powered-tricycle, a configuration familiar to customizers and specialist applications (police forces, postal services etc).  Rupp was targeting not commercial operators but the recreational market and that the machine would offer better fuel consumption than even small economy cars was an attraction, the project conceived when gas  had become not only suddenly expensive but also often scarce.  Unfortunately for Rupp, the scarcity didn’t last and in retrospect, even if it had, the Centaur’s many impracticalities might anyway have been enough to see it doomed (it was very much a “fun machine” for fine weather and the original version was strictly a single seater; in the recession year of 1974, it was not a compelling formula).  Although priced at US$1,700, for what one got, the cost-breakdown didn’t make sense for most because a small Toyota or Datsun could the leave the showroom for as little as US$2,800 and for that buyers got something that could seat five under a roof with a radio and heater.  Fun came at a cost and too few were prepared to pay the price.

1975 Rupp Centaur (two seater).

There was also the Centaur’s mechanical specification.  Designed originally to use the Volkswagen Type 1’s (Beetle) 1,285 cm³ (78 cubic inch) flat-four engine & transmission, the two companies couldn’t agree to terms so the tricycles were released with a 336 cm³ (21 cubic inch) two-stroke Kohler twin from the snowmobile line.  The fuel consumption certainly was low but while in the lightweight Centaur the VW engine would have delivered sparkling performance with an entertaining ability to cruise at 75 mph (120 km/h and by 1974 anyway unlawful because of a 55 mph (88 km/h) speed limit imposed nationally in as a “fuel-saving measure” by Richard Nixon (1913-1994; VPOTUS 1953-1961 and POTUS 1969-1974)), with the little two-stroke, only (a claimed) 55 mph was possible and at that speed the engine was very busy (and noisy), one reviewer remaking “one can almost hear it wearing out”.  Compounding the problem, the centrifugal clutch for the automatic transmission (an apparatus that had been a paragon or reliability in snowmobiles) proved troublesome when handing the greater weight and forces transmitted by the relatively wide contact area of the tyres.

Elvis Presley with 1975 Rupp Centaur, Memphis, Tennessee, 1975.  Keeping a cigarette burning while riding a motorcycle is a reasonable achievement.

Additionally, despite the minimalism of the body structure, flaws in the design (apparently a miscalculation of lateral loadings) meant the fibreglass had a tendency to crack, leading buyers unhappy and Rupp with expensive warranty claims.  It took not long for Rupp to work out the Centaur was not going to be the company's saviour but while a re-design was impossible and Volkswagen refused to lower the price of its engines, some adaptation was possible and in 1975 a two-seat version was released, obviously doubling the seating capacity but further adding to the weight and thus the load on the anyway hard-working engine and its vulnerable clutch.  Given all that Rupp probably did well to sell some 1,200 of the things over two years (although some are documented as lingering (discounted) on dealers’ lots as late as 1977).  One discerning buyer with a taste for the unusual was Elvis Presley (1935-1977) who purchased his in the summer of 1975 (it’s on display at Graceland) but he found the performance unsatisfactory (he was by then quite bulky which wouldn’t have helped) and after a few weeks replaced it with Super Cycle Stallion tricycle, powered by a Volkswagen flat-four.  It’s not known whether Elvis’s dissatisfaction with his Centaur was ever so intense he shot the thing (as he did when his De Tomaso Pantera refused to start) but his feelings were not unique because a number of the surviving Centaurs have been re-powered with Volkswagen engines and at least two have been converted to electric propulsion.

In art

Stormy Daniels (2019) drawing in ink, correction fluid & graphite on paper, by Robert Crumb (b 1943).  The image is available on the “Stormy Tee Shirt” (in black or pink) from Platform Art with 10% of sales revenue going to Safe Horizon, a New York-based organization supporting victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. 

It’s not known if  Donald Trump (b 1946; POTUS 2017-2021 & since 2025) is a student of Greek mythology (stranger things have happened) but he did provide us with his unique vision of the half-horse, half-human beast, labeling content provider, actress & director Stormy Daniels (Stephanie Gregory Clifford; b 1979) “horse face”.  In May, 2024, the memorable phrase returned to the news as matters came before court related to “hush money” allegedly paid to Ms Daniels (on behalf the of the President) in exchange for her maintaining a silence about a certain “intimate encounter” they had shared, their apparently brief tryst including her spanking him on the butt with a rolled-up magazine featuring his picture on the cover.  Mr Trump denies not only the spanking but the very encounter, claiming it never happened.  To give a flavor of the proceedings, at one point counsel asked Ms Daniels: “Am I correct in that you hate President Trump?” to which she replied: “Yes.”  No ambiguity there and although not discussed in court, her attitude may not wholly be unrelated to Mr Trump’s rather ungracious description of her as “horse face”.  Really, President Trump should have been more respectful towards a three-time winner of F.A.M.E.'s (Fans of Adult Media and Entertainment) much coveted annual “Favorite Breasts” award.

Death of a Centaur (1912), oil on canvas by Arthur Lemon (1850–1912).  For Lemon, the Centaur was what would now be called his "spirit animal" and the work was painted when he was close to death. 

Born on the Isle of Mann, Arthur Lemon spent his childhood in Rome before moving to California to work as a cowboy; there he became a devotee of what he would call en plain air (by which he meant “an outdoor life”).  Later he would return to Europe to study art and for the rest of his life he would travel between Italy and England where regularly he staged exhibitions at London's Royal Academy; his work most associated with scenes of the Italian countryside and the daily lives of the rural peasantry.  Lemon's fine eye for painting a Centaur was a thing of practice.  He became close friends with English artist Henry Scott Tuke (1858–1929), noted for his prolific output of works in the Impressionist tradition focused on nude adolescent boys and during the 1880s the pair for a time lived Florence where they “spent time sketching male nudes in the Italian sunshine.”  

The Wooing of Daphnis (exhibited 1881), oil on canvas by Arthur Lemon.

Daphnis possessed the youthful beauty of the kind idealized by Tuke and the many nymphs who so adored him.  A victim of that beauty, his life ended badly.  The artistic approach of Lemon and Tuke was interesting in that their nude youths often were shown in a contemporary setting and in that they differed from the many paintings and sculptures of Ancient Greek gods and mythological which, historically, enabled an exploration of the male nude without upsetting public decency; what Lemon and Tuke especially did was eroticise their young subjects.  From his time as a cowboy, Lemon was well acquainted with the physicality of the horse and knew from his studies that in Greek art Centaurs often were depicted as highly sexed figures; being not wholly human, Centaurs could be treated as creatures able to ignore the strict moral expectations of society and accordingly, formed their own community.  Lemon and Tuke in their own ways noted this and both took the Centaur as something of a model although while Lemon devoted much of his energy to painting horses, Tuke’s attention on the nude male youth was obviously his obsession.  After decades of little interest, in the more permissive atmosphere of the 1970s, Tuke emerged as a cult figure among those collecting gay-themed art but Lemon remained a footnote as a minor artist of rural life.