Frame

Frame (pronounced freym)

(1) A (sometimes intricate) border or case for enclosing a picture, mirror etc.

(2) A rigid structure formed of relatively slender pieces, joined so as to surround sizable empty spaces or non-structural panels, and generally used as a major support in building or engineering works, machinery, furniture etc.

(3) A body, especially a human body, with reference to its size or build; the physique of someone (often with a modifier (large frame, slight frame etc).

(4) A structure for admitting or enclosing something (doors, windows etc); other in the plural and used with a plural verb).

(5) In textile production, a machine or part of a machine over which yarn is stretched.

(6) In statistics, an enumeration of a population for the purposes of sampling, especially as the basis of a stratified sample

(7) In telecommunications and data transmission, one cycle of a regularly recurring number of pulses in a pulse train (frame relay etc); in networking, an independent chunk of data sent over a network.

(8) A constitution or structure in general; the system.

(9) In beekeeping, one of the sections of which a beehive is composed, especially one designed to hold a honeycomb

(10) In formal language teaching, a syntactic construction with a gap in it, used for assigning words to syntactic classes by seeing which words may “fill the gap”.

(11) In physical film stock, one of the successive pictures, the concept transferred to digital imagery.

(12) In television, a single traversal by the electron beam of all the scanning lines on a television screen.

(13) In computing, the information or image on a screen or monitor at any one time (dated).

(14) In computing (website design), a self-contained section that functions independently from other parts; by using frames, a website designer can make some areas of a website remain constant while others change according to the choices made by the internet user (an individually scrollable region of a webpage; “collapsible frames” a noted innovation).

(15) In philately, the outer decorated portion of a stamp's image, often repeated on several issues although the inner picture may change; the outer circle of a cancellation mark.

(16) In electronics (film, animation, video games), a division of time on a multimedia timeline.

(17) In bowling, one of the ten divisions of a game; one of the squares on the scorecard, in which the score for a given frame is recorded.

(18) In billiards and related games, the wooden triangle used to set up the balls; the balls when set up by the frame.

(19) In baseball, an inning.

(20) In underworld slang, as “frame-up” or “framed”, to incriminate (an innocent person) on the basis of fabricated evidence.

(21) In law enforcement slang as “in the frame”, being suspected by the authorities of having committed a offence.

(22) In publishing, enclosing lines (usually in the form of a square or rectangle), to set off printed matter in a newspaper, magazine, or the like; a box.

(23) The structural unit that supports the chassis of an automobile (X-Frame, ladder-Frame, perimeter-frame, space-frame etc).

(24) In nautical architecture, any of a number of transverse, rib-like members for supporting and stiffening the shell of each side of a hull; any of a number of longitudinal members running between web frames to support and stiffen the shell plating of a metal hull.

(25) In genetics, as “reading frame”, a way of dividing nucleotide sequences into a set of consecutive triplets.

(26) In mathematics, a complete lattice in which meets distribute over arbitrary joins.

(27) A machine or part of a machine supported by a framework, (drawing frame, spinning frame etc).

(28) In printing, the workbench of a compositor, consisting of a cabinet, cupboards, bins, and drawers, and having flat and sloping work surfaces on top.

(29) In bookbinding, an ornamental border, similar to a picture frame, stamped on the front cover of some books.

(30) One’s thoughts, attitude or opinion (usually as “frame of mind”).

(31) To form or make, as by fitting and uniting parts together; construct.

(32) To contrive, devise, or compose, as a plan, poem, piece of legislation etc.

(33) To conceive or imagine, as an idea.

(34) To provide with or put into a frame (painting, mirror etc).

(35) To give utterance to (typically as “frame an answer” etc).

(36) To form or seem to form (speech) with the lips, as if enunciating carefully (often used in speech therapy and elocution training).

(37) To fashion or shape (often a term used in sculpture).

(38) To shape or adapt to a particular purpose.

(39) To line up visually in a viewfinder or sight.

(40) To direct one's steps (archaic).

(41) To betake oneself; to resort (archaic).

(42) To prepare, attempt, give promise, or manage to do something (archaic).

Pre 1000: From the Middle English verb framen, fremen or fremmen (to prepare; to construct, build, strengthen, refresh, perform, execute, profit, avail), from the Old English framiae, fremian, fremman or framian (to avail, profit), from the Proto-West Germanic frammjan, from the Proto-Germanic framjaną (to perform, promote), from the primitive Indo-European promo- (front, forward) and cognate with the Low German framen (to commit, effect), the Danish fremme (to promote, further, perform), the Swedish främja (to promote, encourage, foster), the Icelandic fremja (to commit), the Old Frisian framia (to carry out), the Old Norse frama (to further) and the Old High German (gi)framōn (to do); the Middle English was derived from the verb.  Derived forms such as deframe, misframe, reframe, subframem unframe, beframe, enframe, full-frame, inframe, outframe, well-framed etc are created as needed.  Frame, framer & framableness are nouns, framed & framing are verbs, framable & frameable are adjectives, frameless is an adjective and framably is an adverb; the noun plural is frames.

Lindsay Lohan and her lawyer in court, Los Angeles, December 2011.

In Middle English, the sense of the verb evolved from the mid-thirteenth century “make ready” to “prepare timber for building” by the late 1300s and the meaning “compose, devise” was in use by at least the 1540s. The criminal slang (“framed”; a “frame up” etc) made familiar in popular fiction all revolved around the idea of corrupt or unscrupulous police fabricating evidence to “blame an innocent person” seems not to have been in use until the 1920s (although the dubious policing practices would have had a longer history) and all forms are thought to have been a development of the earlier sense of “plot in secret”, noted since the turn of the twentieth century, that possibly and evolution from the meaning “fabricate a story with evil intent”, first attested early in the sixteenth century.  The use of the noun in the early thirteenth century to mean “profit, benefit, advancement” developed from the earlier sense of “a structure composed according to a plan”, developed from the verb and was influenced by Scandinavian cognates (the Old Norse frami meant “advancement”).

Like its predecessor the 300 SL Gullwing (W198; 1954-1957), the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster (W198; 1957—1963) was built on a tubular space-frame.

The use in engineering “sustaining parts of a structure fitted together” emerged circa 1400 while the general sense of “an enclosing border” of any kind came some two centuries later.  Surprisingly, the familiar form of a “border or case for a picture or pane of glass” seems to have come into use only in the mid-seventeenth century while the use “human body” (ie large frame, slight frame etc) was in use by the 1590s.  Of bicycles it was used from 1871 and of motor cars by 1900 although the early use referred often to what would now be understood as sub-frames, structures which attached to the chassis to support drive-train components, coach-work etc.  The meaning “separate picture in a series from a film” dates from 1960 and was purely descriptive because the individual “frames” on film-stock resembled framed photographs attached in a continuous roll.  The idea of a frame being a “specific state” was in use in the 1660s, the “particular state” (in the sense of “one’s frame of mind”) appears in the medical literature in the 1710s.  The “frame of reference” was coined for use in mechanics and graphing in 1897; the figurative sense coming into use by at least 1924.  As an adjective, frame was in use in architecture & construction by the late eighteenth century.  The A-Frame (a type of framework shaped like the capital letter "A") was an established standard by the 1890s and a vogue for buildings in this shape was noted in the 1930s.

Faster and smaller: By 1964 the IBM 360 mainframe (left) had outgrown its cabinet (the original “main frame”) and had colonized whole rooms.  By 2022, the IBM z16 mainframe (right) was sufficiently compact to return to a cabinet.  

In computing, the word “frame” was used in a variety of ways.  The mainframe (central processor of a computer system) was first described as such in 1964, the construct being main +‎ frame and the reference simply was to the fact the core components were stored in a cabinet which had the largest frame in the room, other, small cabinets being connected with wires and cables.  Mainframes were the original “big machines” in commercial computing and still exist; incomparably good for some purposes, less satisfactory for others.  Frame Relay also still exists as a standardized wide-area network (WAN) technology although it’s importance in the industry has declined since its heyday during the last two decades of the twentieth century.  A packet-switching protocol used for transmitting data across a network, Frame Relay operates at the data link layer of the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) model, which is the second layer in the seven-layer model.  In a Frame Relay network, data is divided into frames, which are then transmitted between network devices (such as routers), over a shared communication medium and it was this latter aspect which accounted for its widespread adoption: unlike traditional circuit-switching networks (in which a dedicated physical circuit is established for the duration of a communication session), Frame Relay allows multiple logical connections to share the same physical resources so for all but the largest organizations, the potential for cost-saving was considerable.  Importantly too, integral to the protocol’s design was the use of packet switching (which means data is transmitted in variable-sized packets (ie frames) allowing the optimal use of available network bandwidth.  Frame Relay had the advantage also of not adding layers of complexity to the network architecture, relying on the underlying physical layer for error detection and correction rather than including error recovery mechanisms (a la a protocol like X.25 which operate at the network layer).  All of this made Frame Relay scalable and adaptable to various network topologies, making it an attractive “bolt-on” for system administrators and accountants alike.  However, while it still exists in some relatively undemanding niches, the roll-out of the infrastructure required to support internet traffic mean it has substantially been supplanted by newer technologies such as Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS).

Pop-art painting of Lindsay Lohan in a mid-eighteenth century frame by Jean Cherin (circa 1734-1785), Paris, France.  This is an intricately carved example of the transitional Louis XV-style gilt double sweep frame, ornamented with shell centres, acanthus fan corners, and a top crested with a ribbon-tied leaf & flower cluster atop a cabochon.

Futtock

Futtock (pronounced fuht-uhk)

In nautical design and construction, any of a number of curved (and otherwise shaped) timbers forming the lower, more curved portion of the frame in a wooden hull; one of the ribs in the frame of a wooden vessel.

1605-1615: From the Middle English futtek & votek, of uncertain origin but possibly a compound of the Old English fōt + hōc, or fut +‎ -uc (analysed as foot-hook or footock (“-ock” the diminutive suffix)) or a construct of the Old Dutch vot or fuot + hoek, or from buttock (from the jargon of timber merchants, the construct being butt (in the sense of a cut of timber) +‎ -ock.  Alternatively it may have been influenced by the Middle Dutch voetkijn, diminutive of voet (foot), the construct deconstructed as foot +‎ -kin.  The words in Old English from which the Middle English forms emerged may have been from the Old Norse construct fótr or fett & futt (big) + ek (timbr), or øks which gave the Old Norse fót'ek, futtek or futtøks, the Norwegian equivalent Norwegian being fot haki, fett eik (tømmer), or fett øks; meaning foot hook, big oak (timber) , or bold axe.  Futtock is a noun; the noun plural is futtocks.

One theory with much support is it was simply the Old English fōtuc (foot) +‎ -ock.  Many boatbuilders seem convinced the origin of futtock must obviously have been an alteration of foothook (the ribs in a boat frame one could use to “hook one’s foot under for stability while on board”.  Those with experience of standing in small craft while in rough waters will likely also support this etymology and similarly formed words include baloney from bologna, and cockamamie (originally “a decal, a design that can be transferred to a surface” and later re-purposed to mean something or someone ridiculous or absurd) from decalcomania. (from the French décalcomanie (process of transferring designs onto surfaces using decals) although cockamamie was once suggested to have a Yiddish connection on the basis of a vague similarity to certain words in the Jewish vernacular; the idea has long been discredited.

The sequence: Although modular systems now exist, historically, frames were built from the floor up, the second and subsequent futtocks added after each lower unit was secured.

Futtocks are the separate pieces of timber which form a frame (the rib-like structure) in a wooden ship and historically there are usually three or four (there can be five) futtocks to a rib in a ship of moderate size.  Futtocks are solid pieces of compass timber several of which make up a built frame, extending from the floor to the top timber.  The one closest to the keel is known is the ground futtock or naval futtock, the remainder being the “upper” futtocks while futtock riders are the large, vertical timbers strengthening the inside of the hull below the waterline.  A bilge futtock is a specialized form of frame futtock which covers the sweep of the bilge.  In a wooden vessel, a floor futtock is the lowest of the futtocks from which a built frame is made, running transversely across the top of the hog and through which the keel bolts are fitted (the outer ends often of differing lengths and are known as “wrung heads” or “wring heads”).  Sistered Frames are frames constructed by paired futtocks laid side by side and cross bolted together with the butts between the various futtocks staggered.  The cross-bolting was to enhance structural stability and was required because vessels are subject to both lateral and longitudinal stresses; recognition of this was the reason internal combustion engine builders in the 1960s began using cross-bolting to secure the main-bearing caps supporting the crankshaft.

Cross-bolting describes the placement of bolts at angles (ie essentially vertical vs horizontal although futtocks being inherently curved pieces, bolts are often installed at angles which follow the curve).  What the cross-bolting does is better absorb and distribute stresses which in a vessel can be both and lateral and longitudinal.  Note that depending on the hull profile desired, some futtocks can actually be straight.  

Spirket blocks (also called spirket chocks) were “filling chocks” fitted (1) between the floor futtocks and (2) the top of the hog and the underside of the keelson; usually spirket blocks were dovetailed into the floor futtocks but this method of construction is long obsolete.  The general name usually given to the pieces of timber which compose the frame of a ship such as floor timbers, futtock timbers and top timbers as also the stem or head timbers and the stern timbers was (logically): “timbers”.  Sometimes, the carved, ornamental pieces upon the munions of stern windows in the stead of pilasters were called stern timbers although such use is now less common.  The timberhead is the top of the uppermost frame futtock extending above the covering board to form a stiffener to the bulwark and to which the berthing is attached.  The cap rail or main rail is attached to its tops by means of a mortise and tenon joint and depending on the builder or the type of vessel, it could be a piece of timber separate from the frame.  The top timber was the uppermost of the futtocks in a built frame and which stops just below the underside of the covering board (except in sistered frames when one futtock is extended through the deck to form the timberhead).  The wrunghead was the outer end of the floor futtocks in a built frame, a technique now obsolete.  When wrungheads were used, the wrunghead wale was an especially thick piece of skin planking run over the outer ends (ie the wrungheads) of the floor futtocks.  A futtock band was fitted usually around a mast and existed as a locating mechanism to which a futtock (or another fitting) could be attached; such was their utility they were used for other purposes.  Futtock head is an unusual term in that it seems not to have been in use until the 1860s (although it’s so obvious it may have even then have been shipwright’s slang).  The futtock head described the upper part of a futtock, that part which extends above the top of the frame and is fastened to the ship's planking, its most vital function being to ensure the strength of the structure.

It is futtocks which are the building blocks (more correctly spars) of the ribs which are part of a ship's frame and the components which give a vessel its distinctive shape.  In anatomy, they can be compared with the ribcage of humans and many other animals.  Lindsay Lohan on Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, April 2009 (left) and a vessel during restoration (right) illustrate the similarities.  This image of Lindsay Lohan (during her "thin" phase) has long been popular on thinspo and other pro-ana sites.

A futtock hole is the opening in a frame through which the futtock is inserted and fastened to the ship's planking.  Futtock holes typically are located at the top of the frame, the point at which the futtock head secured.  Such are the possibilities “futtock hole” offers that it must have been one of a shipyard’s more re-purposed terms.  Futtock lines are the lines used to measure the curvature of the futtock, the purpose being to ensure the cut is properly shaped and fitted to the ship's frame.   Almost always, futtock lines are made of rope or wire and are attached to the futtock at various points along its length, the curvature determined by pulling the futtock lines taut and measuring the distance between the points where the lines are attached.  A futtock staff is a wooden or metal rod, used to measure the curvature of a futtock and fulfils the function of a template and whether a futtock staff or futtock lines are used depends on things such as the size of the fittings and their accessibility.  Futtock staffs are marked with measurements corresponding to the desired curvature, enabling a shipwright to determine where alterations are needed.  During the measurement process, a futtock staff is inserted into the futtock hole, the curvature determined by comparing the position of the staff to the markings.

Futtock shroud.

The somewhat misleadingly named futtock shroud is a rope or wire attached to the futtock.  It is not a locating mechanism but is used to provide additional support and stability to the futtock (a la the guy-wires used on land for radio masts and such) by limiting or even preventing any shifting during a ship’s movements.  Almost always, a shroud is attached to the futtock at one end and to the ship's mast or another part of the rigging at the other end.  Usually, a shroud runs from the futtock plates on the sides of the top, downwards and inwards to a futtock band around the mast or directly to the lower shroud's futtock stave.  The futtock stave consists of a served piece of rope across and lashed to a lower shroud, below the top and near the masthead.  As a general principle (there were variations and in some cases, complete departures), staves were attached at the same distance below the top as the masthead is above the top, the purpose being to reinforce the lower shroud where the futtock shrouds terminate.

A classic, simple square frame.

A futtock plank is a piece of timber curved to fit the shape of a ship's hull.  Futtock planks provide additional strength and support, required because the physics of such things mean the stresses in the construction are multiplied at the point of attachment and they’re attached in a series of layers, each fastened to the layer below it using nails or screws.  The layers often do more than merely emulate a single thicker piece of because shipwrights can align with the grain of the timbers running at right angles or even diagonally.  A futtock plate is a metal plate which connects the futtock to the frame; it provides additional strength and simplifies installation, compared with using pure timber construction.  Usually made from steel high-strength alloys, the plates are attached with bolts or marine coach screws.

Isolastic

Isolastic (pronounced ahy-soh las-tik)

An engine-mounting system developed for the Norton Commando motorcycle.

1967: The construct was iso- + e(lastic).  The prefix iso- was from the Ancient Greek, a combining form of ἴσος (ísos) (equal).  Elastic (also as elastik) was from the mid seventeenth century French (coined as part of the technical language of chemistry to describe gases “having the property of recovering its former volume after compression”), from the New Latin elasticus (expanding spontaneously), the construct being the Ancient Greek elast(ós) (a late variant of elatós (ductile, beaten (of metal)) and derivative of elaúnein & elân (beat out, forge, render from metal)) + -icus (-ic-).  The Greek elastos (ductile, flexible) & elaunein are of uncertain origin but some speculate the source was the primitive Indo-European base ele- (to go).  Elastic (and elastik) came to be applied to solids after the 1660s in the sense of "possessing the nature to return to the form from which it is stretched or bent after the applied force is removed".  Figurative use to describe things as diverse as the principles of politicians or statistical properties emerged by 1859 and the most widely used modern form, the noun meaning "piece of elastic material" (originally a cord or string woven with rubber) dates from 1847 as an invention of American English.  The noun elasticity (the property of being elastic) dates from the 1660s, either from the French élasticité or else as the ad-hoc construction from elastic + -ity.  The adjective inelastic began in 1748 as part of the jargon of physical science and engineering meaning “not restored to original shape after responding to strain" and was simply the technical antonym of elastic while the figurative sense of "rigid, unyielding" dates from 1867 but general use didn’t endure as the word became associated with fields such as economics.

In scientific use, the prefix iso- was used to indicate “equal (as in isometric, isobar, isocyanic acid etc); having equal measurements”.  As a word and abbreviation, iso had its quirks even before it became popular oral shorthand to refer to the various states of isolation imposed during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.  The use to describe the specifications of standards (eg ISO 9001 etc) defined by the Organisation internationale de normalisation (International Organization for Standardization) leads many to believe ISO is an acronym or initializm.  However, the organization notes that when founded, it was given approved the short form “ISO”, a nod to the Ancient Greek ἴσος (ísos) (equal), the implication being the equalization (ie standardization) of rules and terminology across jurisdictions.  Despite that, there appears to be no documentary evidence to support the pedigree of the name and most folk who give the matter a moment’s thought probably assume it means “International Standards Organization”.

In film and television production, an “iso” is an isolated camera (a camera used to isolate a subject, usually for instant replay, a use dating from 1967 in sports broadcasting).  In executive salary packaging, tax minimization etc, an ISO incentive stock option) is a right extended to an employee to buy shares of company stock at a discounted price (the realized profit on which are taxed usually at a concessional rate).  In a number of sports, iso is used as a clipping of isolation to refer to tactical plays and in category theory it’s a clipping of isomorphism (morph a back-formation from morpheme, from the Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ) (form, shape).  In optics, isochromatic (iso- +‎ chromatic) refers to "possessing the same colour or wavelength; of or corresponding to constant colour".  Chromatic was from either the French chromatique (chromatic) or directly from its etymon the Latin chrōmaticus, from Ancient Greek χρωματικός (khrōmatikós) (relating to colour; one of the three types of tetrachord in Greek music), from χρῶμα (khrôma), (colour; pigment; chromatic scale in music; music), ultimately from the primitive Indo-European ger- (to grind; to rub; to stroke; to remove), presumably in the sense in which pigments were found.

1966 Iso Grifo Spyder (left), 1971 Iso Fidia (centre) & 1973 Iso Grifo 7 Litre (penthouse).

Iso Autoveicoli SpA (subsequently several times re-named) was an automobile and motorcycle maker in Italy, active between 1939-1974, their most fondly remembered cars from the 1960s & 1970s being sold under the Iso brand.  The Iso name was derived from the company’s pre-war origin in Genoa as a manufacturer of refrigeration units when it was called Isothermos, the construct being iso + thermos, from the Ancient Greek θερμός (thermós) (warm), the implied sense being "something which maintains the correct temperature".  In 2022, the corporate name is IsoRivolta and it continues to operate as a low-volume manufacturer.

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 sulfurous acid (H₂SO₃).

Norton's isolastic engine mounting

Norton Featherbed frame.

Powerful as the engines were, much of the success in competition Norton’s motorcycles enjoyed in the 1950s were attributable to the “Featherbed” frame, introduced in 1950.  Designed with twin parallel rectangular loops, each formed from a single length of Reynolds steel tubing with crossed-over welded ends which met a securely braced headstock at the front and swinging arm mountings to the rear, the Featherbed frame was stiff, strong and surprisingly light and proved resistant to even sever road and transmission stresses.  It was state of the art but that state reflected the technology of the late 1940s and as the years went by, engine speeds, displacement and compression ratios increased so power and torque rose, imposing mechanical stresses and, most significantly, vibration levels became so pronounced that the big Norton twin-cylinder bikes were becoming less attractive to buyers; while all the power and torque was admired, for many it was rendered unusable by all the shaking which had to be endured at a wide range of engine speeds.

Norton Commando frame.

A new engine was the obvious solution but, despite years of success, by the early 1960s, the whole British motorcycle industry was under-capitalized and nothing emerged; Norton’s bankruptcy surprised few.  Re-structured in 1966 as Norton-Villiers Ltd, it was still obvious a new engine was needed to remain competitive and this was pursued but the engineers suggested a new frame might be a stop-gap solution while engine development proceeded.  Most attractive was that a new frame should cheap and fast to create.  Afforcing the engineering staff, even with a German nuclear physicist who had once worked for Rolls-Royce, work proceeded quickly even though the Featherbed’s box-frame approach was abandoned in favor of a single, large diameter top tube that ran from the top of the steering tube to the seat struts with a short, angled gusset (made from a tube of the same dimension) was incorporated to triangulate the steering/top tube connection.  Two smaller diameter tubes extended from the bottom of the steering tube, running underneath the engine-gearbox unit where, connected by the centre stand’s mounting tube, they curved upwards to meet the seat struts at the rear suspension top fixing brackets.  The frame was completed by a triangulation of the rear section, achieved by using two more tubes which ran from the rear engine-gearbox unit mounting bracket to midway along the large top tube.

As intended, the new frame was light and the torsional strength (the resistance to twisting) was even higher than the engineers’ theoretical calculations had projected.  The design imperatives had been surprisingly simple, a kind of “back to basics” approach which (1) ensured the relation between the front & rear wheels remained constant regardless of the roughness of the surface, and 2) the higher loadings were Imposed only on the straight tubes, the bent portions of the frame are stressed.  Most innovative was the isolastic mounting system for the engine-gearbox unit (which the factory initially dubbed “GlideRide”.  Although essentially an admission the vibrations inherent in big, twin-cylinder engines couldn’t (then) be fixed, they could substantially be isolated to the unit and not transmitted through the frame to the rider.  At the core of the problem was that as a crankshaft rotates, the engine’s centre of gravity describes a heart-shaped path around the crankshaft axis, the engine therefore tending to oscillate around that path.  What the isolastic system did was provide the engine with three suspension points: (1) at the front, (2) at the top-rear of the gearbox and (3) at the cylinder head.  The mountings were large because of the vibration they needed to absorb but with a torsional stiffness provided by a rigidity in the side mountings, the idea being that the engine must be free to move in the plane of the crankshaft but without twisting in the frame.

1972 Norton Commando 750 Combat.

When the Norton Commando was launched in 1967, the combination of frame and the isolastic engine-gearbox mounting system proved the inherent vibration problem associated with big twins, if not solved, had been artfully concealed.  The early implementations of both the isolastic plumbing and the frame did reveal some weaknesses but these problems quickly were solved and both enjoyed a decade long life, over 60,000 Commandos produced between 1976-1977.  However, the clever improvisation (driven by financial necessity) really just delayed the inevitable as the manufacturers from the Far East had proven their modern, four-cylinder concepts were a better direction for the high performance motorcycle.  In the ten years the Norton Commando was on sale, the Japanese improved their products while the British tinkered at the edges and by the time the last Commando was made, the superiority it once enjoyed in road-holding and handling had evaporated.  The British industry never recovered from the mistakes made during the 1960s and 1970s.

Isolastic-era advertising: The agencies never depicted women riding Norton Commandos but they were a fixture as adornments, usually with lots of blonde hair and a certain expression.  One reason they may not have been suitable to use as riders was the phenomenon known as “helmet hair” (in idiomatic use, the effects of helmet wearing on those with “big hair”), which, upon removing helmet, manifested either as an unintended JBF or a bifurcated look in which the hair above the shoulders was flattened against the scalp while that beneath sat as the wind had determined.  There was also the challenge of kick-starting the big twins, the long-overdue electric-start not installed until 1975.

Birdcage

Birdcage (pronounced burd-keyj)

(1) A cage for confining birds (built traditionally with wire or wicker and used also as bird cage & bird-cage).

(2) Something that in form (at any scale) resembles (even vaguely) the construction of a birdcage.

(3) In aviation industry slang, the airspace over an airport and the aircraft there in flight.

(4) An area on a racecourse where horses parade before a race (“paddock” preferred in US use).

(5) In US slang, a used-car lot (now rare).

1480–1490: The construct was bird + cage.  Bird was a pre-900 form, from the Middle English byrd, from the Old English bridd & brid (which in the Northumbrian dialect was “bird”) (young bird, chick; feathered, warm-blooded vertebrate animal of the class Aves).  The Old English bird was an unusual collateral form of bridd and originally meant “young bird, nestling” whereas the typical Old English for bird was fugol, related to the noun fowl, of uncertain origin with no known cognates in any other Germanic language (speculated links to umlaut dismissed by etymologists).  Because birds are a creature doubtlessly noticed and in some form named by people since the early days of human evolution, it’s not surprising it believed variants in Middle English may go back to “an ancient period”.  From the early to mid-fourteenth century, “bird” increasingly supplanted “fowl” as the most common term.

Cage dates from 1175–1225 and was from the Middle English cage (and the earlier forms kage & gage), from the Old French cage (prison; retreat, hideout), from the Latin cavea (hollow place, enclosure for animals, coop, hive, stall, dungeon, spectators' seats in a theatre), the construct being cav(us) (hollow) + -ea, the feminine of -eus (the adjectival suffix); a doublet of cadge and related to jail.  The Latin cavea was the source also of the Italian gabbia (basket for fowls, coop).  The noun (box-like receptacle or enclosure, with open spaces, made of wires, reeds etc) typically described the barred-boxes used for confining domesticated birds or wild beasts was the first form and from circa 1300 was used in English to describe “a cage for prisoners, jail, prison, a cell”.  To “rattle someone's cage” is to upset or anger them, based on the reaction from imprisoned creatures (human & animal) to the noise made by shaking their cages.  The noun bird-cage (also birdcage) was in the late fifteenth century formed to describe a "portable enclosure for birds", as distinct from the static cages which came to be called aviaries.  The verb (to confine in a cage, to shut up or confine) dates from the 1570s and was derived from the noun.  The synonyms for the verb include crate, enclosure, jail, pen, coop up, corral, fold, mew, pinfold, pound, confine, enclose, envelop, hem, immure, impound, imprison, incarcerate, restrain & close-in.  Cage is a noun, verb and (occasional) adjective, caged & caging are verbs (used with object) and constructions include cage-less, cage-like, re-cage; the noun plural is cages.  Birdcage is a noun; the noun plural is birdcages.

The term gilded cage (often heard in the form “trapped in a gilded cage” describes a place (or situation) which superficially is attractive but is in some way constraining; a comfortable but confined situation.  The point of the “gilded cage” is the “effective confinement” is achieved not by the “cage” but by the unwillingness of the confined to relinquish the luxury of their “gilded lifestyle”; it’s thus a self-imposed “imprisonment”, certain comfort valued more than the uncertainties of freedom.  The term is thought to have been coined by the writers of the popular song A Bird in a Gilded Cage (1900).  History (some of it recent) is littered with examples of those “trapped in a gilded cage” and overwhelming they’re well-bred women, compelled for various reasons (dynastic, financial, political etc) to marry someone not of their choice.  A classic example of the adage “for everything you do there’s a price to be paid”, the best documented are the most miserable but the phenomenon is an illustration of the way what ultimately matters is not the situation in which one finds oneself but how one reacts.

Consuelo Vanderbilt (circa 1900), oil on canvas by Paul César Helleu (1859–1927).

Consuelo Vanderbilt (1877-1964) was the most illustrious of the American “dollar princesses” who crossed the Atlantic to marry increasingly impoverished members of the British aristocracy.  Unhappily (and tearfully), aged 18, she became Duchess of Marlborough, diligently and dutifully (for a while) fulfilling the role her father’s money had purchased.  The French painter Paul César Helleu was noted for his portraits of society women of the Belle Époque and, working on commission, he was not above flattery but there’s no doubt he captured the beauty of the slender Consuelo and they may have had had an affair, a diversion not uncommon among dollar princesses chaffing against the bars of their gilded cage.  While in the history texts most in gilded cages are there because they led tortured, unhappy lives, there were some who resolved to “make the best of things” and just try to enjoy the gild: taking the rough with the smooth as it were.  F Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940) in The Great Gatsby (1925) described Daisy Buchanan as a “golden girl” who had opted for the security of marrying money and was thus consigned to life as a “beautiful little fool” in a “gilded cage of class and gender politics.”  There are worse ways to live and as George Bernard Shaw (GBS; 1856-1950) observed, while money may not buy happiness, surely it is better to be miserable and rich than miserable and poor.   

Lindsay Lohan in The Birdcage, Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, Victoria, Spring Carnival Derby Day, 2 November, 2019.

The origin of the curious use of “birdcage” to describe the enclosed area where horses are saddled and walked before and after a race lies in an architectural analogy, the space enclosed traditionally by light iron railings, often decorative, painted white and closely spaced.  Spectators standing beyond the perimeter looked at the horses, much as one looks at birds inside an aviary; the metaphor thus “perspectival”.  In truth, the usually the circular or polygonal enclosure didn’t really resemble a large ornamental cage but the construction of the ironwork did recall the sides of a “birdcage” although obviously there was no need exactly to replicate the design, horses being unable, Pegasus-like, to “fly away”.  The term remains in common use in the UK, Australia and New Zealand where it had become part of the “social scene” of race days, the photographs published on society pages or Instagram often taken from “the birdcage”; at some tracks the spectator area has been remodelled for exactly that purpose with appropriate promotional backdrops.  In North America, used of “birdcage” in this context is rare, “paddock” the preferred term.

A similar linguistic adaptation was the “bullpen” (in baseball, an enclosed area for pitchers to practice in or “warm up”), the word possibly borrowed from rodeos where it literally was the (well-fenced) holding area for bulls.  In baseball, “bullpen” became a collective noun for pitchers and functioned as a synecdoche.  From the sport, it spread and came to be used figuratively to describe (1) “a place for someone or something to get prepared for some purpose” and (2) a military prison or its enclosing stockade.  Some decades after bullpen entered the vernacular of the sport, leagues were formed for women’s baseball and although in ranching the term “cowpen” (fenced area for holding cows) was well-known, baseball sensibly decided its nomenclature etymologically was detached from biological sex so assembled female pitchers also warmed-up in a bullpen and despite a recent trend towards gender-neutrality in sporting terminology, “bullpen” survived as fossilized baseball jargon.  Linguistically uncontroversial in the sport was “birdcage mask” which was the protective mask worn by catchers, the “birdcage element” referring to the thick wire structure protecting the face while still permitting adequate vision.

Lindsay Lohan (birdcage scene), Rumors (Official Music Video) from Speak (2004).

The origin of the use in baseball is contested although all seem to agree it came into use very early in the twentieth century.  One explanation is that by then it had become common for late-coming spectators to be cordoned off in a “standing room” area in “foul territory” (to the sides of the field where any ball hit was deemed “out of bounds”) and, noting the laggards were “herded like cattle”, “bullpen” was borrowed from the rodeo.  When those areas were re-purposed as the pitchers warm-up space, the designation stuck and the notion relief pitchers were once viewed “bullish” in temperament is thought one of baseball’s many myths.  An alternative theory is the use was at least influenced by the outfield fences at baseball grounds once often displaying advertisements for Bull Durham tobacco and in front of these relief pitchers would wait to be called into play and the use was thus associated with the billboards but for this there’s no documentary evidence. 

The Berghof, circa 1940.

By definition, a birdcage is of course “something in which one keeps one’s pet bird” but they can be also, certainly in their more elaborate forms, a decorative piece of furniture, a symbol of domesticity in the same way George Orwell (1903-1950) in Keep the Aspidistra Flying (1936) used the Aspidistra plant as an identifier of the middle-class though in fairness to the reputation of the perennial herbaceous plant, their popularity in English houses owed much to them being among the species most tolerant of the sometimes smoky atmosphere in an era when coal and wood burned on open fireplaces was a common form of heating.  They were thus an ideal house plant, being tolerant of neglect and suited to shade while their luxuriant growth meant they were effective oxygenators of air high in CO₂.  

Art Nouveau brass birdcage on conforming tripod stand.  The piece featured a domed tops, lift-out trays, swing perch and two small bird-seed feeders.

Tough, the Aspidistra wasn’t exactly “unkillable” but one really had to try and the plants thus were for generations something of a middle class fixture; it was in this sense Albert Speer (1905–1981; Nazi court architect 1934-1942; Nazi minister of armaments and war production 1942-1945), in his (sometimes reliable) memoir Erinnerungen (Memories or Reminiscences) and published in English as Inside the Third Reich (1969) noted the birdcage in Adolf Hitler’s (1889-1945; Führer (leader) and German head of government 1933-1945 & head of state 1934-1945) country house, some years before it was enlarged in the sprawling complex centred on the Berghof:  “After Berchtesgaden came the steep mountain road full of potholes, until we arrived at Hitler's small, pleasant wooden house on Obersalzberg.  It had a wide overhanging roof and modest interior: a dining room, a small living room, and three bedrooms. The furniture was bogus old-German peasant style and gave the house a comfortable petit-bourgeois look.  A brass canary cage, a cactus, and a rubber plant intensified this impression. There were swastikas on knickknacks and pillows embroidered by admiring women, combined with, say, a rising sun or a vow of ‘eternal loyalty.’  Hitler commented to me with some embarrassment: ‘I know these are not beautiful things, but many of them are presents.  I shouldn't like to part with them.’”  Speer made no mention of a canary or any other bird sitting in the cage and nor is there a reference in contemporary accounts; that is in keeping with Hitler’s known views on how animals should be treated and while his attitudes to humanity proved reprehensible, those on wildlife were quite enlightened.

Art Deco birdcage.

Although there’s obviously some functional overlap, as well as birdcages, there are birdhouses, coops, aviaries, pigeon lofts.  A birdhouse is a “small house” for birds (and known also as a nest box).  Made usually of wood and mounted somewhere the residents will be protected from ground-dwelling predators, birdhouses are outdoor structures designed not to imprison wild birds but provide them a shelter where they can build nests.  A coop (in this context) is a place where birds are kept but while a birdcage is for a household pet, a coup is for productive (egg-laying and sometimes feathers or meat) birds and are enclosures built outside, partially enclosed (“chicken coops” the best known).  The word aviary has a wide vista and can be anything from a relatively small structure housing two or more birds to vast zoo-like areas in which there may be a mix of captive and wild creatures.  A pigeon loft (known also as a dovecote) is a specialized type of birdhouse, often placed on a building’s roof or other elevated spot in which domestic pigeons are bred and housed, usually for use in the sport of pigeon racing; the element “loft” tends to be used irrespective of the location of the structure.  A synonym was columbarium, from the Latin columbārium, the construct being columb(a) (pigeon) +‎ -ārium (place for) and because the sport became popular among the aristocracy of the Ancien Régime (circa 1500-1789) in France, the construction of columbaria because something of a contest (al la the “size race” in luxury yachts between today’s billionaires) and architects were engaged to design large, elaborate structures, sometimes emulating the style of the owner’s chateau.

Birdcaged: An airliner's dimmed cabin.

In the airline industry, “birdcaging” is a term which has come into vogue among passengers; it describes the request from cabin crew to close window blinds or (in aircraft configured with electronically dimmable windows) turn down the settings.  Apparently, if passengers don’t conform, the staff will enforce the onset of darkness.  Theories have circulated on the sites where disgruntled passengers complain about the antics of airlines (they are most active sites) with the most popular suggestion being it’s an attempt to keep the cabin’s environment “subdued”, encouraging “better behaviour”.  The airlines seem not to have commented and “birdcaging” is neither acknowledged industry jargon nor admitted to be any company’s policy.  Flight attendants have however taken to TikTok to subdue the debate, claiming airlines “encourage” the dimming to created “a comfortable environment for those who wish to sleep”.  Those keeping birds in cages will note the calming effect of placing a shroud over the wires, emulating night-time.  At least one flight attendant did concede: “I will say this does affect the calmness of the cabin, but that is not the reason we do this.”  From all this, bird-caged passengers will draw their own conclusions.

Coming maybe within a decade to economy class near you: A depiction of a  “windowless” airliner.

Whether windows will continue to be fitted to passenger aircraft isn’t clear because the manufacturers have been attempting to tempt decision-makers (Flexjet in 2025 signed a contract to buy 300 of Otto’s Phantom 3500 nine-seat executive jets) with windowless winged tubes, outside views (or anything else) emulated with shaped-screens which form part of the cabin lining.  The manufacturers say eliminating the windows will make airframes lighter, stronger and cheaper to produce.  It would also lower running costs and emissions because (1) even with flush-fitting fittings, there is some drag induced by the window frames and (2) the heat-soak from sunlight means more energy has to be expended to maintain cabin temperatures.  Additionally, without windows, passengers will be less exposed to radiation and although not many would fly frequently enough for the effect to be measured, it would benefit cabin crew.  Depending on what’s displayed on the screens, the experience could be surreal or hyper-realistic because HD (high-definition) cameras mounted in the fuselage enable the display (using seamless OLED (organic light-emitting diode) panels of a more expansive vista than is possible through a small window.  For now, although flight attendants would probably prefer passengers to be sedated upon taking their seats, bird-caging us will likely remain plan B.

C3 Chevrolet Corvette T-Top birdcage.

From its debut in 1953, the Chevrolet Corvette’s body has always been made from non-steel composite materials ranging from simple GRP (glass-reinforced plastic and better known as fiberglass) to materials of increasing complexity so rust has never afflicted the external panels but beneath all those curves and angels is much vulnerable ferrous metal including the frame and “birdcage”, the latter an object of veneration or despair, depending on its condition.  A crucial component in the overall strength and structure of some Corvettes, the birdcage was first integrated into the design when the C2 (1962-1967) was released and the same concept was used for the C3 (1968-1982): a reinforced frame surrounding the cabin, the nickname from the overall shape which vaguely recalled a birdcage.  Similar in outline to the “safety cell” for which Mercedes-Benz was in 1952 granted Patent 854157 (rigid passenger cell with front and rear crumple zones), the birdcage consisted of boxed steel channels with pillars running from the base of the windshield (A-pillars), along the rear of the cabin, and down to the frame kick-up behind the seats.  Although not really a complex piece of engineering, the fact that so integral to the car is the structure, for extensive repairs to be performed considerable disassembly is required and the cost of out-sourcing such a task often can exceed the value of the car; economics thus suggest it’s usually advisable to find a car with birdcage in sound condition, repairs often financially viable only if the car is rare (ie with a highly desirable specification or even a celebrity association).  A visual inspection is best left to experts because unless it has just emerged from a comprehensive restoration, the birdcages on all C2 & C3 Corvettes will have at least some light, surface rust but it can take an expert eye to tell the difference between that and rot which demands attention.  Fortunately, the Corvette community is vibrant with publications and on-line guides detailing the features & foibles of the structure.

Troubled birdcage: Rusted C3 windshield frame left-lower outer corner (left) and a replacement corner component (1968-1972) @ US$199.00 from Corvette Central.

On both the C2 & C3, there were two variants of the design, one for the coupe (T-top in the C3) and the one for the roadster (the last such C3 made in 1975) but all shared the susceptibility to rust, especially if used in areas with high salt-exposure (coastal regions or places where the stuff was spread on icy roads) and the part most often affected severely was the “Windshield Frame Lower Outer Corners”, replacement sections available and in two different versions for the C3, reflecting the design changes in the post 1973 cars.  However, while the birdcage's most afflicted components, the windshield frame’s outer corners are not unique and the hinge pillars & lock pillars (including the body mount at the bottom) also are notably rust-prone.

C4 Corvette structure diagram from Mobile Web-Cars.

To call what was used on the C4 Corvette (1984-1996) a “birdcage” was a bit of a gray area because although routinely so described, materially and structurally it was quite different from the classic template set by the C2 & C3.  What was carried over was welded steel structure surrounding the windshield frame, A-pillars, roof rails, B-pillars and rear window frame which created a defined passenger safety cell distinct from the outer composite body panels so it seems reasonable still to use the term but the C4 did not have a “stand-alone” frame onto which the body was mounted, the “birdcage” being an integral part of the frame.  There were a number of design imperatives which dictated the path chosen for the C4 and it was built with a uniframe in which front and rear frame sections were integrated, thereby providing greater rigidity so no longer was the “birdcage” a kind of bolted-on” internal scaffold but an inherent part of the whole.  The C4 was the last Corvette in which something recognizably “birdcagesque” would appear.

Chevrolet’s technical rendering of the C8’s structure.  In engineering, materials science and computing, much has advanced since 1962.

However, the structural integrity the birdcage in 1962 provided needed still to be achieved but the “brute-force” approach of the C2-C3-C4 era was replaced with more advanced techniques and by the time the mid-engined C8 was released in 2019, the platform structurally would have been unrecognizable to anyone familiar with the earlier generations.  The C8 is built around a core element (the so-called “backbone” or “spine”) which can be visualized as a large aluminum tunnel running down the centre of the car and from this the chassis gains its primary torsional stiffness; it was something like bringing the chassis of the 1962 Lotus Elan into the modern age.  The body panels are almost all non-structural and while there is (as is now universal) a reinforced “safety cell” around the cabin, this is protection of occupants in the event of an “impact incident” (better known as a “crash”).

The Birdcage: The Maserati Tipo 60/61 (chassis #2549, clothed & exposed).

Upon released in late 1962, the structure in the C2 Corvette gained the nickname “birdcage” because of the shape but before that, there was the Maserati “Birdcage”, the Tipo 60/61 (1959-1961) so dubbed because it departed from the typical approach of those building space fames in that instead of relatively few, thick tubes and sections, Maserati used many more but they were slender.  Observers were much taken with the apparent delicacy of the construction and although the engineers assured all the intricate latticework of some 200 chromoly steel tubes (welded often in triangulated form in the points of highest stress) was a design delivering both lightness and rigidity to match the more robust-looking creations.  Those admiring the intricacy were struck more by the resemblance to the thin wires of birdcages.  

Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR (W196S, upper) & 300 SL (W198, lower).

One of the reasons the Maserati’s skeleton looked so delicate was that the space-frame had become associated with Teutonic-flavored construction like that used by Mercedes-Benz for its 300 SL & 300 SLR.  Both shared the same method of construction but despite the names and the visual similarity between the two, there were few common components beyond the nuts, bolts & screws.  The 300 SL (W198; 1954-1963) was a road car while the SLR (W196S; 1955) was a lengthened version of the W196R Formula One Grand Prix car with a sexy body and an enlarged (though somewhat detuned) straight-eight engine; in the sport, it would be the last of the straight-8s.

Scale model of Maserati Typo 60/61 Birdcage by CMC.

The final and most remarkable Maserati birdcage was Tipo 63 Birdcage which featured a mid-mounted 3.0 litre V12.  The Tipo 60 & 61 used front-mounted four-cylinder engines in displacements of 2.0 & 2.9 litres and although there were problems which never wholly were solved (although the reliability did over time improved), the platform enjoyed some success because its forgiving nature lent it excellent handling characteristics and in long-distance events, the lack of power was somewhat offset by the modest fuel consumption and relative low tyre wear, time not spent in the pits as valuable as seconds shaved off lap-times.  Unlike some of its competitors, Maserati did not have the financial resources to “keep up with the times” and develop from scratch a mid-engined sports car so the factory took the approach familiar to many an American engineer and hot-rodder: put in a bigger engine.

1961 Maserati Birdcage Typo 63.  Although installing the V12 didn’t realize the hope-for success, the car will always have a place in the annals of “great moments in exhaust systems”.

Actually, the V12 wasn’t that much bigger than the largest of the four cylinder units used but, with a pedigree beginning with a brief (though unsuccessful) career in the Maserati 250F Grand Prix car, it certainly delivered more power.  Because it was a “relatively” simple matter of blending an existing engine and existing platform, the project quickly was accomplished and Maserati had a mid-engined car on the grid before anyone else and one which could top 305 km/h (190 mph) on long straights.  Unfortunately, placing the big lump of a V12 to the rear upset the Birdcage’s fine balance although one did place fourth in the 1961 Le Mans 24 Hours endurance classic (a place where a 190 mph top speed was unusually valuable), a result which proved to be the marque’s high-water mark in the famous event.