Cammer

Cammer (pronounced kham-ah)

(1) A content-provider who uses a webcam to distribute imagery on some basis (applied especially to attractive young females associated with the early use of webcams).

(2) Slang for an engine produced in small numbers by Ford (US) in the mid-late 1960s.

(3) A general term for any camera operator (now less common because the use in the context of webcam feeds prevailed.

1964: A diminutive of single overhead cam(shaft).  Cam was from the sixteenth century Middle English cam, from the Dutch kam (cog of a wheel (originally, comb)) and was cognate with the English comb, the form preserved in modern Dutch compounds such as kamrad & kamwiel (cog wheel).  The association with webcams began in the mid-1990s, cam in that context a contraction of camera.  The Latin camera (chamber or bedchamber) was from the Ancient Greek καμάρα (kamára) (anything with an arched cover, a covered carriage or boat, a vaulted room or chamber, a vault) of uncertain origin; a doublet of chamber.  Dating from 1708, it was from the Latin that Italian gained camera and Spanish camara, all ultimately from the Ancient Greek kamára and the Old Church Slavonic komora, the Lithuanian kamara and the Old Irish camra all are borrowings from Latin.  Cammer was first used in 1964 as oral shorthand for Ford’s 427 SHOC (single overhead camshaft) V8 engine, the alternative slang form being the phonetic “sock” and it became so associated with the one item that “cammer” has never been applied to other overhead camshaft engines.  The first web-cam (although technically it pre-dated the web) feed dates from 1991 and the first to achieve critical mass (ie “went viral”) was from 1996.  Cammer is a noun; the noun plural is cammers. 

Lindsay Lohan on webcam in Get a Clue (2002) a Disney Channel original movie.

The word came be used for photographic devices as a clipping of the New Latin camera obscura (dark chamber) a black box with a lens that could project images of external objects), contrasted with the (circa 1750) camera lucida (light chamber), which used prisms to produce an image on paper beneath; it was used to generate an image of a distant object.  Camera was thus (circa 1840) adopted in nineteenth century photography because early cameras used a pinhole and a dark room.  The word was extended to filming devices from 1928. Camera-shy (not wishing to be photographed) dates from 1890, the first camera-man (one who operates a camera) recorded in 1908.  The first webcam feed into the wild (pre-dating the worldwideweb (www), dates from 1991.  

jennicam.org (1996-2003)

It wasn’t the internet’s first webcam feed, that seems to have been one in 1991 aimed at a coffee machine in a fourth floor office at the University of Cambridge's computer science department, created by scientists based in a lab the floor below so they would know whether to bother walking up a flight of stairs for a cup, but in 1996, nineteen year-old Jennifer Ringley (b 1976), from a webcam in her university dorm room, broadcast herself live to the whole world, 24/7.  With jennicam.org, she effectively invented "lifecasting" and while the early feed was of grainy, still, monochrome images (updated every fifteen seconds) which, considered from the twenty-first century, sounds not interesting and hardly viral, it was one of the first internet sensations, attracting a regular following of four-million which peaked at almost twice that.  According to internet lore, it more than once crashed the web, seven million being a high proportion of the web users at the time and the routing infrastructure then wasn't as robust as it would become.  Tellingly, Ms Ringley majored in economics which explains the enticingly suggestive title "jennicam" whereas the nerds at Cambridge could think of nothing more catchy than "coffee pot camera".  

Jenni and pussy.

Although there were more publicized moments, jennicam.org was mostly a slideshow of the mundane: Jennifer studying at her desk, doing the laundry or brushing her teeth but it hinted at the realisation of earlier predictions, Andy Warhol's (1928–1987) fifteen minutes of fame and Marshall McLuhan's (1911-1980) global village.  While not exactly pre-dating reality television, jennicam.org was years before the genre became popular and was closer to real than the packaged products became.

The 1964 Ford 427 SOHC (the Cammer)

1964 426 HEMI in Plymouth race-car.

There was cheating aplenty in 1960s NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) racing but little so blatant as Chrysler in 1964 fielding their 426 HEMI, a pure racing engine, in what was supposed to be a series for mass-produced vehicles.  Whatever the legal position, it was hardly in the spirit of gentlemanly competition though in fairness to Chrysler, they didn't start it, NASCAR for years something of a parallel universe.  In 1957, the Automobile Manufacturers Association (AMA) had announced a ban on auto-racing and the public positions of General Motors (GM), Ford and Chrysler supported the stand, leaving the sport to dealer and privateers although, factory support of these operations was hardly a secret.  NASCAR liked things this way believing the popularity of their “stock cars” relied on the vehicles raced being close to (ie "in stock") what was available for purchase by the general public.  Additionally, they wished to maintain the sport as affordable even for low budget teams and the easy way to do this was restricting the hardware to mass-produced, freely available parts, thereby leveling the playing field.  The façade was maintained until the summer of 1962 when Ford announced it was going to "go racing".  Market research had identified the competitive advantage to be gained from motorsport in an era when, uniquely, the demographic bulge of the baby-boomers, unprecedented prosperity and cheap petroleum would coalesce, Ford understanding that in the decade ahead, a historically huge catchment of 17-25 year old males with high disposable incomes were there to be sold stuff and they’d likely be attracted to fast cars.  Thus began Ford's "Total Performance" era which would see successful participation in just about everything from rally tracks to Formula One, including four memorable victories at the Le Mans twenty-four hour classic.

1963 Chevrolet 427 "Mystery Motor"

The market leader, the more conservative GM, said they would "continue to abide by the spirit of the AMA ban" and, despite the scepticism of some, it seems they meant it because their racing development was halted though not without a parting shot, Chevrolet in 1963 providing their preferred team a 427 cubic inch (7 litre) engine that came to be known as the "mystery motor".  It stunned all with its pace but, being prematurely delivered, lacked reliability and, after a few races, having proved something, GM departed, saving NASCAR the bother of the inevitable squabble over eligibility.

Beware of imitations.  1961 Ford Galaxie Starliner & 1962 Starlift (brochure).

Ford stayed and cheated, though not yet with engines.  Their streamlined two-door, the 1961 Galaxie Starliner, possessed the aerodynamic qualities needed on the big ovals and was a successful race-car but, after early enthusiasm, sales dropped so it was replaced in 1962 with a more commercially palatable notchback roofline.  That sold well but lacked the slipperiness of the Starliner so performance on the track suffered.  To regain the lost aerodynamic advantage, Ford fabricated a handful of fibreglass detachable hard-tops which essentially transformed a Galaxie convertible back into a Starliner.  Not wishing to incur the expense of actually offering them as an option they knew few would buy, Ford gave the plastic roof the name “Starlift”, allocated a part-number and even mocked-up a brochure for NASCAR to read.  Only three had been built with one race won when NASCAR, not fooled, rapidly issued a ban.  After Ford took one of the black-balled Starlifts, now fitted with a 483 cubic inch (7.9 litre) engine, to the Bonneville salt flats and set a number of international speed records, NASCAR took the opportunity to impose a 7 litre (usually expressed as 427 cid) displacement limit, one rule that was easy to enforce.

1964 427 SOHC (Cammer).  Note the long timing chain.

Ford, which while enjoying great success in 1963 had actually adhered to the engine rules, responded to Chrysler’s 426 HEMI (which had dominated the 1964 season) within a remarkable ninety days with a derivation of their 427 FE which replaced the pushrod activated valves with two single overhead camshafts (SOHC), permitting higher engine speeds and more efficient combustion, thereby gaining perhaps a hundred horsepower.  The engine, officially called the 427 SOHC, was nicknamed the Cammer (although some, noting the acronym, called it the "sock").  The problem for NASCAR was that neither the 426 HEMI nor the 427 Cammer was in a car which could be bought from a showroom.

1964 Chrysler 426 HEMI DOHC Prototype.

Not best pleased, NASCAR was mulling over things when Chrysler responded to the 427 Cammer by demonstrating a mock-up of their 426 HEMI with a pair of heads using double overhead camshafts (DOHC) and four valves per cylinder instead of the usual two.  Fearing an escalating war of technology taking their series in an undesired direction, in October 1964, NASCAR cracked down and issued new rules for the 1965 season.  Although retaining the 427 cubic inch limit, engines now had to be mass-production units available for general sale and thus no hemi heads or overhead camshafts would be allowed  The rule change had been provoked also by an increasing death toll as speeds rose beyond what was safe for both tyres and on circuits.

1965 Ford 427 FE.

That meant Ford’s 427 FE was eligible but Chrysler’s 426 HEMI was not and a disgruntled Chrysler withdrew from NASCAR, shifting their efforts to drag-racing where the rules of the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) were more accommodating (though it's not clear if Chrysler complied even with those though the NHRA welsomed them anyway).  In 1965, Chrysler seemed happy with the 426 HEMI's impact over the quarter-mile and Ford seemed happy being able to win just about every NASCAR race.  Not happy was NASCAR which was watching crowds and revenue drop as the audience proved less interested in a sport where results had become predictable, their hope the rule changes would entice GM back to motor-sport not realised.

1966 Chrysler 426 Street HEMI

It was 1967 before everybody was, (more or less) happy again.  Chrysler, which claimed it had intended always to make the 426 HEMI available to the general public and that the 1964 race programme had been just part of engineering development, for 1966 introduced the 426 Street HEMI, a detuned version of the race engine, a general-production option for just about any car in which it would fit.  NASCAR responded quickly, announcing the HEMI now complied with the rules and was welcome, with a few restrictions, to compete.  Ford assumed NASCAR needed them more than they needed NASCAR and announced they would be using the 427 Cammer in 1966.  NASCAR was now trapped by its own precedents, conceding only that Ford could follow Chrysler’s earlier path, saying the 427 Cammer would be regarded “…as an experimental engine in 1966… (to) …be reviewed for eligibility in 1967."   In other words, eligibility depended still on mass-production.

Ford, although unable easily to create a 427 Street Cammer, recalled the Starlift trick and announced the SOHC was now available as a production item.  That was, at best, economical with the truth, given not only could nobody walk into a showroom and buy a car with a 427 Cammer under the hood but it seemed at the time not always possible to purchase one even in a crate.  Realising the futility of kicking the can down the road, NASCAR decided to kick it to the umpire, hoping all sides would abide by the decision, referring the matter to the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the world governing body for motor-sport.  Past-masters at compromise, the FIA approved the 427 Cammer but imposed a weight handicap on any car in which it was used.

Ford called that not just unfair but also unsafe, citing concerns at the additional stress the heavier vehicles would place of suspension and tyres, adding their cars couldn’t “… be competitive under these new rules."  Accordingly, Ford threatened to withdraw from NASCAR in 1966 but found the public’s sympathy was with Chrysler which had done the right thing and made their engine available to the public.  Ford sulked for a while but returned to the fray in late 1966, the math of NASCAR’s new rules having choked the HEMI a little so the 427 FE remained competitive, resulting in the curious anomaly of the 426 Street HEMI running dual four-barrel induction while on the circuits only a single carburetor was permitted.  Mollified, Ford returned in force for 1967 and the arrangement, which ushered in one of the classic eras of motorsport, proved durable, the 427 FE used until 1969 and the 426 HEMI until the big block engines were finally banned after the 1974 season, three years after the last 426 Street HEMI was sold.

Ford 427 Cammer in 1967 Fairlane.

While the 426 HEMI DOHC never ran (the display unit's valve train was electrically activated), the 427 Cammer was produced for sale in crates and although the number made seems to be uncertain, most sources suggest it may have been as high as several-hundred and it enjoyed decades of success in various forms of racing including off-shore power boats.  Whether it would ever have been reliable in production cars is questionable.  Such was Ford’s haste to produce the thing there wasn’t time to develop a proper gear drive system for the various shafts so it ended up with a timing-chain over six feet (1.8m) long.  For competition use, where engines are re-built with some frequency, that proved satisfactory but road cars are expected to run for thousands of miles between services and there was concern the tendency of timing-chains to stretch would impair reliability and tellingly, Ford never considered the 427 Cammer for a production car.  Production cars, unlike racing engines, attract warranties.  The 427 Cammer attracted a following and, even today, it’s possible to buy all the parts needed to build one.

Abnegate

Abnegate (pronounced ab-ni-geyt)

(1) To refuse or deny oneself (privileges, pleasure, rights, conveniences etc); reject; renounce.

(2) To relinquish; give up.

1650–1660: From the Latin abnegātus (denied), past participle of abnegāre (to deny), the construct being ab- + negate.  The Ab- prefix was from the Latin ab-, from the primitive Indo-European hepo (off, away) and a doublet of apo- and off-.  The alternative prefixes were (1) a- (with root words starting with m, p, or v) & (2) abs- (with root words starting with c or t).  Ab- was used to convey (1) “from” & (2) “away from” & “outside of”.  Negate was from then Latin negātus, past participle of negāre (to deny, refuse, decline), reduced from nec-aiare (or some similar form), the construct being nec (not, nor) + aiere (to say).  Abnegate is a verb, abnegated & abnegating are verbs & adjectives, abnegation & abnegator are nouns; the most common noun plural is abnegations.

Abnegate should not be confused with abdicate.  Dating (perhaps surprisingly) only from 1541, abdicate was from the Latin abdicātus (renounced), perfect passive participle of abdicō (renounce, reject, disclaim), the construct being ab + dicō (proclaim, dedicate, declare), akin to dīcō (say).  Abdicate now (except informally) is used almost exclusively to refer to a reigning monarch renouncing their throne in favour of a successor (chosen or imposed) but was once applied with greater latitude.  Between the mid-sixteenth & early nineteenth centuries, it was used to mean “to disclaim and expel from the family” (as a parent might of a child) and when this is done now, one is said to have disowned (as a statement of family & social relations) or disinherited (at law in the matter of inheritance).  Between the mid-sixteenth & late seventeenth centuries it could mean “formally to separate oneself from or to divest oneself of”.  Between the early seventeenth & late eighteenth centuries, it could mean “to depose” which meant (1) remove from office suddenly and forcefully (ie what might now be thought a forced (or “constructive”) abdication or (2) in law, to testify to or give evidence under oath (usually in writing).  Between the mid-sixteenth & late seventeenth centuries it could mean “to reject; to cast off; to discard (an object, an association, an obligation etc).

The modern meaning has existed since the mid-sixteenth century (though not commonly used for another two-hundred odd years) and means “to surrender, renounce or relinquish, as sovereign power; to withdraw definitely from filling or exercising, as a high office, station, dignity.  This can apply to anyone personally exercising sovereign authority (kings, queens, popes, tsars et al) and is the act of renouncing the throne (and thus sovereignty).  Procedurally, most monarchies have detailed administrative procedures (and abdication has of late assumed a new popularity) to ensure the transfer from old to new is legally identical in consequence to what happens in the case of a sovereign dying but the lawyers have previously resolved cases where formalities were lacking.  In the matter of James VII and II (1633–1701; King of England and King of Ireland (as James II) & King of Scotland (as James VII) 1685-1688 who left the throne in the circumstances of the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the act of “abandonment” or “forfeiture”, even in the absence of any formal mechanism, was held to be an abdication, albeit one that might (analogously with use in other aspects of law) be styled a “constructive abdication”.

Pope Benedict XVI in Popemobile (Mercedes-Benz ML 430 (W163)), 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC, 2008.

Although the term abdication is sometimes used of papal resignations, the Vatican is emphatic the word is not used in any official documents of the Church.  This imprecise use of abdication is attributable to the Holy See being (as well as the universal government of the multi-national Roman Catholic Church) the authority ruling the Vatican City State, a sovereign, independent territory since the Lateran Concordat of 1929.  The Pope is thus the ruler of both Vatican City State and the Holy See; collectively an absolute theocracy.  It’s thus a fine point and were the Holy See to prefer “abdicate” to “resign”, it would seem not a substantive change and the fact the office is elected and not dynastic is not significant, Holy Roman emperors and the some early kings of England all elected. 

Pope Benedict XVI in Popemobile, Seravalle stadium, San Marino, 2011.

What none can deny is that the Holy See has a long (if of late infrequent) history of precedent, five popes between the tenth & fifteenth centuries resigning with a further four between the third & eleventh possibly having done so.  Mysteriously, there’s even another event which may or may not have been a resignation and indeed the subject may not even have been a pope but rather an anti-pope, somewhat analogous with the idea the MAGA Republicans have of Joe Biden (b 1942; US president since 2021) being an anti-president.  The revisions to canon law in 1917 and 1983 only clarified certain aspects of the resignation process and had no effect on anything definitional.  Thus, what Pope Benedict XVI (1927–2022; pope 2005-2013, pope emeritus 2013-2022) did when renouncing office in 2013 was an act of abnegation and not an abdication and that he chose subsequently to be styled pope emeritus remains of no legal or constitutional significance.

Herostratic

Herostratic (pronounced hera-strat-ick)

The act of seeking fame at any cost; desire for notoriety.

1640s: First noted in English in translation of fourth century documents, the construct was Herostratus +‎ -ic 

Herostratus was a learned borrowing from the Latin Hērostratus, from the Ancient Greek Ἡρόστρατος (Hēróstratos), the construct being Ἥρᾱ (Hḗrā) (Greek goddess of marriage, women, and family) + στρᾰτός (stratós) (army, military force; band or body of men; common people).  The suffix -ic was from the Middle English -ik, from the Old French -ique, from the Latin -icus, from the primitive Indo-European -kos & -ḱos, formed with the i-stem suffix -i- and the adjectival suffix -kos & -ḱos.  The form existed also in the Ancient Greek as -ικός (-ikós), in Sanskrit as -इक (-ika) and the Old Church Slavonic as -ъкъ (-ŭkŭ); A doublet of -y.  In European languages, adding -kos to noun stems carried the meaning "characteristic of, like, typical, pertaining to" while on adjectival stems it acted emphatically; in English it's always been used to form adjectives from nouns with the meaning “of or pertaining to”.  A precise technical use exists in physical chemistry where it's used to denote certain chemical compounds in which a specified chemical element has a higher oxidation number than in the equivalent compound whose name ends in the suffix -ous; (eg sulphuric acid (H₂SO₄) has more oxygen atoms per molecule than sulphurous acid (H₂SO₃).  Herostratical is an adjective and herostratically is an adverb.  The jocular noun herostratisphere is non-standard.

Attention seeking

In Asia Minor (near present-day Selcuk, Türkiye), in a sacred grove not far from the city of Ephesus, stood the Great Temple of Artemis (also known as the Temple of Diana), one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. During the evening of 21 July, 356 BC, Herostratus (also called Erostratus) of Ephesus saturated the timber and fabric furnishings of the temple with gallons of oil and when all was thoroughly soaked, he set fires in many places, inside and out.  Within minutes, as he had planned, the fire was uncontrollable and the temple was doomed.  Coincidently, on the day the temple was razed, Alexander the Great (356-323 DC) was born.

St. Paul Preaching in Ephesus Before the Temple of Artemis (1885), by Adolf Pirsch (1858-1929).

Herostratus was apparently a wholly undistinguished and previously obscure citizen, different from others only in his desire to be famous and the lengths to which he was prepared to go to achieve that fame.  As shocked Ephesians rushed to the fire, Herostratus met them and proudly proclaimed his deed, telling them his name would for all eternity be remembered as the man who burned down the Great Temple of Artemis and razed one of the wonders of the world.  Herostratus was, as he expected, executed for his arson.  In an attempt to deny him the fame he craved, the Ephesians passed the damnatio memoriae law, making it a capital crime ever to speak of him or his deed.  However, it proved impossible to suppress the truth about such an event; the historian Theopompus (circa 380–circa 315 BC) relates the story in his Philippica and it later appears in the works of the historian Strabo (circa 64 BC–circa 24 AD).  His name thus became a metonym for someone who commits a criminal act in order to become noted.  Subsequent attempts to erase names from history (tried on a grand scale by comrade Stalin and the Kim dynasty in the DPRK) seem always to fail.

It's unfortunate history didn't unfold so Android and iOS were available in 356 BC so  Herostratus could have played Lindsay Lohan's The Price of Fame instead of turning to arson.  The game was said to be "a parody on celebrity culture and paparazzi" and enabled players to become world famous celebrities by creating an avatar which could "purchase outfits, accessories, toys and even pets".  Played well. he could have entered a virtual herostratisphere and the temple might stand today.  As Ms Lohan would understand, the tale of Herostratus reminds all that for everything one does, there's a price to be paid. 

Like many of the tales from antiquity, the story of destruction by arson is doubted.  Various conjectures have been offered, some of which doubt the technical possibility of what Herostratus is said to have done, some claiming it was a kind of inside job by the temple’s priests who had their own reasons for wanting a new building and even a reference to the writings of Aristotle which offers a lightning strike as the catalyst for the conflagration.  However, whatever did or didn’t happen in 356 BC, the word herostatic, to describe one who seeks fame at any cost, has endured, the attempt to make his name unspeakable as doomed as the temple. 

Gully

Gully (pronounced guhl-ee)

(1) A small valley or ravine originally worn away by running water and serving as a drainage-way after prolonged or heavy rain.

(2) A ditch or gutter.

(3) In cricket, a position in the off-side field (some 30^o behind square), between point and the widest of the slips (or wicket-keeper if no slip is set); the fielder occupying this position.

(4) In tenpin bowling, either of the two channels at the side of the bowling lane.

(5) To make gullies in the ground or an object

(6) In hydrology, to form channels by the action of water.

(7) In slang, or relating to the environment, culture, or life experience in poor urban neighborhoods; vulgar, raw, or authentic and sometimes used as an alternative to ghetto.

(8) In (US) slang, as gullywasher, an intense, but typically brief rain event, the form dating from 1887.

(9) In Scotland and northern England, a knife, especially a large kitchen or butcher’s knife (the alternative spelling gulley).

(10) In some parts of the English-speaking word, a synonym for valley, especially one heavily wooded; a deep, wide fissure between two buttresses in a mountain face, sometimes containing a stream or scree (although in most traditions gullies are usually dry, water flowing only after heavy rain or a sudden input of water from other drainage systems.

(11) In engineering slang, any channel like structure which is available to be used for some purpose such as ducts or cables (applied to anything from computer motherboards to nuclear reactors).

(12) In engineering, a grooved iron rail or tram plate (mostly UK).

(13) In civil engineering, sometimes used as a descriptor for drop-kerbs, gutters etc.

(14) Of liquid, noisily to flow (obsolete).

(15) In South Asia (chiefly India but known also in Pakistan, Bangladesh & Sri Lanka, an alleyway or side street.     

1530–1540: Etymologists have traced several possible sources of the word and it’s not impossible the word evolved independently in different places.  It may have been a variant of the Middle English golet (esophagus, gullet), from Old French goulet (the French –et ultimately replace by –y), from Latin gula (throat) and the meaning-shift in the Middle English to "water channel, ravine" may have been influenced by Middle English gylle, gille & galle (deep narrow valley, ravine), hence gill for some time being a synonym.   An alternative source from The French has been suggested as goulet (neck of a bottle).  The use is South Asia is more certain, borrowed from Hindi गली (galī) and the Urdu گَلی‎ (galī) with the spelling evolving under the Raj under the influence of English.  It was inherited from Ashokan Prakrit galī and was cognate with the Punjabi ਗਲੀ (galī) / گَلی‎ (galī), the Gujarati ગલી (galī), the Sindhi ڳَليِ‎ / ॻली, the Marathi गल्ली (gallī) and the Bengali গলি (gôli), the Latin callis, the Italian calle and Spanish calle (street, lane or path).  The first reference (in Scottish English) to the knife (the spelling gully or gulley) dates from circa 1575–1585, the origin unknown.  Gully is a noun & verb and gullied & gullying are verbs; the noun plural is gullies.

Historically, a gully was a natural formation of water flows which was usually dry except after periods of heavy rainfall or a sudden input of water from other drainage systems after more remote flooding or the melting of snow or ice.  Over the years the meaning has become less precise and other words are sometimes used to describe what are understood by many as gullies.  The noun ravine (long deep gorge worn by a stream or torrent of water) dates from 1760 and was from the mid seventeenth century French ravin (a gully), from the Old French raviner (to pillage; to sweep down, cascade), and the French ravine (a violent rush of water, a gully worn by a torrent), from the Old French ravine (violent rush of water, waterfall; avalanche; robbery, rapine).  Both the French noun and verb ultimately came from the Latin rapina (act of robbery, plundering (related to rapine and the source of much modern confusion because “rape” was long used in the sense of “pillage” or “kidnapping”)) with sense development influenced by the Latin rapidus (rapid).  Entries for ravine appear in early seventeenth century dictionaries with the meaning “a raging flood” whereas in fourteenth century Middle English, both ravin & ravine meant “booty, plunder, robbery”, this circa 1350-1500 borrowing of the Latin influenced French word.  Dating from 1832, the noun gulch (deep ravine), despite being of recent origin, is a mystery.  It may have been from the obsolete or dialectal verb gulsh (sink in to the soil) or "gush out" (of water), from the early thirteenth century Middle English gulchen (to gush forth; to drink greedily), the most evocative use of which was the mid thirteenth century gulche-cuppe (a greedy drinker).  Despite the vague similarities, etymologists maintain these forms had no etymological connection with gully.  Other words (trench, culvert, crevasse, chasm, notch, chase, watercourse, channel, gutter gorge watercourse etc), even when they have precise meanings in geography or hydrology, are also sometimes used interchangeably with gully.

Japanese manhole covers (マンホールの蓋 (Manhōru no futa)) can be delightful or functional (in a typically thoughtful Japanese manner, some include a locality map with directions) but usually provide little inspiration for those designing wheels.

In the nineteenth century, Modern German picked up Gully from English in the sense of “a road drain, a drainage channel” (synonym: Straßenablauf), the covering of a road drain or gully being Ablaufgitter & Ablaufdeckel.  One adaptation quickly coined was Gullydeckel (manhole cover), the construct being gully + deckel, (an untypically economical construct in German given the usual forms for manhole were Kontrollschacht & Einstiegschacht), an alternative to Kanaldeckel (manhole cover).  Deckel (lid, cap, cover of a container) was an ellipsis of Bierdeckel (beer mat) and also used in humorous slang to mean “headwear, hat” although it was most productive in the formation of compounds with cap in the sense of “an artificial or arbitarily imposed upper limit or ceiling” such as Preisdeckel (price cap), the common synonym being Deckelung (capping).

A German Gullideckel (left), a Mercedes-Benz “Gullideckel” aluminum wheel (centre) and a 1988 Mercedes-Benz 560 SL so equipped.

The alternative spelling was Gullideckel and it was this which was picked up to describe the design of aluminum wheel adopted by Mercedes-Benz in 1982.  The reference is explained by the wheel’s design bearing a similarity to that typically used by German manhole covers although Mercedes-Benz dryly explained their concerns were less artistic or a tribute to Teutonic urban hydrology than a reflection of the imperatives of optimizing the air-flow required for brake cooling and a reduction in drag compared to their earlier, long-serving design.  It was in the 1980s that the greatest improvement in the aerodynamic efficiency of cars was achieved and wheels were a significant, though often little-noticed part of the process.

Top row: Mercedes-Benz C111 at Hockenheimring, 1969 (left).  The C111 series was originally a rolling test bed for the evaluation of Wankel engines ad it was on the C111 that the new wheels (then called “Premier”) were first shown although no production versions (centre) were ever made so wide.  The 6½ inch versions were first used on the 450 SEL 6.9 (right).  Bottom row: A bundt cake tin (left); like the wheels, the tins are made from aluminum but are always cast or pressed, not forged.  A ginger bundt cake (centre) and a lemon blueberry bundt cake with vanilla icing (right).      

The earlier design used by Mercedes-Benz was apparently not inspired by any existing product but the public soon found nicknames.  Introduced in 1969 and soon an option throughout the range except du Grosser (the 600 (W100) 1963-1981) until 1986, the factory initially listed them as the “Premier Wheel” (ie the “top of the range”) but in the public imagination the nicknames prevailed.  First informally dubbed "Baroque" because of what was then considered an ornate design, the name which endured was “Bundt” an allusion to the popular “bundt cakes”, a circular cake with a hole in the centre and there was certainly some resemblance.  Produced by the Otto Fuchs (pronounced fuks) Company of Meinerzhagen (near Cologne), the early versions were all painted silver (though not clear-coated) and available only in a 14 x 6-inch size, 5½ inch versions soon offered to suit the lower powered cars while in the mid-1970s, production began of 6½ inch versions to handle the tyres fitted to the much faster 450 SEL 6.9 (W116) and 450 SLC 5.0.  Demand for the bundt wheel option grew rapidly, forcing Fuchs to add a line of cast wheels in the same design, the casting process able to achieve both higher volumes and a lower unit cost.  The process of forging aluminum requires great heat and immense pressure (Fuchs used as much as 7,000 tons of force) and realigns the granular structure of the material in the direction of the flow, creating a more homogeneous and less porous micro-structure.  Forging renders aluminum as strong as steel for less weight and provides a notably higher resistance to fatigue and corrosion but the process is expensive.  Fuchs also manufactured small runs of a 15 x 7-inch version and today these are much sought after.  Such is the appeal of the style, specialists in the US have fabricated versions in both a 16 & 17-inch format although, being very expensive, they remain rare.  Today, factories often offer a variety of designs of aluminum wheels with some styles available only briefly but for over fifteen years, the bundt was the only one offered.

Fuchs wheels on Porsche 911s in matt metal, (left), polished (centre) & with painted highlights.  The Porsche pedants chide any restorer who finishes the wheels in any manner than that originally done at the factory.  

A half a decade earlier, Mercedes-Benz neighbors in Stuttgart had also designed an aluminum wheel.  Porsche had planned a 1965 release for its new 911 S, at that time the fastest, sportiest version of the 911 which had been on sale since 1963 and the distinctive five-spoke shape would first be sold in 1966 and remain on the option list until 1989, the popularity so enduring it’s since been reprised more than once.  Distinctive though it was, there were really only two requirements for the new wheel: It needed to be durable and light, strong enough to endure the stresses the higher speed of the 911 S and delivering a reduction in un-sprung mass weight significant enough to enhance handling.  The design target was an aluminum wheel which weighted 3 kg (6½ lb) less than steel wheel of the same dimensions.

Porsche had also used the Otto Fuchs Company, impressed by the foundry having developed a new manufacturing process which, instead of using a cast rim, manufactured it in one piece from an alloy made of 97% aluminum with the remainder composed mostly of magnesium, silicon, manganese & titanium, the technique still used by the company today.  The five-leaf clover design was based on nothing in particular and was done in-house by Porsche, the only change from the original prototype apparently a smoothing of the scalloped shape which first adorned the spokes.  The design proved adaptable, the original 15 x 4½-inch wide wheels growing eventually to eight inches when fitted to the rear of the 911 Turbo (930), the additional rubber required to tame the behavior of a machine which some labeled the “widow maker”.  Later designs have offered various specific improvements but none has matched the charm of the original and Fuchs have continued its manufacture for later model 911s, some in larger diameters to accommodate advances in suspension geometry and tyres.

Gas-burners: Lindsay Lohan using gas-burner as improvised cigarette lighter, Terry Richardson (b 1965) photo-shoot, 2012 (left), two of Mahle GmbH’s magnesium wheels (centre) and a 1971 Porsche 911 T so equipped.

The five spoke wheel is a matter of particular interest to the originality police in the Porsche collector community and great attention is paid to date-stamping and paint, it being very important that where appropriate the wheels variously should either be unpainted or painted in a certain way in a certain color.  Deviations from what the factory did are not tolerated.  Although five-leaf clover design never picked-up an association with other circular shapes like manhole covers or cakes, there was another Porsche wheel which did.  Produced by Mahle GmbH and quickly dubbed “gas-burners”, they were available on the 911, 912 & 914-6 between 1970-1972 and although generally not thought as attractive as Fuchs’ creations, the “gas-burners” have a cult following based on pure functionality: Pressure cast in magnesium and available only in a 15 x 5½-inch format, at 4.3 kg (9½ lb) they’re said to be the lightest 15-inch wheel ever made, more svelte even than the 15 x 6-inch units Michelin rendered in glass fibre & resin for the Citroën SM (1970-1975).

Aunger magazine advertisement, 1974.  Not all wheels use an existing circular product as a model.  A style popular in the 1970s, it was known colloquially as the “jellybean”, “slotted” or “beanhole”.

Hem

 Hem (pronounced hemm)

(1) To fold back and sew down the edge of (cloth, a garment, etc.); form an edge or border on or around (short for hemline).

(2) To enclose or confine (usually followed by in, around, or about).

(3) An edge made by folding back the margin of cloth and sewing it down.

(4) The edge or border of a garment, drape, etc, especially at the bottom.

(5) The edge, border, or margin of anything.

(6) In architecture, the raised edge forming the volute of an ionic capital.

(7) In literature, a device (sometimes explicitly oral) to indicate hesitation or faltering.

(8) In textual transcription, a representation of the sound of clearing the throat, used to gain attention, express hesitation, etc (onomatopoeic).

Pre-1000: From the Middle English hemm, from the Old English hem (probably akin to hamm (enclosure)), from the Proto-Germanic hamjam, from the Old Norse hemja (to bridle, curb).  Related words included the Swedish hämma (to stop, restrain), the Old Frisian hemma (to hinder), the Middle Dutch and German hemmen (to hem in, stop, hinder), the ultimate root apparently kem (to compress) and it was concurrent with other, geographically distributed forms, hemo and haem.  Later, in the US there was briefly the variant haemo.  The same Germanic root yielded also the Old English hamm, common in place names where it means "enclosure, land hemmed in by water or high ground, land in a river bend".  In Middle English, hem also was a symbol of pride or ostentation.  The representation of the clearing of the throat, an imitative form, was first recorded in the 1520s.  The literary device, hem (and the now almost extinct haw) first recorded in 1786, haw being derived from hesitation.  The now common meaning of a border or fringe emerged in the late-fourteenth century, the variation of which “shut-in or confined”, dates from fifty years later.  Hem & hemming are nouns, verbs & adjectives, hemmer is a noun and hemmed is a verb; the noun plural is hems.

The importance of weighted hems

Chanel’s original bouclé cardigan jacket with weighted hems (1955, left), Audrey Hepburn's (1929–1993) take on the little black dress (1960, centre) and Bridget Bardot (b 1934) in Rome (1963, centre).

Coco Chanel (1883–1971) introduced weighted hems in 1955 as a feature of her bouclé cardigan jackets.  Paired usually with a straight skirt, and simple blouse made from fabric matching the jacket lining, its signature design feature was the weighted hem, engineered with a small gilded chain.  A weighted-hem’s purpose is to add weight so the jacket or skirt hangs close to the body and sits properly when worn.  It also serves as a counterbalance if a jacket has large, potentially heavy, buttons which can cause the garment to pull forward on the shoulders.  The slight weight helps any wrinkles to hang out, especially if, like linen, the fabric is prone to them.

The idea proved helpful for photographers and film-directors.  They'd long been used to fashioning all sorts of ad-hoc structural devices (wire, cardboard, tape etc) to make hair or clothing sit exactly where was needed for a shot and, if sufficiently rigid, such superstructure could even withstand all but string winds.  The rakish swish of Audrey Hepburn's LBD was achieved with internal supports which ensured the wind-blown look could be both perfected and maintained; it was the weighted hem writ large.  To have garments made with channels for a metal chain proved very handy, the chain able quickly to be swapped for something less flexible when a skirt or jacket needed to be maintained in position while photographs were taken.  In this case the weighted hems were used as a structural member, providing the rigidity which lent the garment the desired shape.

By the time Bridget Bardot was being photographed in Rome in the 1960s, for the adventurous, hem-lines were rising further above the knee so the functionality of the weighted hem assumed a new importance, particularly on windy days.  Marilyn Monroe (1926–1962) of course made famous the dramatic possibilities the combination of a well-directed draft and billowing fabric could achieve but that was a staged "wardrobe malfunction" with cameramen assembled.  Weighted hems were helpful in avoiding unplanned malfunctions.

Jaguar E-Type (XK-E), 1961.

Jaguar devoted a lot of time to testing the E-Type but one thing which slipped through the pre-production process was a buffeting the roadster’s fabric soft-top exhibited at certain speeds.  It seems an obvious thing not to notice but, like the Hubble telescope's mis-shaped mirror, it was just one of those things.  With the E-Type’s release date locked-in, it was too late to redesign the components.

Jaguar's quick and dirty solution was to weigh-down the affected area with a chain of lead-shot, sewed into the fabric in effectively the same way weighted hems are used in fashion.  Just over half an inch (14mm) diameter, the lead-shot bag was wrapped in a sisal cord with two twelve inch (300mm) draw-cords to permit it easily to be pulled through the pocket in the top.  It was such a rush-job Jaguar never allocated a part- number and it’s only ever been part of hood cloth assembly #BD20582.  Both the Series 1 (1961-1968) and Series 2 (1968-1971) E-Types had the lead-shot bag, even though the soft-top’s frame was re-designed for the later cars, the S1 having three bows, the S2, two and for the S2, the size of the shot-bag was reduced slightly to accommodate a change in placement, now beneath the centre strap between the bows.  Interestingly, despite presumably having at least slightly different aerodynamic properties, there seems to have been no difference in the buffeting suffered by the early cars with mohair fabric and the later which used Everflex.  The top on the Series 3 E-Type (1971-1974) was again re-designed, this time in a way which rendered the lead-shot chains unnecessary.

Lindsay Lohan in red bubble hem dress, attending the twentieth anniversary party for Uno de 50, Grand Palacio de Saldaña, Madrid, June 2016.  Uno de 50 translates as "One of 50", an allusion to the company producing its jewelry pieces in small runs of no more than fifty.

A "hem dress" is one with a hemline with an edge of the fabric turned under and stitched, usually with a fold or seam to prevent the fabric from unraveling and the technique can be applied to a variety of styles, including empire-line, sheath, shift, wrap, and maxi dresses, and can be made from any number of fabrics including cotton, silk, chiffon, or lace.  The length of a hem dress varies according to the design and can be adjusted to suit individual preferences.  Often added a flourish, hem can be worn on formal occasions, in work settings or as everyday wear.  Although not a technically challenging project for a seamstress, making a bubble dress into a hem dress does demand a thoughtful design because it's all too easy to end up with something just too busy above the knee and, the bubble line being inherently "bubbly", they can end up looking untidy and even unfinished.  Designers recommend that where possible, the hem detail should be matched with a similar duplication of horizontal lines at the waist and above the bustline.

Ivanka Trump (b 1981) critiques fashion sense of Narendra Modi (b 1950; Prime Minister of India since 2014), Global Entrepreneurship Summit, Hyderabad, India, 28 November 2017.

Effeminate

Effeminate (pronounced ih-fem-uh-nit (adjective) & ih-fem-uh-neyt (verb))

(1) Of the human male, not manly, having traits, tastes, habits etc, traditionally considered feminine (softness or delicacy et al).  Historically it was usually used as a slur and use is now probably offensive except as a self-descriptor).

(2) Characterized by excessive softness, delicacy, self-indulgence etc (often as “effeminate luxury”) and now rare although “feminized product packaging designed to appeal to women remains common).

(3) By extension, of objects, concepts, literature etc, lacking firmness or vigor.

(4) To make or become effeminate.

1350-1400: From the Middle English, from the Latin effēminātus (womanish, effeminate), past participle of effēmināre (to make into a woman), from fēmina (woman), the construct being e(x)- (out-) + fēmin(a) + + -ātus.  In Italian, it became the feminine plural of effeminate.  The ex- prefix was from the Middle English, from words borrowed from the Middle French, from the Latin ex (out of, from), from the primitive Indo-European eǵ- & eǵs- (out).  It was cognate with the Ancient Greek ἐξ (ex) (out of, from), the Transalpine Gaulish ex- (out), the Old Irish ess- (out), the Old Church Slavonic изъ (izŭ) (out) & the Russian из (iz) (from, out of).  The “x” in “ex-“, sometimes is elided before certain constants, reduced to e- (eg ejaculate).  The Latin suffix -ātus was from the Proto-Italic -ātos, from the primitive Indo-European -ehtos.  It’s regarded as a "pseudo-participle" and perhaps related to –tus although though similar formations in other Indo-European languages indicate it was distinct from it already in early Indo-European times.  It was cognate with the Proto-Slavic –atъ and the Proto-Germanic -ōdaz (the English form being -ed (having).  The feminine form was –āta, the neuter –ātum and it was used to form adjectives from nouns indicating the possession of a thing or a quality.  Effeminate is a verb & adjective, effeminateness, effeminatization & effemination are nouns, effeminatize, effeminated & effeminating are verbs and effeminately is an adverb; the noun plural is effeminations.

Role model for aspiring effeminatizers: Lindsay Lohan on the Jimmy Fallon Show with guests including Vinny Guadagnino, Barrett Wilbert Weed, Ashley Park, Kate Rockwell, Bob the Drag Queen, Dusty Ray Bottoms, Monique Heart, Aquaria, Trinity ‘The Tuck’ Taylor and Monet X Change, January 2019.

Effeminate is probably now a word to be avoided because it’s difficult to use except as a slur and even if that’s achieved, such is modern sensitivity it will anyway be interpreted thus.  For a similar effect, the recommended alternative is the early seventeenth century effete (the alternative spelling effœte is obsolete), from the Latin effētus (exhausted (literally “that has given birth).  It used to convey the meaning “substances exhausted, spent or worn-out” but that is obsolete and it now means (1) weak, decadent, lacking strength or vitality; feeble, powerless and (2) someone or something (usually speech or writing) affected, over-civilized or refined to the point of absurdity.

Ladies 45 piece tool kit in pink with pink carry-case.

The verbs feminized & effeminized are sometimes confused and there was a time when them was some overlap of meaning but conventions of use have emerged.  In fields such demographics feminized is used to describe aggregate outcomes such as a preponderance of females in an occupational sector while in botany & zoology it’s a technical term which refers to instances of plant or animal life tending more to the feminine, the latter often suspected to have been induced by human-induced    environmental factors.  In thus refers to physiology though in medicine it’s used in fields like sex & gender-reassignment where it’s applied also in behavioral therapy.  By contrast, effeminized is used only of appearance and behavior.  It’s thus possible to feminize products yet not effeminize them.  Hardware stores every Saint Valentine's Day benefit from this adaptation by capitalism when sales spike of tool kits with tools finished in pink or purple.  There is nothing inherently effeminate about a pink hammer and the irony is that while pink to appeal to women, it appears the buyers are almost exclusively men.

Dodge in 1955-1956 had advertising for men (horsepower, speed and V8 engines, left) and for women (everything pink, the paint, the rosebuds on the upholstery, the handbag, compact, lipstick case, cigarette case, comb, cigarette lighter, change purse, rain coat, rain-cap and umbrella, right).

Pink tool kits continue reliably to appear in prominent spots as Valentine's Day approaches and at least some women probably enjoy the joke.  However, more blatant attempts at feminized products seem no longer in vogue, the implication of condescension just too blatant.  Chrysler offered the La Femme package in 1955 and 1956 on certain Dodge models, a creation that was not a stylistic whim but a response to sociological changes in an unexpectedly affluent post-war US society in which women were found to be exerting a greater influence on the allocation of their family’s rising disposable income and of most interest to Chrysler was that those increasingly suburban families were buying second cars, women getting their own.  Adventurous color schemes were nothing new to Detroit, the cars of the art deco era noted for their combinations though things had been more subdued in the years immediately after World War II (1939-1945) but that changed with the exuberance of 1950s experimentation.  However, sales of the La Femme proved disappointing and within a decade, the manufacturers would work out what women wanted was better designs, cars which were smaller, more manageable and with practical features, not the existing lines “feminized” with pink finishes and accessories.

Actually looking good: Men in lingerie in the PRC.

The economic and political systems of the modern People’s Republic of China (PRC) has many differences from those familiar in the West but, as the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) increasingly coming to realize, there are also many similarities, one of which is after when laws are passed and regulations promulgated, there are sometimes “unintended consequences”.  It was only in 2020 that the CCP’s Central Committee, having decided California’s most recent Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger (b 1947; governor of California 2003-2011) was right in identifying “girly men” as a bit of a problem and cracked down, declaring a war on androgyny, young men deemed too effeminate banned from some very popular television programmes.  Aiming to eradicate the androgynous, the state’s regulator of television content ruled broadcasters must "resolutely put an end to sissy men and other abnormal aesthetics", telling them to ban from the screens the niang pao (derisive slang for girly men which translates literally as "girlie guns”).

That worked well and, presumably encouraged, the CCP decided to eliminate another form of deviance, women modeling underwear on on-line shopping live-streams.  The ban was imposed overnight and streamers were warned that any site flouting the ban would be shutdown, the regulator warning transgressors might be charged with disseminating obscene material.  The streamers of course complied because defying the rules of the CCP is a bad career move but they complied only with the letter of the law, the streams converting instantly to use male models, an appropriately androgynous group presumably in ample supply after being banned from the TV shows.  A classic unintended consequence, in attempting to remove one form of behavior for some reason thought deviant (women wearing women’s underwear), the CCP have created a whole new mass-market genre (men in women’s underwear).  In the West, men in women’s underwear is just another niche segment on the web but for the CCP, truly it must be a ghastly thought that not only has this decadence reached the Middle Kingdom, but it’s all their fault.

April 2022: A new painted portrait (left) of a (then) slimmed-down Kim Jong-un which analysts suggest was based on an earlier photograph (right).

The keen watchers of the endlessly entertaining antics of the DPRK’s (North Korea, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) ruling family are a small industry; they don’t have a snappy title like “Kremlinologist” but in geopolitics it’s a genuine specialty.  Monitoring a dynasty that depends so much on symbolism and representational objects, one thing noted of late has been the increasing proliferation of new portraits of Kim Jong-un (Kim III, b 1982; Supreme Leader of DPRK since 2011).  The portraits began to appear in 2021, coinciding with celebrations of the Supreme Leader’s first decade of rule and their widespread deployment has been interpreted as one of the building blocks of his cult of personality.  In the decade after he assumed office, the only portraits usually seen were those of father and grandfather: Kim Il-sung (Kim I, 1912–1994; Great Leader of DPRK 1948-1994) & Kim Jong-il (Kim II, 1941-2011; Dear Leader of DPRK 1994-2011).

Everywhere one you look, the Great Leader and the Dear Leader are looking at you.  Given the number which exist and their size (there are also paired statutes, many paid for by the imposition of a "metals tax"), it would be a big job to add the Supreme Leader's portrait nationwide.  Still, the Kims have never been afraid of projects at a grand scale and ideologically, it may be unavoidable, the DPRK operating under a "three generations" (G3) hereditary system which (1) permits soldiers to wear the medals awarded to their fathers & grandfathers and (2) under the criminal justice system means "three generations of punishment" in which individuals found guilty of a crime are sent to the labor camps with their entire family, the subsequent two generations of the family born in the camp, remaining locked up for life.  This includes those convicted of “unspecified offences” all of whom, although never quite sure of the nature of their offence, are certainly guilty.  The Pyongyangologists are divided.  Some think it likely a third portrait may appear but that a variation of G3 will be established in that Kim Il-sung (already the DPRK's "Eternal President") will for G3 purposes be also the nation's "eternal grandfather", his portrait remaining forever while the other two will be the two most recent successors.  Thus there will never be more than three portraits.  Others think it's too early and it may be a third will be added only when (God forbid) the Supreme Leader dies.   

Interestingly, at one of the events conducted under a portrait of the Supreme Leader, a forty-minute long televised series of speeches marking the tenth anniversary of him becoming first secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), in addition to being praised for (1) leading the DPRK through the worst hardships, (2) completing the project of acquiring nuclear weapons and (3) ending the history of threats of nuclear war or invasion by imperialists, he was referred with a previously unknown title: Great Guardian.  Whether that’s of any significance isn’t clear but after the death of his father, Kim Jong-un was briefly known as the “Great Successor” so title changes in the third generation of the dynasty are not unknown.  Among the Pyongyangologists, there’s no consensus about whether the authorities are likely to add the portrait to all or any of the thousands of pairs featuring the Great Leader and the Dear Leader.  Such a move would clearly place the Supreme Leader on the same level as his late predecessors and currently, no painted portraits or statues of Kim Jong-un are known to be displayed in the country and artists are not permitted to paint his likeness.

Among those looking forward to a new series of portraits of the Supreme Leader are the meme-makers who found the contours of his soft, fleshy features made him ideally suited to effeminatization.  At top left is an official photograph issued by DPRK Foreign Ministry, the other five are digitally modified.