Heresy

Heresy (pronounced her-uh-see)

(1) Opinion or doctrine at variance with the orthodox or accepted doctrine, especially of a church or religious system.

(2) The maintaining of such an opinion or doctrine.

(3) In Roman Catholic canon law, the wilful and persistent rejection of any article of faith by a baptized member of the church.

(4) Dissent, iconoclasm, dissension.

1175–1225: From Middle English heresie from Old French heresie and Late Latin haeresis (school of thought, philosophical sect) derived from the Greek haíresis (act of choosing, derivative of haireîn (to choose)).  Source of the Greek was haireisthai (take, seize), middle voice of hairein (to choose) of unknown origin but likely derived from the primitive ser (to seize), thought also to be the root of both the Hittite šaru and the Welsh herw, both best translated as “booty".  The modern meaning emerged from the use by early Christian writers who used the literal translation from the Latin (sect or doctrine) to convey their disapproval of unorthodox thoughts or ideas.  The Greek word was used in the New Testament in reference to the Sadducees, Pharisees, and even the Christians, as sects of Judaism, but in English bibles it usually is translated as sect.   The meaning "religious belief opposed to the orthodox doctrines of the Church" evolved in Late Latin and was adopted for non-religious use as early as the late fourteenth century.

The Church of England Rejects Heresy Courts Proposal

Lindsay Lohan offering salvation to a heretic, (Machete (2010)).  The revolver is a Smith & Wesson Model 500 (8.38" barrel; .50 Magnum load)

In mid-1999, in a rare moment of clarity, the Church of England flirted, after a gap of one-hundred and fifty years, with the re-introduction of heresy trials to deal with clergy accused of deviation in matters of doctrine or ritual.  The last heresy trial was in 1847, when the Bishop of Exeter (Henry Phillpotts (1778–1869; Anglican Bishop of Exeter 1830-1869) accused the Reverend George Cornelius Gorham (1787–1857) of being unsound on the doctrine of "baptismal regeneration", Mr Gorham not agreeing a person was cleansed of original sin at baptism and born again into Christ.  Although the Court of Arches agreed with the bishop, on appeal, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council overturned the ruling which caused a (very Anglican) controversy about whether a secular court should be able to rule on matters of doctrine (as opposed to law or procedure).  Since then clergy and bishops have been (more or less) free to deviate from doctrine without punishment and the Right Reverend David Jenkins (1925-2016), a former Bishop of Durham (1984-1994), famously raised a few eyebrows when he discussed his heterodoxic view on the virgin birth and bodily resurrection of Christ.  The new disciplinary procedure for clergy was to include offences against "doctrine, ritual and the ceremonial" because those who profess atheism or deny the doctrine of the Trinity or the Incarnation “should be disciplined”.

Heretic crooked Hillary Clinton being burned at the stake (digitally altered image).

Although not as well known as other inquisitions, in England, in the sixteenth century Reformation during the reign of Henry VIII (1491–1547; King of England (and Ireland after 1541) 1509-1547), about 60 heretics were executed.  Heresy laws were repealed in 1547, but reintroduced in 1554 by Mary I (1516–1558; Queen of England and Ireland 1553-1558 & Queen of Spain 1556-1558), under whom about 290 heretics were burned at the stake after the restoration of papal jurisdiction.  Executions of some 180 religious opponents continued under Elizabeth I (1533–1603; Queen of England & Ireland 1558-1603) but on grounds of treason rather than heresy although the offence remained on the books.  To the condemned, it must have seemed a tiresome technical distinction.  The last execution of a "heretic" in England occurred in 1612 although technically that was for the offence of blasphemy.  Puritanical, if not quite to the end but certainly for as long as they could, there was one later execution in Scotland in 1697 when Thomas Aikenhead (circa 1676-1697) was accused, inter alia, of denying the doctrine of the Trinity.  In a example of Scottish judicial modernization, Mr Aikenhead was hanged rather than burned at the stake although they retained blasphemy as a capital offence until 1825. 

Unfortunately, after mulling over things for half-a–decade, the General Synod of the Church of England rejected the revival of a heresy court and didn’t, even more regrettably, consider bringing back burnings at the stake.  It seems there were fears the court could be used to enforce a traditionalist view, targeting clergy, who for example, support same-sex marriages or gay clergy, both now apparently matters of greater theological importance than a belief in the resurrection.  That does seem strange given it’s the central tenet of Christianity but that’s clearly become view from both the General Synod and Lambeth Palace.  In an address to the synod, displaying his flair for simultaneously changing the subject and answering a different question than the one asked, then Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams (b 1950; Archbishop of Canterbury 2002-2012), said it was important for the church “…to be able to speak out against issues like Apartheid.  The question I think we ought to be asking is whether this does or does not serve the integrity or credibility of the church in the long run.  I believe that such a measure can serve the integrity and credibility of the church if we do indeed step back in this way.  It is over twenty years since the World Alliance of Reform Churches declared that the theological justification for Apartheid was a heresy.  It would be, I think a very incredible and inadequate Christian church which did not have the resource to say something like that.”

Pope Benedict XVI (1927–2022; pope 2005-2013, pope emeritus 2013-2022) and Cardinal George Pell (1941-2023) discuss the fate of heretics.

Mezzanine

Mezzanine (pronounced mez-uh-neen)

(1) In architecture, a low story between two other stories of greater height in a building, especially when the low story and the one beneath it form part of one composition; an entresol (in general use referred to as “mezzanine” or “mezzanine floor”, most historically between the ground and first levels because so many were added to take advantage of the high ceilings often found in these voids.  A mezzanine is an intermediate floor (occasionally called a “sub-storey” or “demi-storey”) which does not extend over the whole floor-space below and can thus be visualized a kind of (usually large) large balcony overlooking the floor below; many were atop “grand” staircases which were often the focal point of ground floors.

(2) By extension (and used loosely), an apartment, room, restaurant etc on such an intermediate floor.

(3) In theatre (and other performance spaces) design, the lowest balcony or forward part of such a balcony (North American use and known sometimes as the “dress circle”), the seats there usually sold either at a premium or a discount against the “orchestra” seats depending on the structure.

(4) In theatre design, a space under the stage, from which contrivances such as traps are worked (obsolete).

(5) In financial markets, an intermediate stage in a financial process, known variously as “mezzanine funding”, “mezzanine capital”, or “mezzanine debt” (“mezz” the shorthand of traders).

(6) In interior design, an additional layer of flooring, laid over a floor either to raise the height, conceal imperfections or afford protection from water penetration (the latter common in server rooms & farms).

(7) As “mezzanine window”, a a small window at the height of a mezzanine floor or an attic.

(8) In computer hardware, as mezzanine board, the gender-neutral replacement term for the earlier daughter boards (which plugged into motherboards (now the gender neutral system board)

(9) In figurative use, any intermediate or ancillary stage or device (rare except in engineering (engineering) where it’s used to describe things fulfilling an intermediate or secondary function.  Curiously, software engineers & coders seem not to use the term, possibly to avoid confusion with the hardware devices.

1705–1715: From the French mezzanine & its etymon the Italian mezzanino (a low story between two higher ones in a building), from mezzano (middle (adjective) & go-between (noun)) the construct being mezzan(o) (in either sense of “middle”), from the Latin mediānus (median; of the middle) + -ino (the diminutive suffix).  Mezzano was from the Latin adjective mediānus (central, middle), from medius (mid, middle), ultimately from a construct of the primitive Indo-European root médyos or médhyo (middle)) + -ānus (the suffix meaning “of or pertaining to”).  The word was almost exclusive to architects before the early twentieth century when it came to be used on New York’s Broadway to mean “lowest balcony in a theater”, presumably because the use of something so Italianesque might justify charging a premium for the ticket.  The Italian mediānus was an element also in words like mediator (an agent who interposes between two parties), medium (that size between big & small) and medieval (a creation of Modern English from the New Latin medium aevum (the middle age, thus pertaining to or suggestive of the Middle Ages), the construct being medi(ānus) (the middle) + aev(um) (age) + -al (the Latin adjectival suffix appended to various words (often nouns) to make an adjective).  Mezzanine is a noun & adjective and mezzanining & mezzanined are verbs; the noun plural is mezzanines.  Because mezzanine was a particular specification in architecture, historically, adjectives like mezzaninesque or mezzaninish would have been absurd but given the fertile imaginations of those engineering new financial products, they may yet come into vogue.

417 & 419 Venice Way, Venice Beach, Los Angeles, California where, during 2011, Lindsay Lohan lived (in 419 (right)).  This style of construction is sometimes called a “pigeon pair” but these two are only "semi-mirrored" because there are detail differences in the architecture.  Next door (417) lived Ms Lohan's former special friend Samantha Ronson.  Each four bedroom (3½ bathrooms) house included a floating stairway leading to a mezzanine which the property’s agent described as “ideal for a studio or office”.

419 Venice Way: Ground level showing the floating staircase to the mezzanine (left) and the mezzanine (right).

In casual use, many refer to smaller mezzanines as balconies but architects note the latter tend to be installed on a building’s exterior while a mezzanine is inherently an indoor feature.  While the motifs of ether can be used either inside or out, by convention the indoor/outdoor convention of use dictates the choice of nomenclature.  A mezzanine is an intermediate level which is built with a partial floor which doesn’t fully cover the floor and historically many were added between the ground and first levels to take advantage of the high ceilings often found in these voids, many featuring the so-called “grand staircases” which were often the focal point of ground floors.  By contrast, a balcony is an elevated platform typically attached to the upper exterior of a building to provide a space onto which people may sit or stand for a variety of purposes.

Lobby (foyer) of Stamford Plaza Brisbane, Queensland, Australia with the “grand staircase” leading to the mezzanine.  Wedding photographers are especially fond of big staircases because they provide the ideal base for the train of a bride’s dress to fall in a photogenic way.

Penta Mezzanine’s conceptual diagram of mezzanine financing.

The idea of mezzanine financing emerged in the US early in the twentieth century and is a highly variable mechanism involving a hybrid mix of debt and equity, the use of mezzanine in this context reflecting its “middle or intermediate” position between senior debt and equity in the corporate structures.  Mezzanine was a niche in US capital markets until the early post-war years when un-met demand in the gap between conventional (secured) bank loans and equity investment was identified and in the buoyant trans-Atlantic economy of the era it proved ideally suited to the increasingly popular leveraged buyouts (LBOs) and mergers & acquisitions (M&A) because of the flexibility and the acceptance of subordinated forms of capital.  By later standards the use of mezzanine instruments was on a small scale but the techniques developed lad the basis for the boom in corporate financing which flared in the newly deregulated environment of the 1980s and 1990s when the volume LBOs & M&A activity was such that some institutions were able to devote entire divisions to service the market.

Mezzanine financing is now part of financial industry in just about every developed economy and provides a source of capital combines debt and equity, almost always at a higher cost than traditional arrangements so while not regarded as a “last resort” in the way that term in used in banking, the device exists to fill the shortfall (ie the bit “in the middle”) between need and what conventional sources decide is justified by the risk.  Demanding (1) a premium interest rate to provide capital which is subordinated to other debts in the case of liquidation or bankruptcy & (2) taking an equity position are the ways the risk-reward math can be made to work for both parties and mezzanine financing continues to exists because it fulfills a need, thus ensuring there is both supply & demand to sustain the model.

Portico

Portico (pronounced pawr-ti-koh or pohr-ti-koh)

(1) In architecture, a covered (but not enclosed) entrance to a building, the structure consisting of a roof supported by columns or piers, usually attached to the building as a porch.

(2) The Stoic philosophy, named after the public porch on the agora of Athens where Zeno taught (now obscure and used only in the history or teaching of academic philosophy).

1595–1605: An Italian borrowing from the Latin porticus (gate; entrance), the construct being porta + -icus.  Porta is from the primitive Indo-European root per- (to pass through or over), probably as a feminine nominalization of pr-tó- (passed through; crossed) and related to the Ancient Greek πόρος (póros) (means of passage).  The –icus suffix is from the i-stem + -cus, occurring in some original cases and later used freely.  It was cognate with the Ancient Greek -ικός (-ikós), the Proto-Germanic –igaz, the Old High German and Old English -ig, the Gothic -𐌴𐌹𐌲𐍃 (-eigs) and the Proto-Slavic –ьcь.  The Slavic form fossilized into a nominal agent suffix, but probably originally also served adjectival functions.  The Latin porticus was a doublet of porche and both plural forms, porticoes & porticos, are acceptable.

Portico at front entrance of the Port Office building, Edward Street, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The architect was Francis Drummond Greville Stanley (1839—1897) who completed the design between 1875-1877 while appointed Queensland Government Architect.

First widely used as a formalised style in Ancient Greece, a portico is a porch which provides cover over the entrance to a building.  Until recently, historians of architecture insisted on a portico being a structure supported by columns or pillars but without walls, variations of the theme usually called colonnades or ante rooms.  Now, the more general term "porch" seems often extended to what used to be a portico.

Drayton Hall, Charleston, South Carolina.

Drayton Hall, a fine example of Palladian architecture, is thought to have been completed in the early 1750s.  On the west façade, it features an unusual, recessed, double projecting portico, one striking aspect of which is the twinned staircases.  Symmetrically paired staircases leading up to porticos were a common feature in antebellum architecture but it’s rare to see them attached at right angles, the style of the plantation era tending to favour sweeping curves.

Villa Cornaro, Venice.

Drayton Hall’s double-layer portico is said to be the first of its kind in North America and influenced by similar constructions in Italy by Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580) who lent his name to this style.  His Villa Cornaro, a country estate in Piombino Dese, near Venice, he designed in 1551-1552, leaving an interesting discussion of the building in the second volume of I quattro libri dell'architettura (The Four Books on Architecture (1570)).

Lindsay Lohan approaching the portico of the "London house" in Parent Trap (1998).   The house is 23 Egerton Terrace, Knightsbridge London, SW3 although in the film it's labelled Number 7.

Truculent

Truculent (pronounced truhk-yuh-luhnt or troo-kyuh-luhnt)

(1) Defiantly aggressive, sullen, or obstreperous; aggressively hostile; belligerent; fiercely argumentative; eager or quick to argue, fight or start a conflict.

(2) Brutally harsh; vitriolic; scathing,

(4) Savage, fierce (archaic).

1530–1540: From the Middle French, from the Latin truculentus, the construct being truc- (stem of trux (genitive trucis) (fierce; wild; savage; pitiless) + -ulentus (the adjectival suffix (and familiar as the related –ulent).  Although the ultimate source is uncertain, it may be from a suffixed form of the primitive Indo-European root tere- (cross over, pass through; overcome).  Truculent is an adjective, truculence & truculency are nouns and truculently is an adverb

Narcissus Truculent, commonly known as the truculent daffodil.

The original meaning was “cruel or savage” in the specific sense of “barbarous, ferocious, fierce”.  By the early seventeenth century the emphasis on “deadly & destructive” gave way to “defiant, uncompromising, belligerent, inflexible, stubborn, unyielding and eager to argue or start a conflict” and it’s likely the shift happened as the use transferred from descriptions of soldiers to more general discourse; it was thus an elaborated type of figurative use.  The noun truculence dates from 1727 and was from the Latin truculentia (savageness, cruelty), from truculentus.  The earlier noun truculency was in use as early as the 1560s.  The comparative is “more truculent” and the superlative “most truculent”, both forms able to be used either of one or between two or more: “Mr Trump seemed more truculent than usual” & “Mr Trump was at his most truculent” instances of one form and Mr Trump proved more truculent than Mr Romney” the other.  However, despite the labelling habits of some, truculence does not imply motive, merely conduct.  The use of truculent by some implies there’s resentment but there’s no etymological or other historical basis for that; truculence is a way of behaving, not the reason for the behavior.  An imaginative meteorologist might speak of “a truculent hurricane” but there’s no implication the weather system feels mistreated and is thus lashing out; it’s just an especially violent storm.  Nor does “truculent” of necessity imply something violent or raucous and there are many who gain their effectiveness in debate from their “quiet truculence”, a description often used of the English writer PC Wren (1875–1941), the author of Beau Geste (1924).  Wren’s “quiet truculence” was less to do with what was in his books than his unwavering insistence the tales of his life of adventure in the French Foreign Legion were all true, despite the complete absence of any documentary evidence.

Words often used (sometimes too loosely especially given the shifting sense since the seventeenth century) as synonyms include abusive, aggressive, antagonistic, bad-tempered, barbarous, bellicose, browbeating, brutal, bullying, caustic, combative, contentious, contumelious, cowing, cross, defiant, ferocious, fierce, frightening, harsh, hostile, inhuman, inhumane, intimidating, invective, mean, militant, mordacious, mordant, obstreperous, opprobrious, ornery, pugnacious, quarrelsome, rude, savage, scathing, scrappy, scurrilous, sharp, sullen, terrifying, terrorizing, trenchant, violent, vituperative & vituperous.  It may be a comment on the human character there are rather fewer antonyms but they include cooperative, gentle, mild, tame, polite, correct & nice (which has itself quite a history of meanings).

A truculent Lindsay Lohan discussing industrial relations with her assistant.

All things considered, truculent would seem an admirable name for a warship but only twice has the Royal Navy agreed.  HMS Truculent (1916) was a Yarrow Later M-class destroyer which had an unremarkable war record, the highlight of which was a footnote as one of the three destroyers escorting the monitors used in the famous Zeebrugge Raid of 23 April 1918 which was an early-morning attempt to block the Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge by scuttling obsolete ships in the canal entrance and using others packed with explosives to destroy port infrastructure.  Only partially successful, the bloody and audacious raid is remembered for the phrase "Eleven VCs before breakfast", an allusion to the decorations awarded (11 x VCs (Victoria Cross), 21 x DSOs (Distinguished Service Order) and 29 x DSCs (Distinguished Service Crosses)).  The second HMS Truculent (P315) was a T-class submarine, launched in 1942, which sunk nine ships during World War II (1939-1945).  It’s remembered now for lending its name to the “Truculent Light”.  On 12 January 1950, while travelling at night on the surface in the Thames Estuary, she collided with the 643 ton Swedish carrier SS Divina, on passage from Purfleet to Ipswich with a cargo of paraffin and, her hull been severely breached amidships, the submarine sank almost instantly with the loss of 64 men (there were 20 survivors).  As a consequence, regulations were introduced requiring all Royal Navy submarines be fitted with an additional steaming, panoramic white light on the bow.  The “Truculent Lights” ensure that while on the surface, despite being low in the water at in darkness close to invisible, submarines remain visible to other ships.

The wreck of HMS Truculent being salvaged.  All Royal Navy submarines have since “the Truculent Incident” been fitted with a 360^o white navigation light on the bow, known as the “Truculent Light”.

There have been no Truculents launched since but other "aggressive names" have over the centuries been used or proposed including 5 x HMS Vindictive (the last launched in (1918), 6 x HMS Arrogant (1896; a planned aircraft carrier was cancelled in 1945), 1 x HMS HMS Aggressor (1801; a planned aircraft carrier was cancelled in 1945), 1 x HMS Antagonist (a planned submarine cancelled in 1945), 8 x HMS Bruiser class (1947), eight x HMS Savage class  (1942), 1 x HMS Violent (1917) and 7 x HMS Warspite (1991; Warspite scheduled to be the third of the planned Dreadnought-class ballistic missile submarines) and 9 x HMS Terror class (1916).  Anticipating a later truculent spirit however there was, uniquely, an HMS Trump (P333), one of the 53 of the third group of the T class.  She was launched in 1944 and for most of her life was attached to the Australia-based 4th Submarine Squadron (although remaining always on the Royal Navy's list).  HMS Trump was one of her class which remained in service after the war and based in Australia, was re-fitted to provide the enhanced underwater performance needed for the anti-submarine force to counter the growing threat from the Soviet navy.  The last Royal Navy submarine posted to be stationed Australian Waters, she was struck from the active list in 1969 and scrapped in 1971.  HMS Trump notwithstanding, the naming trend in recent decades has been less truculent and it can’t be long before the launching of HMS Diversity, HMS Equity and HMS Inclusion (the three ships of the DEI class which won't be armed but will be heavily armored and very welcoming environments where sailors are encouraged to talk about their feelings).

Threnody

Threnody (pronounced thren-uh-dee)

(1) A poem, speech, or song of lamentation for the dead; a dirge or funeral song.

(2) Any song or poem of lament (now an unfashionable use).

1615–1625: From the Ancient Greek the construct being θρηνῳδία ((thrēn)ōidía), (lamentation) + ᾠδή (-ōid(ḗ)) (song).  The Greek ōidḗ was ultimately from the primitive Indo-European root hweyd- (to sing) and was the source also of “ode”, “tragedy”, “comedy”, “parody”, “melody” & “rhapsody”.  The Greek θρῆνος (thrênos) (wailing) is often translated as “dirge”, the distinction perhaps of technical value to anthropologists of music.  The form in the New Latin was thrēnōdia.  The (rare) alternative spelling was threnedy and the commonly used synonyms included dirge, coronach, lament & elegy.  Threnody & threnodist are nouns, threnodial & threnodic are adjectives and threnodially is an adverb; the noun plural is threnodies.

Although in the modern era music migrates effortless and instantly from one place to another, historically musical forms varied greatly between cultures but it seems songs of lament or other compositions used at funerals or in memory of the dead must have been close to a universal feature of all societies.  Of course not all used the same musical devices to denote mournfulness or summon the mood of sadness but it seems in some way to have been an essential part of the ritual.  Even in those cultures where the mood was less one of sadness and more a marking of a transition from one world to the next, some music was a part of the process.  The Greek-derived word "threnody" spread to a number of European languages and in some cases their colonial empires including the Bulgarian погреба́лна пе́сен (pogrebálna pésen), the Finnish surulaulu, the German Threnodie, the Hungarian gyászdal, gyászének, gyászköltemény, kesergő & elégia, the Japanese 悲歌 (hika) & 哀歌 (aika), the Latin nenia (feminine) & threnus (masculine), the Macedonian ре́дба (rédba), та́жалка (tážalka), по́гребна пе́сна (pógrebna pésna), the Norwegian Bokmål klagesang & Norwegian Nynorsk klagesong, the Polish tren, the Portuguese trenodia, the Russian эле́гия (elégija) & погреба́льная пе́снь (pogrebálʹnaja pésnʹ), the Serbo-Croatian елегија, жалопојка, the Spanish treno & canto fúnebre and the Vietnamese bài điếu.

Confessions of a Broken Heart (Daughter to Father) from A Little More Personal (Raw) (2005).

Confessions of a Broken Heart was a lament and there was a time when it would have been regarded as a threnody because, as a synonym of elegy, it underwent the same extension of meaning.  Strictly speaking an elegy or threnody was a song or poem of mourning but because the ancient metre of such pieces was elegiacs, so named on that account, over time all that was written in elegiacs came to be called an elegy (and thus a threnody) and that extended to any short poem (regardless of the metre use) of the subjective kind (ie an expression of the author’s feelings).  As poetry has passed from a mass audience into the hands of critics, academics and a handful of dedicated readers, the original senses have been restored so threnodies & elegies are now again understood as works of mourning, the former particularly a wailing ode, song, hymn or poem of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to the dead.

Tren ofiarom Hiroszimy (Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima) is a composition for 52 string instruments composed in 1960 by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki (b. 1933) and first performed the following year.

An avant-garde piece, the work was originally called 8’37” (the duration of the performance) because length of the sound events of the piece are given in seconds, rather than the eighth notes of conventional notation, one of the several experimental aspects in the score which uses a variety of unorthodox notations to indicate how the music should be played.  As the title indicates, it’s a political piece but it was originally purely an experiment with musical ideas, an attempt to “develop a new musical language” and an example of sonorism (a Polish school of composition), focusing on texture, timbre & articulation to permit musicians some degree of “expressivity” in the use of their instruments.  Echoing a sentiment many twentieth century experimental composers would express, Penderecki admitted that for some time before any notes were written, “It existed only in my imagination, in a somewhat abstract way” and if was only when he heard it performed he was “…struck by the emotional charge of the work...” and was moved to dedicate it to the victims of the atomic bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima in August 1945.  He thought his score “both solemn and catastrophic” and in 1964 wrote: “Let the Threnody express my firm belief that the sacrifice of Hiroshima will never be forgotten and lost.”  The political purpose of the threnody was encapsulated in the thoughts on nuclear weapons expressed in 1954 by General Dwight Eisenhower (1890-1969; US president 1953-1961) when the National Security Council suggested the French be assisted in Vietnam by use of A-Bombs: “You boys must be crazy. We can’t use those awful things against the Asians for the second time in ten years. My God.”

The musical legacy however was perhaps more notable.  So obvious was the emotional power the piece exerted it was used in a number of horror films including William Friedkin’s (1935–2023) The Exorcist (1973) and its motifs influenced a number of the European bands which experimented with the possibilities of electronic instrumentation in the 1970s and beyond, most notably the Berlin-based Tangerine Dream.  The unconventional string ensemble assembled (24 violins, ten violas, ten cellos, and eight double basses) was manipulated to produce tone clusters, faster and slower vibratos, slapping, playing on the tailpiece and behind the bridge; while the sound durations are dictated precisely in seconds, other aspects of the music are discordantly aleatoric, allowing the players a choice of techniques, the implication being no two performances would be quite the same to an extent beyond the differences extracted by one conductor or another.  Curiously, there are discrepancies between the events of that day in 1945 and the musical structure.  It’s suggested for example one of the early cacophonies of clusters was to suggest the screaming of residents as they look up and see the bomber above, knowing they’d be bombed, but not knowing the appallingly new nature of the horror they were about to experience.  In fact, the USAAF (US Army Air Force) had for some time been making over-flights to accustom the population to the sight of a Boeing B-29 (which the city's residents dubbed the "B san") and convince them there was no need to seek shelter.  This was the first use of the A-Bomb as a weapon and as well as a military-cum-political mission, it was also an experiment in nuclear ballistics, the planners wanting to know the effectiveness (ie the casualty-rate & death-toll) when used against an un-sheltered urban population.

Homologate

Homologate (pronounced huh-mol-uh-geyt or hoh-mol-uh-geyt)

(1) To approve; confirm or ratify.

(2) To register (a specific model of machine (usually a car), engine or other component) in either general production or in the requisite number to make it eligible for racing competition(s).

(3) To approve or ratify a deed or contract, especially one found to be defective; to confirm a proceeding or other procedure (both mostly used in Scottish contract law).

1644: From the Latin homologāt (agreed) & homologātus, past participle of homologāre (to agree) from the Ancient Greek homologeîn (to agree to, to allow, confess) from homologos (agreeing), the construct being homo- (from the Ancient Greek ὁμός (homós) (same) + legein (to speak).  Homologate, homologated and homologating are verbs, homologation is a noun.

Once often used to mean “agree or confirm”, homologate is now a niche word, restricted almost wholly to compliance with minimum production numbers, set by the regulatory bodies of motorsport, to permit use in sanctioned competition; the words "accredit, affirm, approbate, authorize, certify, confirm, endorse, ratify, sanction, warrant & validate etc" are otherwise used for the purpose of agreeing or confirming.  It exists however still in Scottish law as a legal device, used (now rarely) retrospectively to declare valid an otherwise defective contract.  The best known application was to validate contracts of marriage where some technical defect in the legal solemnities had rendered the union void.  In such cases case a court could hold the marriage “. . . to be homologated by the subsequent marriage of the parties”.  It was a typically Scottish, common-sense application of the law, designed originally to avoid children being declared bastards (at a time which such a label attracted adverse consequences for all involved), vaguely analogous with a “contract by acquiescence” from contract law though not all were pleased: one dour Scottish bishop complained in 1715 that homologate was a "hard word".

Case studies in homologation

1962 Ferrari GTO

In 1962, fearing the effectiveness of Jaguar’s new XKE (E-Type) which looked faster even than it was, Ferrari created a lighter, more powerful version of their 250 GT, naming the new car 250 GTO (Gran Turismo Omologato (Grand Touring Homologated)).  The regulatory body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) required a production run of at least one-hundred for a car to be homologated for the Group 3 Grand Touring Car class but Ferrari built only 33, 36 or 39 (depending on how one treats the variations and 36 is most quoted) 250 GTOs, thus encouraging the myth the car violated the rules.  However, as was acknowledged at the time, the FIA regarded the 250 GTO as a legitimate development the 250 GT Berlinetta SWB (Short wheelbase), homologation papers for which had been first issued in 1960 with variations, including the GTO, approved between 1961-1964.  They’re now a prized item, one selling in 2018 for a world-record US$70 million which makes it the second most expensive car ever sold, the sum exceeded only by the US$142 million paid in 2022 for one of the two Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut gull-wing coupés.

1965 Ferrari 250 LM

The FIA’s legislative largess didn’t extend to Ferrari’s next development for GT racing, the 250 LM. The view of il Commendatore was the 250 LM was an evolution as linked to the 250 GT’s 1960 homologation papers as had been the 250 GTO and thus deserved another certificate of extension.  This was too much for the FIA which pointed out 250 LM (1) was mid rather than front-engined, (2) used a wholly different body and (3) used a different frame and suspension.  Neither party budged so the 250 LM could run only in the prototype class until 1966 when it gained homologation as a Group 4 Sports Car.  Although less competitive against the true prototypes, it’s speed and reliability was enough for a private entry to win the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans, a Ferrari’s last victory in the race until 2023.   One quirk of the 250 LM was that when the FIA ruled against its homologation, the point of retaining the 3.0 litre displacement became irrelevant and most 250 LMs used a 3.3 litre engine and when fitted with the enlarged power-plant, under Ferrari’s naming convention, the thing properly should have been called a 275 LM.  

1969 Porsche 917

In 1969, needing to build twenty-five 917s to be granted homologation, Porsche did... sort of.  When the FIA inspectors turned up to tick the boxes, they found the promised twenty-five cars but most were in pieces.  Despite assurances there existed more than enough parts to bolt together enough to qualify, the FIA, now less trusting, refused to sign off, despite Porsche pointing out that if they assembled them all, they'd then just have to take them apart to prepare them for the track.  The FIA conceded the point but still refused to sign-off.  Less than a month later, probably nobody at the FIA believed Porsche when they rang back saying twenty-five completed 917s were ready for inspection but the team dutifully re-visited the factory.  There they found the twenty-five, lined-up in a row.  The FIA delegation granted homologation, declining the offer of twenty-five test-drives.

1969 Dodge Daytona (red) & 1970 Plymouth Road Runner Superbird (blue).

By the mid 1950s, various NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) competitions had become wildly popular and the factories (sometimes in secret) provided support for the racers.  This had started modestly enough with the supply of parts and technical support but so tied up with prestige did success become that soon some manufacturers established racing departments and, officially and not, ran teams or provided so much financial support some effectively were factory operations.  NASCAR had begun as a "stock" car operation in the literal sense that the first cars used were "showroom stock" with only minimal modifications.  That didn't last long, cheating was soon rife and in the interests of spectacle (ie higher speeds), certain "performance enhancements" were permitted although the rules were always intended to maintain the original spirit of using cars which were "close" to what was in the showroom.  The cheating didn't stop although the teams became more adept in its practice.  One Dodge typified the way manufactures used the homologation rule to effectively game the system.  The homologation rules (having to build and sell a minimum number of a certain model in that specification) had been intended to restrict the use of cars to “volume production” models available to the general public but in 1956 Dodge did a special run of what it called the D-500 (an allusion to the number built to be “legal”).  Finding a loophole in the interpretation of the word “option” the D-500 appeared in the showrooms with a 260-hp V8 and crossed-flag “500” emblems on the hoods (bonnet) and trunk (boot) lids, the model’s Dodge’s high-performance offering for the season.  However there was also the D-500-1 (or DASH-1) option, which made the car essentially a race-ready vehicle and one available as a two-door sedan, hardtop or convertible (the different bodies to ensure eligibility in NASCAR’s various competitions).  The D-500-1 was thought to produce around 285 hp from its special twin-four-barrel-carbureted version of the 315 cubic inch (5.2 litre) but more significant was the inclusion of heavy-duty suspension and braking components.  It was a successful endeavour and triggered both an arms race between the manufacturers and the ongoing battle with the NASCAR regulators who did not wish to see their series transformed into something conested only by specialized racing cars which bore only a superficial resemblance to the “showroom stock”.  By the 2020s, it’s obvious NASCAR surrendered to the inevitable but for decades, the battle raged.

1970 Plymouth Superbird (left) and 1969 Dodge Daytona (right) by Stephen Barlow on DeviantArt.  Despite the visual similarities, the aerodynamic enhancements  differed between the two, the Plymouth's nose-cone less pointed, the rear wing higher and with a greater rake.  

By 1969 the NASCAR  regulators had fine-tuned their rules restricting engine power and mandating a minimum weight so manufacturers resorted to the then less policed field of aerodynamics, ushering what came to be known as the aero-cars.  Dodge made some modifications to their Charger which smoothed the air-flow, labelling it the Charger 500 in a nod to the NASCAR homologation rules which demanded 500 identical models for eligibility.  However, unlike the quite modest modifications which proved so successful for Ford’s Torino Talladega and Mercury’s Cyclone Spoiler, the 500 remained aerodynamically inferior and production ceased after 392 were built.  Dodge solved the problem of the missing 108 needed for homologation purposes by introducing a different "Charger 500" which was just a trim level and nothing to do with competition but, honor apparently satisfied on both sides, NASCAR turned the same blind eye they used when it became clear Ford probably had bent the rules a bit with the Talladega.  Not discouraged by the aerodynamic setback, Dodge recruited engineers from Chrysler's aerospace & missile division (which was being shuttered because the Nixon-era détente had just started and the US & USSR were beginning their arms-reduction programmes) and quickly created the Daytona, adding to the 500 a protruding nosecone and high wing at the rear.  Successful on the track, this time the required 500 really were built, 503 coming of the line.  NASCAR responded by again moving the goalposts, requiring manufacturers to build at least one example of each vehicle for each of their dealers before homologation would be granted, something which typically would demand a run well into four figures.  Plymouth duly complied and for 1970 about 2000 Superbirds (NASCAR acknowledging 1920 although Chrysler insists there were 1,935) were delivered to dealers, an expensive exercise given they were said to be invoiced at below cost.  Now more unhappy than ever, NASCAR lawyered-up and drafted rules rendering the aero-cars uncompetitive and their brief era ended.  So extreme in appearance were the cars they proved at the time sometimes hard to sell and some were actually converted back to the standard specification to get them out of the showroom.  Views changed over time and they're now much sought by collectors, the record price the US$1.43 million realized in January 2023 at a Mecum auction in the pleasingly named Kissimmee, Florida.  That car was an exceptional example, one of only 70 built with the 426 cubic inch (7.0 litre) Street Hemi V8 and one of the 22 of those with the four-speed manual transmission.

1969 Ford Mustang Boss 429

NASCAR could however be helpful, scratching the back of those who scratched theirs.  For the Torino and Cyclone, Ford was allowed to homologate their Boss 429 engine in a Mustang, a model not used in stock car racing.  Actually, NASCAR had been more helpful still, acceding to Ford's request to increase the displacement limit from 427 to 430 cubic inches, just to accommodate the Boss 429.  There was a nice symmetry to that because in 1964, Ford had been responsible for the imposition of the 427 limit, set after NASCAR became aware the company had taken a car fitted with a 483 cubic inch engine to the Bonneville salt flats and set a number of international speed records.  The car used on the salt flats was one which NASCAR had banned from its ovals after it was found blatantly in violation of homologation rules so there was unlikely to be much leeway offered there.

1971 Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III

Australian manufacturers were (mostly) honest in their homologation programmes, Ford’s GTHO, Chrysler’s R/T Charger and Holden’s L34 and A9X were produced in accordance both with the claimed volumes and technical specification.  However, they weren't always so punctilious.  Ford's RPO83 (Regular Production Option #83) was a run of XA Falcon GTs completed late in 1973 which included many of the special parts intended for the aborted GTHO Phase IV and although, on paper, that seemed to make the things eligible for use in competition, it transpired the actual specification of various RPO83 cars wasn't consistent and didn't always match the nominal parts list.  History has been generous however and generally it's conceded that in aggregate, the parts subject to the homologation rules appear to have been produced in the requisite number.  By some accounts, this included counting the four-wheel disk brakes used on the luxury Landau hardtops but CAMS (the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport, at the time the regulatory body) was in the mood to be accommodating.

No homologation issues: Between 1938-2003, Volkswagen produced 21,529,464 Beetles (officially the VW Type 1).