Parcopresis

Parcopresis (pronounced par-kop-ruh-sys)

In mental health, a spectrum condition ranging from a marked reluctance (with associated symptoms of psychological distress) to a physical inability to defecate in situations where others will be aware of the activity.

2010s: The word was modelled on paruresis (the inability to urinate in the presence (even if visually segregated) of others), the construct being par(a)- (abnormal, defective) +‎ uresis (urination).  Parcopresis was built by substituting copro- (relating to excrement or dung), from the Ancient Greek κόπρος (kópros) (excrement) for uro- (urine; relating to urine and the urinary system), from the Ancient Greek οὖρον (oûron).  Parcopresis is a noun.  As a class, medical conditions are an exception to the conventions of the English language governing the construction of a noun plural or adjective.  There is no recognized noun plural for parcopresis because medical conditions tend to be referred to in the singular (in the way neither “diabetes” or “arthritis” has a companion noun plural) so the usual practice would be to use phrases like “cases of parcopresis” or “patients with parcopresis”.  Less controversial would be an adjectival form which, following the conventions of English, presumably would be constructed as parcopretic or parcopresic (modelled on the way “psychosis” becomes “psychotic”).  There seems however no evidence of such use and the practice by clinicians remains to use phrases like “patient(s) suffering from parcopresis” or “patient(s) experiencing parcopresis-related symptoms”.  If the condition becomes more studied and more work is published, there may be inguistic innovation.

The word has in the last decade appeared with greater frequency, use triggered apparently by an appearance in 2011 when a case report on paruresis and parcopresis was published in the Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria (the Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry), describing parcopresis as a psychogenic condition, sometimes related to social anxiety (though distinct from the better known paruresis).  However, despite that (slight) spike which presumably is indicative of some increase in interest in psychological circles, parcopresis has not yet been classified in major diagnostic systems like the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) or the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Classification of Diseases (ICD)) although other sources (including the National Phobics Society) do list it as a sub-type of Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD).  By contrast, the urinary counterpart (paruresis) appears in the DSM-5-TR (2022), classified as a social phobia.

In clinical use, parcopresis is known also as psychogenic fecal retention (PFR) or (more conveniently and following the clinical shorthand of paruresis being called “shy bladder”) there’s also “shy bowel” and the even better “poop shy”, defined as “the inability to defecate without a certain level of privacy (and the extent of that level varies between patients)).  It manifests thus as something ranging from a “reluctance or difficulty” associated with the symptoms of significant psychological distress (diaphoresis (excessive perspiration), tachypnoea (hyperventilation), heart palpitations, muscle tension, blushing, nausea & trembling) to actual physical inability.  Although the sample sizes are small, there are instances both of a co-morbidity with paruresis and as a stand-alone condition.  The well-understood reluctance to use public toilets related to their notoriously less than immaculate cleanliness is not an instance of parcopresis; it’s just a product of the fastidiousness in matters of hygiene which civilization has bred into populations enjoying the fruits of modernity and again, this exists on a spectrum (and, impressionistically, women exhibit higher standards than men).  Instead, the triggers for the condition are listed usually as “SSS” (sights, sounds, smells) but this refers not to the revulsion the putative pooper may feel but the fear that others may (1) be in their proximity and thus know what they’re doing, (1) hear them doing it and (3) get a whiff of the aftermath.

While toilets in shared spaces can, for some,  induce parcopresis, for others, in certain circumstances, they can provide a place of sanctuary: Lindsay Lohan in Mean Girls (2004).

Parcopresis is not (yet) a medically recognized condition although the 2011 paper in the Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry did suggest it should be classified as a form of social phobia and historically there’s no requirement a syndrome being widespread to justify a classification: it needs just to have defined parameters.  The extent of the prevalence is thus less relevant than its existence although for the editors of the DSM or ICD to consider an entry would presumably be contingent upon a certain clinical utility, something which wouldn’t seem to preclude listing it among the social phobias.  As far as is known, the only studies exploring the prevalence of the condition have been those with small sample sizes conducted among university students and while obviously not representative of the broader population, all were gender-adjusted and reported between 10-20% of the study population avoided using public toilets for reasons in some way associated with parcopresis, a prevalence significantly higher in females.  By contrast, the more extensively studied paruresis is reported at a level between 2.8-16.4% of the population and is much more prevalent in males (75–92%) than females (8.1–44.6%), the usually explanation being MPSAD (male penis size anxiety disorder).

Clinicians note that although parcopresis is nominally a mental health condition, there can also be physical implications including “stools becoming lodged in the colon and the onset or exacerbation of haemorrhoids (piles).”  There’s thought to be limited scope for drug treatments beyond what anyway may be prescribed in cases of SAD or related conditions and most clinicians recommended approaches such as hypnotherapy, stress management, relaxation training and CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy), the latter usually in the form of graduated exposure therapy (GGT or systematic desensitization).  The CBT approach is well-documented and begins by suggesting patients be reminded “that everyone poops”.  That may not be true because in 2007, the KCNA (Korean Central News Agency, the DPRK’s (North Korea) energetic and productive state media) published a profile of Kim Jong-il (Kim II, 1941–2011; Dear Leader of DPRK (North Korea), 1994-2011) noting the physiology of the Dear Leader was so remarkable he was not subject to bowel movements, never needing to defecate or urinate.  It’s not known if this is a genetic characteristic of the dynasty and thus inherited by Kim Jong-un (Kim III, b circa 1982; Supreme Leader (originally The Great Successor) of DPRK since 2011) but this seems unlikely because the Supreme Leader is known, while on visits to remote locations within the DPRK (ballistic missile tests etc), to be accompanied by a military detail with a portable toilet for his exclusive (and reportedly not infrequent) use.

Doing The Daily Duty (by Cristina “Krydy” Guggeri); clockwise from top left: Vladimir Putin; b 1952; president or prime minister of Russia since 1999), Silvio Berlusconi (1936-2023; prime minister of Italy 1994-1995, 2001-2006 & 2008-2011), Barack Obama (b 1961; US president 2009-2017), Kim Jong-un (Kim III, b 1982; Supreme Leader of DPRK (North Korea) since 2011), Francis (b 1936; pope since 2013) and Benjamin Netanyahu (b 1949; Israeli prime minister 1996-1999, 2009-2021 and since 2022).

Digital artist Cristina “Krydy” Guggeri in 2015 had a viral hit with her depictions of famous (and infamous) world leaders sitting on toilets.  Her “political pooping” project which she called “The Daily Duty” might be of help to those undergoing CBT for parcopresis, one of the recommended techniques being to “visualise a famous person they admire” in such circumstances.  Although not a clinical recommendation, presumably those suffering constipation could adopt the same therapy by visualizing a politician who “gives them the shits”.  That list might be long.

Still, the DPRK’s late and lamented Dear Leader aside, “almost everybody poops” and one intriguing recommendation for a CBT session is for a patient to visualise some famous person they particularly admire, sitting on the toilet, mid-poop.  Different patients obviously will admire a variety of celebrities so it’s a wholly subjective call although, noting the pop-culture zeitgeist, the most common current illustrative recommendation seems to be summon an image of the singer Taylor Swift (b 1989), an honor on which Ms Swift seems not to have commented.  Other practical tips include (1) carry a small air purifier or sanitizing spray to use in a public facility; depending on one’s diet and physiology, it will be necessary variously to spray pre-poop, mid-poop or post-poop, (2) line the inside of the toilet bowl with toilet paper; this will help absorb some of the sound and (3) flush several times while pooping; this will disguise the sound and reduce the smell (in Japan, this has been integrated into some public facilities by having a piped-music system play “waterfall sounds” at sufficient volume to disguise the activity of all but the most enthusiastic poopers).  Water management and conservation is now a matter of sometimes critical importance in cities so the piped sounds of splashing might become more common, the authorities unlikely much to welcome suggestions folk adopt the “multi-flush” strategy.

Montreal

Montreal (pronounced mon-tree-awl or muhn-tree-awl)

(1) A city and major port in the south of the Canadian province of Quebec, on Montreal Island at the junction of the Ottawa and St Lawrence Rivers.  The French name for the city is Montréal.

(2) An ellipsis of “Montreal Archipelago”, an archipelago on the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada, which contains the island (known also as Island of Montreal, and Montreal Island).  It’s also the name of a number of rivers and localities in North America.

(3) An Alfa Romeo model (1970-1977), the appearance of which was based on a show-car built for the 1967 Montreal Exposition.

1705 (in the sense of the city’s name): From the French Montréal (deconstructed as Mont Royal (Mount Royal), the triple-peaked feature named le mont Royal by French explorer Jacques Cartier 1491-1557), honoring Francis I (1494–1547; King of France 1515-1547).  Although surpassed in economic activity by Toronto, Montreal remains a cultural, commercial, financial, and industrial centre and, with a population of 1.8 million (the Greater Montreal metropolitan area is 4.3 million), is the second-largest French-speaking city in the world, only Paris having more.  The city lies at the foot of Mount Royal.  Montreal and Montrealer are nouns; the noun plural is Montrealers.

Lindsay Lohan at Montréal International Airport, May 2009.

The surname Mulligan was of Irish origin and was from the Gaelic Maolagan and the Old Irish Maelecan, a double diminutive of mael (bald), hence “the little bald (or shaven) one”, presumably a reference to a monk and his tonsure (the practice of shaving part of the scalp as a sign of religious devotion or humility).  As an ellipsis of “mulligan stew” (a meal made with whatever was available), it’s listed by slang dictionaries as “early twentieth century US hobo slang” and is thought derived (for reasons unknown) from the name.  In various card games, it’s used to describe an opportunity (which under some rules can attract a penalty) for a player to reshuffle their cards and draw a new initial hand at the beginning of a game; by extension from this use it has come generally to mean “a second chance”.  The best known use of “mulligan” is in golf (used without an initial capital) where it describes “re-taking a shot after a poor first attempt” and while there are several tales of the origin of the tradition (said variously to date from between 1927-1949), the most accepted involves the Country Club of Montreal golf course in Saint-Lambert.  David B Mulligan (1869–1954), it’s claimed, was one of a foursome who each week played 18 holes and he was the one who drove them to the course over “rough & rutted roads”, his reward being “an extra” shot although whether that was granted in gratitude or was his price for doing the driving isn’t mentioned.  A notable variation claims Mr Mulligan simply hit a bad shot and immediately re-teed, taking another (claiming the second was a “correction shot” so the first didn’t count on his score-card); in response his partners decided to name the practice (not within the accepted etiquette of the game) after him.

Golfer Greg Norman (b 1955) with Bill Clinton (b 1946; US president 1993-2001), about to take (another) mulligan.

US presidents often have been keen golfers.  John Kennedy (JFK, 1917–1963; US president 1961-1963) enjoyed pointing out to visitors the marks made in the White House’s polished timber floors by Dwight Eisenhower (1890-1969; US president 1953-1961) who walked on them in his golf shoes which was bad form but there’s no record of the general ever having “taken a mulligan”.  Bill Clinton was certainly keen on the game but not especially skilled and took mulligans so frequently that among themselves his Secret Service detail would bet how many would be claimed in each round.  They called them “billigans” and unless at risk of causing a diplomatic incident, Mr Clinton would cheerfully and openly take as many as he needed to enjoy the day.

Donald Trump (b 1946; US president 2017-2021) addressing the ball on the first tee during the pro-am prior to the LIV Golf Invitational, Trump National Golf Club Bedminster, New Jersey, 10 August 2023.

Mr Trump denies ever having taken a mulligan, explaining his prowess by saying “I am just a good golfer and athlete”.  That must be true because in 2023 he won his club tournament at Bedminster with an impressive round, posting on his own Truth social media platform: “I am pleased to report, for those that care, that I just won the Senior Club Championship (must be over 50 years old!) at Bedminster (Trump National Golf Club), shooting a round of 67”.  Aware some might be sceptical, he added “Now, some people will think that sounds low, but there is no hanky-panky.  Many people watch, plus I am surrounded by Secret Service agents.  Not much you can do even if you wanted to, and I don’t.  For some reason, I am just a good golfer & athlete - I have won many club championships, and it’s always a great honor!”  Apparently, Mr Trump always insists on the Oxford comma, even when technically not “required” (although, according to some, it’s never required).

Kim Jong-il, the Dear Leader (centre), in his custom-built LWB (long wheelbase) golf buggy in candy apple green.

Impressive though Mr Trump’s score may seem, it would not have impressed Kim Jong-il (Kim II, 1941–2011; Dear Leader of DPRK (North Korea), 1994-2011).  According the KCNA (Korean Central News Agency, the DPRK’s energetic and productive state media), although in his entire life he only ever played one round of golf and that on the country’s notoriously difficult 7,700 yard (7040 m) course at Pyongyang, the Dear Leader took only 34 strokes to complete the 18 holes, a round which included five holes-in-ones.  Experienced golfers in the imperialist West cast doubt on the round of 34 (not commenting on the holes-in-one) but the KCNA had already pointed out the physiology of the Dear Leader was so remarkable he was not subject to bowel movements, never needing to defecate or urinate (it’s not known if this is a genetic characteristic of the dynasty and thus inherited by Kim Jong-un (Kim III, b circa 1982; Supreme Leader (originally The Great Successor) of DPRK since 2011)) but this seems unlikely because the Supreme Leader is known, while on visits to remote locations within the DPRK (ballistic missile tests etc), to be accompanied by a military detail with a portable toilet for his exclusive (and reportedly not infrequent) use.

The Alfa Romeo Montreal

Alfa Romeo Montreal Expo show car at Montreal International Airport, arriving from Italy for the 1967 Universal Exposition in Montreal.

The noun exposition was from the late fourteenth century French exposicioun (explanation, narration), from the twelfth century Old French esposicion (explanation, interpretation) and directly from the Latin expositionem (nominative expositio) (a setting or showing forth; narration, explanation) a noun of action from the past-participle stem of exponere (put forth; explain), the construct being ex- (in the sense of “from, forth”) + ponere (to put, place).  The familiar modern meaning came into existence in 1851 when the Crystal Palace Exposition opened in London while the now universal form “Expo” was first used in planning documents for the 1967 World's Fair held in Montreal.

The Soviet Union’s pavilion at the 1967 Montreal Exposition.  The initialization of the country’s nane appeared as both “USSR” & “URSS”, reflecting Canada’s status as a bi-lingual (English & French) nation, USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) the form in English while in French it was Union des Républiques Socialistes Soviétiques.  URSS was also used on the Iberian Peninsula, the Spanish being Unión de Repúblicas Socialistas Soviéticas and the Portuguese União das Repúblicas Socialistas Soviéticas.  In Russian, it was CCCP (Союз Советских Социалистических Республик (Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik)), which translates as the familiar “Union of Soviet Socialist Republics”; CCCP representing the Cyrillic script, which corresponds to USSR in the Latin alphabet.

The theme of the EXPO 1967 at Montreal was “Man and his World” (a choice which now would see the event boycotted (or at least “girlcotted”)) and the organizers selected Alfa Romeo to present a car which represented the “highest aspiration of modern man in terms of cars”.  It was a time when development cycles of new cars were measured in years but the company had less than nine months in which to complete the project so the decision was taken to use the platform of the existing Giulia Sprint GT (the memorable 105/115 series coupés, 1963-1977) with Carrozzeria Bertone commissioned to style the unique bodywork, Marcello Gandini (1938–2024) the lead designer.  Gandini delivered a elegant and streamlined shape, the most distinctive features of which were the distinctive louvred eyelids which half-concealed the headlights and the six air vents on each C-pillar which led some to assume a mid-engined configuration lay beneath.  The factory fabricated two identical specimens, both finished in pearl white and named, appropriately, the Alfa Romeo Montreal Expo, displayed at the Exposition, in the “Man the Producer” pavilion by means of a clever visual trick using mirrors, the image of the two infinitely repeated throughout the exhibition space.  Both cars still exist and are housed in the Museo Storico Alfa Romeo (Alfa Romeo History Museum) on the outskirts of Milan.

1973 Alfa Romeo Montreal.

From critics and the public (notably including prospective buyers) the reaction to the Montreal Expo was such the factory opted to bring the car to market as a regular production model.  Unusually for show cars which often have their tantalizing specification “toned down” for appearance in showrooms (the Jaguar XJ220 a notorious example), the production version was considerably more exotic than what was seen at the exposition, the 1.6 litre (96 cubic inch) DOHC (double overhead camshaft) in-line four cylinder engine replaced by a 2.6 litre (158 cubic inch) version of the 2.0 litre (122 cubic inch) DOHC V8 used in the 33 Stradale (a road-going version of the Tipo 33 race car, 18 of which were produced 1967-1969).  It was one of the last of the "small" V8s used in road cars during the post-war years, a breed which included the flathead Ford (2.2, 2.4 & 2.5 litre (also used by Simca and in production (off and on) between 1935-1969), the Fiat 8V (1996 cm³, 1952-1954), the Daimler V8 (2548 cm³, 1959-1969), the Glas 2600 (2580 cm³, 1969-1967), the Lamborghini Urraco (2463 cm³, 1972-1976 & 1995 cm³, 1974-1977) and the Ferrari 208 (1991 cm³, 1975-1981).  Compared with these jewel-like power-plants, the contemporary 3.0 litre V8s (the Ferrari 308 and the sonorous but flawed Triumph Stag) were almost “big”.

The Montreal V8 was fuel-injected and used a dry-sump, both then still rarities in road cars and, reflecting the race-car origins, was configured with a cross-plane crankshaft.

Visually, the mass-produced (it’s a relative term) touring berlinetta appeared little different from what had wowed the crowds in 1967 but placed side-by side, the differences are obvious and it was offered in some vibrant colors (which were very 1970s) including metallic gold, Verde Termico green, Marrone Luci Di Bosco brown beige and the famous lobster orange with which the car became associated because it was used for many of the cars provided to the press for testing.  However, exquisite though it was, commercially it was a failure.  Although displayed at Geneva International Motor Show in March 1970, the first deliveries weren’t made until 1972 and ironically it couldn’t be purchased in Montreal or anywhere else in North America because it proved impossible to tame what was a detuned race-car engine to the point where it would comply with the new US emissions regulations, then the most onerous on the planet.  The loss of the US market really doomed the Montreal which was a shame because it offered performance which was competitive with Ferrari’s Dino 246 and all but the most potent Porsche 911s, its traditional layout meaning it was an easier car for inexpert drivers to handle, even if the absolute limits of adhesion didn’t match those two.  So, despite the innovative design and advanced engineering, the Montreal became a footnote among the exotic machines of the era and it wasn’t helped by high production costs and the first oil shock coming just as full-scale production had been achieved.  Between 1970-1977, only 3925 were made but they now have a dedicated following among collectors and those for whom an Alfa Romeo’s special charms means many flaws & foibles (and there are a few) are forgiven.

Vantage

Vantage (pronounced van-tij or vahn-tij)

(1) A position, condition, or place affording some advantage or a commanding view, expressed usually as "vantage point".

(2) An advantage or superiority (almost obsolete except when used by Aston-Martin).

(3) In lawn tennis, short for advantage, a "vantage game" the first game played after the set is deuce (40-40) (now thought rare as deliberate use but "advantage" is often heard that way although some umpires may well prefer the clipping).

1250-1300: From the Middle English, from the Anglo-French, by apheresis from the Old French avantage (advantage or profit).  The English advantage was from the early fourteenth century Middle English avantage & avauntage (position of being in advance of another), from the twelfth century Old French avantage (advantage, profit; superiority), from avant (before), either via an unrecorded Late or Medieval Latin abantaticum or from the Latin abante (in front; before), from the primitive Indo-European root ant (front, forehead).  The spelling with a "d" was one of those mistakes which endured to become "correct English", the “a-”, being supposed to be from the Latin ad-(from the preposition ad (to, towards), from the Proto-Italic ad, from the primitive Indo-European héd (near, at).  The meaning “any condition favorable to success, a favoring circumstance” (ie the opposite of “a disadvantage”) emerged in the late fifteenth century while the use in the scoring in tennis is documented from the 1640s.  The familiar modern phrase take advantage of was in used by the late fourteenth century in the sense of (“avail oneself of” & “impose oneself upon” while the meaning “to have the advantage of (someone) (ie have superiority over) dates from the 1560s.  The phrase "vantage point" was first noted in 1865, a variation of the earlier "vantage ground" which was in military & hunting use by the early seventeenth century.  The early English alternative vauntage, soon faded from use and the derived forms, vantages (third-person singular simple present) vantaging (present participle) and vantaged (simple past and past participle) are now wholly obsolete. Vantahe is a noun & verb; the noun plural is vantages.

The phrase “coigne of vantage” (a good position for observation, judgment, criticism, action etc) was from Act 1, Scene 6 in William Shakespeare’s (1564–1616) Macbeth (circa 1605) in which King Duncan and his cohort ride up to Macbeth's castle.

DUNCAN

This castle hath a pleasant seat. The air
Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself
Unto our gentle senses.

BANQUO

This guest of summer,
The temple-haunting martlet, does approve,
By his loved mansionry, that the heaven’s breath
Smells wooingly here. No jutty, frieze,
Buttress, nor coign of vantage, but this bird
Hath made his pendant bed and procreant cradle.
Where they most breed and haunt, I have observed,
The air is delicate.

Coigne was a variant of quoin, from coin and has been used variously to mean (1) a projecting corner or angle; a cornerstone, (2) the keystone of an arch, (3) a wedge used in typesetting, (4) in crystallography, a corner of a crystal formed by the intersection of three or more faces at a point and (5) in geology, an original angular elevation of land around which continental growth has taken place.

Vantage points: Traditionally, the best way to secure a vantage point is to seek a degree of elevation to achieve the desired "line of sight" (Lindsay Lohan (photo shoot for Vogue (Spanish edition) August 2009, left) but the functionality of just about any spot can usually be enhanced by the use of a telescope, binoculars, opera glasses of any appropriate form of magnification (Kim Jong-un (Kim III, b 1982; Supreme Leader of DPRK (North Korea) since 2011, right).

DB2 Vantage DHC

The word Vantage was first used by Aston Martin in 1950 on the DB2.  The title indicated an uprated engine specification: a pair of larger carburetors and a higher compression ratio which added 20bhp to the standard DB2’s 105.  Almost 250 were built with both saloon (AM’s term for a two door coupé) and drophead coupé (DHC, the term then often used by English manufacturers to refer to "formal convertibles (which some call cabriolets)" (as opposed to the more performance-oriented roadsters)) coachwork.

DB4 Vantage Saloon

Strangely, although the Vantage moniker caught on with aficionados, it wouldn’t be again used by the factory for almost a decade.  The DB4 Vantage was released with the Series IV cars in 1961, now with triple carburetors and a higher compression ratio, the cylinder head was also revised with bigger valves, the package yielding 266bhp, some ten per cent more than a standard DB4.  The Vantage this time was visibly distinct as well as technically upgraded, gaining the faired-in headlights and bright aluminum trim from the earlier DB4 GT.

DB5 Vantage Saloon

While mechanically almost identical to the Series IV, the more spacious Series V Vantage of 1962, the last in the DB4 line, was stylistically different, being essentially a prototype for the upcoming DB5.  The two are virtually indistinguishable; indeed one Series V DB4 Vantage was used alongside a DB5 in the filming of the James Bond film Goldfinger (1964).  Of the 141 built, the rarest and most desirable were the half-dozen with the optional DB4 GT engine.

DB5 Vantage DHC

The Vantage option remained on the books when the DB5 was released in 1965.  Now with triple Weber carburetors, the factory rated the Vantage at 325bhp, a jump of 40 over the standard engine and only 68 of the 887 saloons were built to the Vantage specification.  More rare still was the DB5 Vantage convertible, a mere eight of the 123 built although, over the decades, a great many of both have be upgraded to the Vantage standard.

DB6 Vantage Saloon

Introduced in 1965 and made in two series, the now Kham-tailed DB6 remained in production until 1970.  The DB6 Vantage was mechanically identical to its predecessor but there were detail changes.  Retained was the Vantage badge introduced with the DB5, but the nomenclature was now added as a discreet script on the side strakes and much attention was devoted to improving passenger comfort.  At this point, while coupés continued to be labelled saloons, convertibles were now styled Volantes (a derivation of the Italian word for "flying").  Spread between two series, out of a total DB6 production of 1739, 405 Saloons and 42 Vantage Volantes were built.

DBS Vantage Saloon

By the mid 1960s, the market in which Aston Martin competed, although larger, was more contested than even a decade earlier.  As early as 1961, Jaguar’s E-Type had, at a fraction of the cost, matched the DBs in style and performance, if not quality and their V12 project was known to be well-advanced.  The Italian thoroughbreds, Ferrari, Maserati and Lamboghini, all with eight and twelve cylinder engines, were setting new standards and there was now an array of trans-Atlantic hybrids which combined exquisite European coachwork with cheap, effortless and reliableAmerican V8 power.  Aston Martin’s six cylinder engine, Vantage tweaked or not, was starting to look technologically bankrupt.  Accordingly, the factory developed both a new car, the DBS, and their own V8.  For a variety of reasons, the V8 wasn’t ready by the time the DBS, a typical Aston Martin mix of traditional and modern, was released in 1967 so the familiar six, again available in Standard or Vantage form was carried over from the DB6 although, to counter increased weight, the Vantage version boasted revised camshafts.

Vantage Saloon

The DBS and DB6 were produced in parallel until 1970, the last few DB6s built after the DBS V8’s release the previous year.  The last of the six cylinder DBSs came in a run of seventy named simply Vantage, all with the revised twin-headlight coachwork introduced in 1972 which would serve the line essentially unchanged until 1989.  Historically, the final seventy were then a unique anomaly, the first time a Vantage was not the most but the company's least potent offering.  After the last was built in 1973, there would not for twenty years be another six-cylinder Aston Martin.

V8 Vantage Volante

That historical quirk was certainly rectified after the Vantage’s half-decade hiatus, during which the first oil crisis of the early 1970s had transformed the market.  Most of the trans-Atlantic hybrids had been driven extinct, Jaguar had moved in a different direction, Mercedes-Benz had chosen not to compete, Lamborghini, Aston Martin and Maserati all had their own brushes with bankruptcy, Porsche were moving up-market to become a competitor and governments were imposing more and more regulations.  The 1977 Aston Martin Vantage took a different approach to the mid-engined Italian or turbo-charged German opposition.  Although there was much attention to aerodynamics and chassis dynamics, mostly it was about simple brute force, the additional power over the standard V8 gained by the traditional methods used in Vantages past and it proved effective, able to run with the Lamborghini Countach, the Ferrari BB and even the Porsche 911 Turbo of the time.  This time, the factory didn’t release a claimed power output, describing it instead as “adequate”.  Introduced in 1969, by the time production ended in 1989, the V8 range was regarded as "a glorious anachronism".

V8 Vantage Zagato Saloon

The Vantage, as both saloon and volante, remained in production until 1989 and served as the basis of the shorter, radical, and very rare, V8 Vantage Zagato coupé & convertible (presumably in deference to the Italian contribution, the tags "saloon" & "volante" were never used).  Zagato's coachwork during the 1950s had been sometimes quirky (the double-bubble roof a signature) but they tended to the orthodoxy of the era, exemplified by the DB4 GT Zagato coupé, twenty of which were built between 1960-1963.  As the century unfolded however, Zagato's lines became increasingly rectilinear and "interestingly unique" were sometimes described as "not conventionally beautiful" and the Vantage Zagato (1986-1990) was one of the less confronting.  Still, Zatago survives to this day while many European coachbuilders did not and the business has been in continuous operation since 1919, some half-dozen years after the formation of Aston Martin.

Virage Vantage V550 Saloon

High-priced brute force remained a gap in the market and Aston Martin continued its commitment with a Virage-based supercharged Vantage in 1993 which, by 1998, was running twin superchargers, its 600bhp making it then the most powerful production powerplant in the world, making the Vantage capable of close to 200 mph (320 km/h) and for those who wanted even more power there was a run of forty V8 Vantage Le Mans" versions, built to mark the fortieth anniversary of the victory in the 24 hour endurance classic of Carroll Shelby (1923–2012) & Roy Salvadori (1922–2012) in an Aston Martin DBR1/300; Shelby would go on to found Shelby American and produce the AC Cobra, the mid century's benchmark in brute force.  Virage production ended in 2000 and for a platform which started life in 1969 it endured remarkably well.  By the year 2000, some of the competition were objectively "better cars" but there was nothing else like the big Aston Martins left and its retirement was regretted by many.

DB7 Vantage Saloon

The DB7, first shown at the now defunct Geneva Motor Show in 1993, was the first six-cylinder Aston Martin in twenty years.  It was conservatively styled but the lines were greeted with acclaim and it proved an immediate success.  In 1999, a Vantage version was released and with the company now under the Ford corporate umbrella, it used a 5.9 litre (362 cubic inch) V12 engine developed in co-operation with Cosworth Technology.  It was the first time a Vantage wasn’t a development of the standard engine, the straight six in the DB7 being a different configuration and remarkably, by historic standards, the DB7 Vantage verged on mass-production: over four-thousand built were built over a four and a half year run which ended in 2003.

VH V8 Vantage Coupé

Ford were pleased by the sales and in 2003, again at the Geneva Motor Show, unveiled on the VH platform the AMV8 Vantage Concept, so well-received the order books were bulging by the time the production version was released in 2005.  It proved to be the most successful car in Aston Martin’s history and this time it really was mass-produced, necessitating construction of a second production line; eventually more than fifteen thousand would leave the factory.  Less brute force than before, the new V8 Vantage relied on technology to exceed the performance of most of its predecessors.  For those attracted by more performance or more exclusivity, in 2009, Aston Martin unveiled the V12 Vantage, weighing little more than its V8 sibling but boasting an additional hundred-odd horsepower and able to reach 190 mph (305 km/h).  In 2012, the V12 Vantage Zagato was added to the books.

V12 Vantage S

However, after the GFC (Global Financial Crisis), the expansion of the money supply (essentially governments giving cash to the rich) at the upper end of the market meant there was increasing taste for conspicuous consumption.  Like other manufacturers anxious to meet demand with supply, Aston Martin responded with a bespoke programme, offering degrees of customisation to the point of one-off creations but also, new product lines, hence the 2013 V12 Vantage S.  It joined the new generation of machines now able routinely to attain the 200mph (320 km/h) speeds first promised by the Italians in the early 1970s but not realised because of the means available at the time to defeat the formidable opposition of physics.  At a tested 205mph (330 km/h), the terminal velocity of the V12 Vantage S made it the fastest Aston Martin ever and, in a nicely nostalgic touch, in 2016, even a manual gearbox was offered.

Vantage Roadster

The times were changing and there was an end-of-an-era feel when the new Vantage was released in 2018.  Fitted with a Mercedes-Benz-AMG four litre V8 (with fuel consumption and emissions generation numbers which even half a decade earlier would have been thought unfeasibly low), it didn't quite match the top-end performance of the V12 but was judged by reviewers to be a more practical day-to-day proposition to own while being less environmentally thuggish.  There was some regret that things were not quite the way things used to be done but to the surprise of many, the factory late in 2021 announced there would be one, last V12 Vantage and it was released the following March, 333 of the 700 horsepower machines produced, a convertible version announced some months later in a run limited to 249.  For 2024 and beyond, the 4.0 litre V8 Vantage will continue and advances in electronics and aerodynamics now guarantee each will top 200 mph.  The commendable reductions in emissions notwithstanding, Aston Martin will not have been struck from any of Greta Thunberg’s (b 2003) lists so those who can are advised to enjoy a V8 or V12 Vantage while they can.

Aston Martin Vantage Production Numbers

DB2 Vantage: 248 saloon and DHC

DB4 Vantage: 135 (plus 6 DB4 GT Vantages)

DB5 Vantage: 68 saloon (plus 8 DHCs)

DB6 Vantage: 335 saloon (plus 29 Volantes)

DB6 Vantage MkII: 70 saloon (plus 13 Volantes)

DBS Vantage:290 saloons

Vantage 70 saloons

V8 Vantage: 372 saloon (plus 194 Volantes)

V8 Vantage Zagato: 52 coupés (plus 37 convertibles)

Vantage/V8 Vantage: 273 saloon (plus 40 specials)

DB7 V12 Vantage: 2,086 coupe (plus 2,056 Volantes)

V8 Vantage (VH): 15,458 coupe (plus 6,231 Roadsters)

V12 Vantage: 2,957 (all types including V12 Vantage S)

V12 Vantage (2021-2022) (333 coupés plus 249 convertibles)

Guidance

Guidance (pronounced gahyd-ns)

(1) The act or function of guiding; leadership; direction.

(2) When used as a modifier (marriage guidance et al), advice or counseling (that provided for students choosing a course of study or preparing for a vocation; that given to couples with “marriage problems” etc).

(3) Supervised care or assistance, especially therapeutic help in the treatment of minor emotional disturbances, use prevalent in the management of “troubled youth”.

(4) Something that guides (used of both hardware & software).

(5) The process by which the flight of a missile or rocket may be altered in speed and direction in response to controls situated either wholly in the projectile or partly at the point of launch (ground, air, sea or space-based).

(6) The general term for the part of the publishing industry devoted to “self-help” titles.

1765–1775: The construct was guide + -ance.  Guide dates from the mid-fourteenth century and was from the Middle English guide (to lead, direct, conduct), from the Old French verb guider (to lead; to conduct (guide the noun), from the Old Occitan guida, from the earlier guier & guidar, from the Frankish wītan (to show the way, lead), from the Proto-Germanic wītaną & witanan (to see, know; go, depart (also “to look after, guard, ascribe to, reproach”)), from the primitive Indo-European weyd or weid (to see, know).  It was cognate with the Old English wītan (to see, take heed to, watch after, guard, to keep) and related to the Modern English wit.  The Proto-Germanic was the source also of the German weisen (to show, point out) and the Old English witan (to reproach) & wite (fine, penalty).  The development in French was influenced both by the Old Provençal noun guidar (guide, leader) and the Italian guidare, both from the same source.  The suffix -ance was an alternative form of -ence, both added to an adjective or verb to form a noun indicating a state or condition, such as result or capacity, associated with the verb (many words ending in -ance were formed in French or by alteration of a noun or adjective ending in –ant).  The suffix -ance was from the Middle English -aunce & -ance, from the Anglo-Norman -aunce and the continental Old French -ance, from the Latin -antia & -entia.  The –ence suffix was a word-forming element attached to verbs to form abstract nouns of process or fact (convergence from converge), or of state or quality and was from the Middle English -ence, from the Old French -ence, from the Latin –entia & -antia (depending on the vowel in the stem word).  The Latin present-participle endings for verbs stems in -a- were distinguished from those in -i- and -e- and as the Old French evolved from Latin, these were leveled to -ance, but later French borrowings from Latin (some of them subsequently passed to English) used the appropriate Latin form of the ending, as did words borrowed by English directly from Latin, thus diligence, absence et al.  There was however little consistency, English gaining many words from French but from the sixteenth century the suffix –ence was selectively restored, such was the reverence for Latin.  Guidance is a noun; the noun plural is guidances.

Lindsay Lohan's latter-day Cady Heron as a High School guidance counsellor.  In November 2023, Karen Smith (Amanda Seyfried (b 1985)), Gretchen Wieners (Lacey Chabert (b 1982)) & Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan (b 1986)) were re-united for a presumably lucrative commercial for Walmart's upcoming Black Friday sale.  Constructed as a Mean Girls (2004) spoof and replete with references & allusions, Lindsay Lohan's now grown up Cady Heron appeared as North Shore High School's guidance counsellor, a self-explanatory joke.

The use of the word in jargon divides essentially into two classes, technical & descriptive.  Technical use includes the form “autoguidance” (the construct being auto(matic) + guidance) which is a general term describing the mechanical or electronic devices used to provide a machine with the ability autonomously to move without relying on external directional inputs.  Autoguidance systems date back decades and originally relied on the interaction of stuff like gyroscopes, accelerometers & altimeters (then known as “inertial guidance”) but became more integrated as electronics became smaller and improved in capacity & durability.  The most publicized use was in “guided missiles”, a term which entered general use in the 1950s (although it first appeared in British documents in 1944 in the sense of “a projectile capable of altering course in flight”, distinguishing the German V2 ballistic missile from the V1 (an early (unguided) cruise missile)) and the development of artificial intelligence (AI) has not only refined the technology but actually shifted the paradigm to one in which the machine (in some sense) makes "decisions", a process different from earlier autoguidance systems which were pre-programmed with a defined set of parameters which limited the scope of “decision making” to certain options.  The worrying implication of AI is that it might start making “its own decisions”, not because it has achieved some form of consciousness (in a sense comparable to that possessed by humans) but because the code produces unintended consequences.  When lines of code can be in the millions, not every permutation of events can be tested (although the use of AI should raise the count).  “Teleguidance” came into use to refer to the remote guidance of missiles and torpedoes but later also became a part of “space guidance” (an omnibus term encompassing the guidance operations required to launch a spacecraft into orbit or space, navigate in space and return to Earth or some other place).  Space guidance is especially complex because there can be a lag of minutes or hours between instructions being sent from Earth and received by the craft, thus the need for ground-based transmissions to interact with autoguidance systems.  Specialized forms in engineering include “non-guidance”, “pre-guidance” & “self-guidance”, all of which can be used of hardware components or segments of software within the one guidance system.

Quantum Physics for Dummies by Steven Holzner PhD (1957-2013) sounds like a Pythonesque joke title but it’s real and provides genuinely useful guidance on one of science’s more impenetrable topics.  For most of us, reading it will not mean we will understand quantum physics but it will help us more fully to understand what we don’t know; it is a good self-help book.

The term “e-guidance” is different in that it was just a buzz-phrase (which never really caught on) which referred to guidance given electronically (ie using the internet) and the forms which evolved (teleconferencing, telemedicine) were different again; they referred usually to human-to-human contact via screens rather than in person.  The descriptive uses included the familiar forms such as “guidance counselor”, “marriage guidance” & “guidance industry”, the latter responsible for the dreaded self-help books which although genuinely useful if focused on something specific (eg SpeedPro's highly recommended How to Build & Power Tune Weber & Dellorto DCOE, DCO/SP & DHLA Carburettors), also includes titles like “Getting Closure in Seven Days” or “201 Ways to Feel Better” (even God handed down only 10) et al, the utility of which varied to the extent it’s tempting sometimes to apply the noun “misguidance”.  Misguidance seems not to be used by those whose guidance systems have gone wrong, engineers preferring the punchy “fail” while the management-speak crew came up with “unplanned event”.

Guidance “books”, in one form or another can be traced back thousands of years and while there is evidence multiplication algorithms existed in Egypt (circa 1700-2000 BC) a handful of Babylonian clay tablets dating from circa 1800-1600 BC are the oldest guidance documents yet found, containing not solutions to specific issues but a collection of general procedures for solving whole classes of problems.  Translators consider them best understood as an early form of instruction manual and one tablet was found to include “This is the procedure”, a phrase familiar in many modern publications.  “Guidance” seems to have appeared in book titles in the 1610s.  In 2016, Lindsay Lohan threatened the world with a self-help book offering guidance on living one’s life.  It’s not clear if the project remains in preparation but hopefully a book will one day emerge.

Kim Jong-un & Kim Ju-ae with entourage (pencils poised) on an official visit to a Pyongyang greenhouse farm.

On Saturday 16 March, the DPRK’s (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea)) state media department issued a statement, referring to Kim Jong-un’s (Kim III, b 1982; Supreme Leader of DPRK since 2011) daughter as “great person of guidance”, a term Pyongyangologists swiftly noted was reserved usually for senior leaders, the implication being a programme was in place preparing her status as a potential successor, thus one day becoming Kim IV.  The analysts said it was significant the statement was issued in both English and Korean-language versions of the official Korean Central News Agency report on the visit by the Supreme Leader and his daughter (within the family presumably now thought the "Supreme Daughter") visit to a greenhouse farm.  Attaching great importance to the use of the plural form of the honorific (the unavoidable suggestion being it applied to both), the analysts noted the crucial sentence:

“The great persons of guidance, together with cadres of the Party, the government and the military went round the farm.”

The existence of the Supreme Daughter has for some time been known although the official details are scant, her age or name never mentioned by state media but according to South Korean’s military intelligence service, her name is Kim Ju Ae and she is now aged thirteen.

Official DPRK Central News Agency photograph: Ri Sol-ju (b circa 1987; wife of Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un) (left), Kim Ju-ae (b circa 2011; daughter of Kim Jong-un) (centre) and Kim Jong-un (Kim III, b 1982; Supreme Leader of DPRK (North Korea) since 2011) (right), undisclosed location, February 2023.

The Kim regime, which will have the same sensitivity to domestic public opinion as any authoritarian or despotic operation (an often under-estimated political dynamic in such systems) and it would seem the groundwork for a possible succession has been in preparation for some time.  The appearance in 2023 of Kim Ju-ae at a banquet and subsequent parade commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Korean People's Army (KPA) attracted interest and even then the DPRK-watchers thought it might be a signal she had been anointed as Kim IV to succeed the Supreme Leader when he dies (God forbid).  That was actually her second public appearance, the first in 2022 when she accompanied her father inspecting some of his nuclear missiles, the big rockets long a family interest.  Fashionistas were on that occasion most impressed by the presumptive Kim IV in 2022 because she was dressed in black white & red, matching the color scheme the DPRK uses on its intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM); everyone thought that a nice touch.  In honor of the occasion, the DPRK issued a range of ICBM-themed postage stamps featuring the daughter.

Daddy-Daughter day with ICBMs: DPRK postage stamp issue featuring ICBMs, the Supreme Leader & his daughter, Kim Ju-ae.  Like most eleven year old girls, Kim Ju-ae seemed much taken by the beauty of nuclear weapons.

However, the publicity attached to the Kim’s visit to the farm was believed to be the “first expression of elevating Kim Ju Ae to the ranks” of the leadership according to a statement from Seoul’s University of North Korean Studies (UNKS) in Seoul, something confirmed by the Sejong Institute’s Center for Korean Peninsula Strategy (CKPS) which noted the North Korean term hyangdo (guidance) was typically only reserved for “top leaders or successors.”  Attributing meaning to actions in the DPRK seems sometimes more art than science and the record is patchy but the CKPS observed “this level of personal worship for Kim Ju Ae strongly suggests that she will succeed Kim Jong Un as the next leader of North Korea" and it certainly follows the pattern of behavior adopted in the run-up to Kim Jong-il (Kim II, 1941-2011; Dear Leader of DPRK 1994-2011) inheriting the country in 2011 after the death of Kim Il-sung (Kim I, 1912–1994; Great Leader of DPRK 1948-1994).  Notably, the lesson of the political uncertainty after the unexpected early death of the Dear Leader may have been learned and the mistake of not having prepared international & domestic opinion for the reign of the Supreme Leader will not be repeated.  In this, the public appearances and use of “great person of guidance” can be thought of as the early building blocks of the Stalinist personality cult used to reinforce and perpetuate the rule of the Kims since the 1950s.  Since her debut, Kim Ju Ae has appeared at a number of her father's official engagements which have included a visit to a poultry farm, military drills & parades and a tour of a weapons factory.  All this is taken as solid evidence Kim Ju Ae is the preferred successor and she can be thought of as something like a “crown prince” or “crown princess”; the heir to the throne.  It has never been confirmed is the new Supreme Daughter is the oldest or even an only child because the rumors of one or more sons have never been confirmed although the reports persist, including that the health of the possible son is not good.  By contrast, the official photographs seem to suggest Kim Ju Ae is in rude good health and although reports of food shortages in the DPRK appear frequently, she certainly looks well.

The Dear Leader (left), the Supreme Leader (centre) and the Supreme Daughter (right), looking at things through binoculars.  Dating from the time of the Great Leader, looking at things through binoculars is a family tradition and there have been websites devoted to the subject. 

Of course, while deconstructing phrases from Pyongyang is an exercise both abstract and remote for the DPRK-watchers, for the people of North Korea who have enjoyed some 75 years of guidance from the Great Leader, the Dear Leader and the Supreme Leader, the prospect of decades more of the same from the Supreme Daughter will be of more immediate interest.  Public opinion in the DPRK is difficult to assess (although The Economist did publish an interview with the Dear Leader in which he admitted genuine support for the regime was likely little more than 25%) but it shouldn’t be assumed the folk there are not sophisticated consumers of political information and as the despairing staff of old Barry Goldwater (1909–1998) used to beg the press, they may be more focused on “what he means, not what he says.”

The second of the DPRK Central News Agency's photographs recording the visit to the greenhouse farm.  Fashionistas will be interested to learn the wearing of leather is a more recent family thing, started by the Supreme Leader who reportedly has banned his subjects from donning black leather, the echo of a number of royal households who centuries ago imposed a proscription on commoners using the color purple which was reserved for royalty.  Of course, the sartorial choice may be something purely pragmatic, black garments known to be "most slimming" and whether the ban has been extended to the Supreme Daughter's fetching chocolate brown has been neither confirmed nor denied.  The notebooks carried by civilian & military members of the entourage are both compulsory & essential: if the Supreme Leader says something interesting, they write it down and presumably, should the Supreme Daughter say something interesting, that too will be noted although experienced stenographers develop techniques to limit the workload.  Those employed at World War II (1939-1945) Führerhauptquartiere (Führer Headquarters) admitted they never bothered writing down the first thing said by the famously sycophantic Wilhelm Keitel (1882–1946; Nazi field marshal & head of Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW), the armed forces high command) because it was always the last thing said by Adolf Hitler (1889-1945; Führer (leader) and German head of government 1933-1945 & head of state 1934-1945).