Tape

Tape (pronounced teyp)

(1) A long, narrow strip of linen, cotton, or the like, used for tying garments, binding seams or carpets etc.

(2) A long, narrow strip of paper, metal etc.

(3) A strip of cloth, paper, or plastic with an adhesive surface, used for sealing, binding, or attaching items together; adhesive tape or masking tape; the trade-name “Scotch Tape” is often used as a generic descriptor.

(4) As tape measure, a flexible type of ruler, especially useful for measuring curved shapes.

(5) As finishing tape, the string stretched across the finishing line in a race and broken by the winning contestant on crossing the line; also sometimes incorrectly referred to as “finishing line” which technically is the line marked on the ground.

(6) In financial trading or news dissemination, a paper tape on which a stock ticker, news ticker or similar device would print incoming information (obsolete although the concept is still used in digital form).

(7) As magnetic tape, a usually re-usable media used to record, store and retrieve information and mounted in devices such as tape recorders, tape decks, tape arrays and tape drives, the physical tape on spools or in cassettes; in more precise forms as audio tape, data tape, videotape etc.

(8) To furnish with a tape or tapes.

(9) To tie up, bind, or attach with tape.

(10) To measure with or as if with a tape measure.

(11) To record on magnetic tape (although the phrase “to tape” is used also to refer to recording and similar activities even when no physical tape is used.

(12) As red tape, a slang term referencing bureaucratic inefficiency and delay, named after the literal red (actually often a shade of mauve) for centuries used in the British civil service to secure un-bound files.

(13) In mechanical printing, a strong flexible band rotating on pulleys for directing the sheets in a printing machine (mostly obsolete).

Pre 1000: From the Middle English tape (an unexplained variant of tappe), from the Old English tæppa & tæppe (ribbon, strip (of cloth), literally “part torn off”), akin to the Middle Low German tappen & tāpen (to grab, pull, rip, tear, snatch, pluck) and related to the Old Frisian tapia (to pull, rip, tear), the Middle High German zāfen & zāven (to pull, tear) and the Middle Dutch tapen (to tear).  The source of the Old English tæppa & tæppe is uncertain but etymologists suggest they may be back-formations from the Latin tapete (cloth, carpet).  The original short vowel became long in Middle English.  Tape is the singular, the present participle is taping and the simple past and past participle taped.  The noun plural is tapes.

Many other languages picked up tape or localized variations including Danish (tape), Dutch (tape), Hausa (têf), Hindi (टेप (ṭep)), Irish (téip), Japanese テープ (tēpu), Korean (테이프 (teipeu)), Norwegian (both Nynorsk & Bokmål) (tape & teip), Swahili (tepe), Swedish (tape & tejp), Thai (เทป (téep)), Tibetan (ཊེབ (ṭeb)), Turkish (teyp), Phalura (ṭeép) and Welsh (tâp) although, since tape began to be used in the context recording & storage media, the English “tape” is often used even if a local form exists in the sense of “to bind” or “a strip of fabric” etc).

Tape scene: Lindsay Lohan as Tess Conway in Freaky Friday (2003).

Adhesive tape dates from 1885 and until the form prevailed, the product was known also as friction tape and two of the best-known, Gaffer tape and duct tape are often confused but, being designed for different purposes, are not interchangeable; distinct in construction and intended application, there can be unfortunate consequences if one is used for tasks where the other would be more appropriate.  The first tape recorders in the modern sense of a "device for recording sound on magnetic tape" were available for sale in 1932 and were then “reel-to-reel” machines, a re-use of the 1892 application describing a "device for recording data on ticker tape", that tape in the sense of "paper strip of a printer", dating from 1884.  Strangely, the verb form “tape-record” seems not to have be used prior to 1950; audio-tape is said to from 1957 whereas, counter-intuitively, videotape is attested as a noun from 1953 and a verb from 1958, the explanation being that tape was more widely used earlier in film & television production than in the recording industry which, needing less storage space until technologies like LP (long-playing) records and stereo were adopted.  The tape-measure is attested from 1873 and the technical phrase “tape-delay” is from 1968 although the associated techniques had been in use for some time.  The disgusting tapeworm was first named in 1705, so called for its ribbon-like shape.

The phrase red tape (official bureaucratic routine or formula especially the excessive rigmarole), dates from 1736 and refers to the red tape (often also a shade of mauve), formerly used in the British civil service (and many of the colonies including the Raj) for binding up legal and other official documents, the item (requisitioned by the roll) mentioned in the civil service supply lists fist in the 1690s.  The familiar Sellotape was first sold in the UK in 1949 and is a proprietary name of a popular brand of cellulose or plastic adhesive tape.  The noun cassette, much associated with magnetic tape is from the 1793 French cassette (a little box), from a diminutive of the Old North French casse (box) and the first cassettes in the sense of "magnetic tape cartridge" is from 1960.  The ticker tape dates from 1891 and was the actual physical paper tape on which was printed the information (stock prices, news et al) and was derive from the 1883 ticker (telegraphic device for recording stock market quotations), so made because the printing was by means of impact and thus made a ticking sound when in operation.

Marilyn Monroe's dress

Kim Kardashian (b 1980) wore to the 2022 Met Gala the marquisette dress made famous by Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962) when she appeared to sing happy birthday Mr President to President Kennedy (1917-1963; US president 1961-1963) during a Democratic Party fundraiser at Madison Square Garden on 19 May 1962, ten days before the actual birthday.  Within three months, she would be dead.

It couldn’t be expected to cause quite the same stir as sixty years earlier because, cut from a sheer, silk marquisette that almost exactly matched Ms Monroe’s skin-tone, the 2500 hand-sewn rhinestones were intricately positioned to respond to the particular gait she chose for that evening and, under the limelight in the darkened amphitheater, as she moved, the crystals sparkled and the dress came alive.  It was quite a design.  In the hard, white light of the Met Gala’s red carpet, it couldn’t be expected to work the magic it did all those years ago and, not shimmering in the darkness, it seemed lifeless and perhaps it would have benefited from the contrast her lustrous natural hair would have lent but Ms Kardashian wore it well, attracting admiration (and criticism from the usual suspects) too for the reasonable achievement of shedding some 16 lbs (7¼ KG) in three weeks to ensure a comfortable fit.  Digesting the implications of that, keen-eyed fashionistas noted the vintage white coat which Ms Kardashian kept strategically positioned below the small of her back for the ritual walk to and up the staircase, some taking to Twitter to wonder if it was there to conceal that things were quite fully done-up.

The theory is plausible; it’s always been known that in 1962, Ms Monroe had to be “sewn-into” the dress just before the performance.  The day after the Met Gala, photographs circulated purporting to show Ms Kardashian with a generously sized, pear-shaped lacuna between the seams, accompanied with the accusation that the images showing things done up had been digitally modified and the haters were certainly out, one distressed soul lamenting that for Ms Kardashian to wear the dress "...was an absolute disgrace, a tacky photo opportunity" and that "...one of the most important items of clothing in history, is now tainted with the stain of the Kardashians."  There are people who do take pop-culture very seriously.  The green dress she changed into after her ascent had similar lines (and perhaps slightly more generous dimensions) but was certainly done-up and anyway, in either, she looked gorgeous. 

Kim Kardashian demonstrating gaffer tape used in a way not included in the manufacturer's instructions, February 2016.

On that night in 1962, Ms Munroe eschewed underwear but, despite the absent 16 pounds, in 2022 there was still a little more to accommodate than that for which the original structural engineering was designed to cope.  Fortunately, through long practice and extensive product development, Ms Kardashian has some expertise in invisible support, in February 2016 publishing her findings:

“I’ve used everything from duct tape to packing tape to masking tape and I think that the best I’ve found is gaffer's tape,” she said.  "It sticks the best. Make sure you don't have any lotion or oils on when you're lifting your boobs up with the tape.  Just brace yourself for when it's time to take it off, LOL."

That was of course the problem, gaffer tape intended to stick to a range of dry surfaces including timber, metal and carpet but certainly not human skin, the consequences including irritation, reddening and even losing layers of skin.  In response, Ms Kardashian developed a tape which combined the functionality of gaffer tape with the strength and durability to support the weight yet able to be removed with the effortlessness of surgical tape, leaving the skin un-damaged.  Such tapes have been sold for a while, the industry jargon being “tit tape” but the Kardashian version is claimed to be better and, significantly, available in three tones which should suit most skin colors.  Simply called “Body Tape”, it comes in rolls and can be cut to suit, preparation otherwise limited to peeling off the paper backing before applying to achieve the desired effect.  Borrowing from the concept of gaffer tape, Body Tape is reinforced with a flexible stretch cotton, designed to be not too flexible because it needs to stretch only to accommodate human movement while retaining a natural look; it must therefore exist in a “goldilocks zone”, that sweet spot between elasticity and rigidity.

On her Skims website, there’s a helpful promotional video demonstrating Body Tape being applied to a model, the commentary emphasizing it needs to be placed at an angle which will suit the clothing with which it’s to be worn and that typically will mean describing a diagonal angle which will vary according to the neckline being accommodated.  It’s a process which might be better done by two so it’s something couples can enjoy together although, with practice, presumably one would become adept at taping one’s self.  When clothed, the results were impressive though obviously results will vary according to technique and the raw material involved.  The final test was of course was the removal, the reason Body Tape was developed and, without any obvious discomfort, the model peeled off the tape.  "That wasn't painful at all", cheerfully she confirmed.

Skims Body Tape (edited highlights).

The Watergate tapes and the erased 18½ minutes

Looking over his shoulder: Richard Nixon (right) and HR Halderman (left) in the White House.

Tapes, audio and video, have played a part in many political downfalls but none is more famous than the “smoking gun” tape which compelled the resignation of Richard Nixon (1913-1994; US president 1969-1974) after it revealed he was involved in the attempt to cover-up the involvement in the Watergate break-in of some connected to his administration.  Recording conversations in the White House had been going on for years and Nixon initially had the equipment removed, the apparatus re-installed two years later after it was found there was no other way to ensure an accurate record of discussions was maintained.  Few outside a handful of the president’s inner circle knew of the tapes and they became public knowledge only in mid-1973 when, under oath before a congressional hearing, a White House official confirmed their existence.  That was the point at which Nixon should have destroyed the tapes and for the rest of his life he must sometimes have reflected that but for that mistake, his presidency might have survived because, although by then the Watergate scandal had been a destabilizing distraction, there was at that point no “smoking gun”, nothing which linked Nixon himself to any wrongdoing.  As it was, he didn’t and within days subpoenas were served on the White House demanding the tapes and that made them evidence; the moment for destruction had passed.  Nixon resisted the subpoenas, claiming executive privilege and thus ensued the tussle between the White House and Watergate affair prosecutors which would see the “Saturday Night Massacre” during which two attorneys-general were fired, the matter ultimately brought before the US Supreme Court which ruled against the president.  Finally, the subpoenaed tapes were surrendered on 5 August 1973, the “smoking gun” tape revealing Nixon HR Haldeman, 1926–1993 (White House chief of staff 1969-1973) discussing a cover-up plan and at that point, political support in the congress began to evaporate and the president was advised that impeachment was certain and even Republican senators would vote to convict.  On 8 August, Nixon announced his resignation, leaving office the next day.

Uher 5000 reel-to-reel tape recorder used by a White House secretary to create the tape (20 June 1972) with the 18½ minute gap.  (Government Exhibit #60: Records of District Courts of the United States, Record Group 21. National Archives Identifier: 595593).

To this day, mystery surrounds one tape in particular, a recording of a discussion between Nixon and Halderman on 20 June 1972, three days after the Watergate break-in.  Of obviously great interest, when reviewed, there was found to be a gap of 18½ minutes, the explanations offered of how, why or by whom the erasure was effected ranging from the humorously accidental to the darkly conspiratorial but half a century on, it remains a mystery.  Taking advantage of new data-recovery technology, the US government did in subsequent decades make several attempts to “un-delete” the gap but without success and it may be, given the nature of magnetic tape, that there is literally nothing left to find.  However, the tape is stored in a secure, climate-controlled facility in case technical means emerge and while it’s unlikely the contents would reveal anything not already known or assumed, it would be of great interest to historians.  What would be even more interesting is the identity of who it was that erased the famous 18½ minutes but that will likely never be known; after fifty years, it’s thought that were there to be any death-bed confessions, they should by now have been heard.  Some have their lists of names of those who might have "pressed the erase button" and while mostly sub-sets of Watergate's "usual suspects", one who tends not to appear is Nixon himself, the usual consensus being he was technically too inept to operate a tape machine though it's not impossible he ordered someone to do the deed.  However it happened, the suspects most often mentioned as having had their "finger on the button" (which may have been a foot-pedal) are Nixon's secretary and his chief of staff.

Canon

Canon (pronounced kan-uhn)

(1) An ecclesiastical rule or law enacted by a council or other competent authority and, in the Roman Catholic Church, approved by the pope; the body of ecclesiastical law.

(2) One of a body of dignitaries or prebendaries attached to a cathedral or a collegiate church; a member of the chapter of a cathedral or a collegiate church.

(3) In the Roman Catholic Church. one of the members (canons regular) of certain religious orders.  Historically, a member of either the Augustinian or Premonstratensian, living communally as monks but performing clerical duties

(4) The body of rules, principles, or standards accepted as axiomatic and universally binding in a field of study or art.

(5) A fundamental principle or general rule.

(6) A standard; criterion.

(7) The books of the Bible recognized by any Christian church as genuine and inspired.

(8) Any officially recognized set of sacred books.

(9) A piece of music in which an extended melody in one part is imitated successively in one or more other parts (fugal).

(10) A size of printer's type equal to 48 point (archaic).

(11) In hymnography, a kind of hymn in Eastern Orthodox Christianity

(12) In bellfounding, one or more hanging loops cast integrally with the crown

1150-1200: In ecclesiastical use, from the Middle English canonicus (shared with French), a back formation from the Old English canōnic (one under rule), from the Medieval Latin canōnicus (of or under rule).  The word in Ancient Greek was kanōnikós from kanon (any straight rod or bar; rule; standard of excellence), possibly from kanna (reed).  As applied to the clergy, the title dates from circa 1200, from the Anglo-French canun, from the Old North French canonie (which is Modern French is chanoine), from the Church Latin canonicus (clergyman living under a rule), the noun use of the Latin adjective canonicus (according to rule).  The meaning “standard, accepted list” is from the Old English, again from the Latin, from the Greek kanōn (rule, rod for measuring, standard), related to kanna (a reed or cane) and in English, dates from circa 1400 but only in the context of the lists assembled for ecclesiastical purposes.

The Latin word was taken in ecclesiastical use for "decree of the Church" and eventually this expanded into the codified "Canon Law" of the Church.  The general sense of "a rule or principle" dates from the late fourteenth century while the idea of a "standard of judging" is from circa 1600.  From circa 1400 as "The Scriptures", the word was applied to those books of the Bible accepted by the Christian church" and this later extended to secular books of admitted excellence or supremacy (an most importantly meeting the approval of the Church) and in some archives there are a number of such lists but according to Harold Bloom (1930-2019) who noted the history in The Western Canon (1994), the "...secular canon, with the word meaning a catalog of approved authors, does not actually come into use until the mid-eighteenth century."

Thou shalt not.

The canon as a "catalogue of acknowledged saints" is from 1727, reflecting the implications of the late fourteenth century verb canonize and the companion noun canonization.  To canonize was to "place officially in the canon or calendar of saints" and was from the Old French canonisier and directly from the Medieval Latin canonizare, from the Late Latin canon (church rule, catalogue of saints).  The noun canonization (act of enrolling a beatified person among the saints) was from the Medieval Latin canonizationem (nominative canonizatio), the noun of action from the past-participle stem of canonizare.  Use has varied greatly between pontificates, something explained by the power to canonize lying exclusively in the gift the pope since 1179.  The related forms are canonized, canonizing and the marvelous canonicity.  The use in music to describe "a kind of fugal composition" is from the 1590s.

In the traditional sense of the Western canon of literature, although never a fixed-set, it’s become increasingly contested, even to the point of being criticized, inter alia, by post-modernists, critical theorists, Marxists and feminists as a form of cultural imperialism.  Canonical is the adjectival form.

Lindsay Lohan's canon of film

1998 The Parent Trap

2003 Freaky Friday

2004 Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen

2004 Mean Girls

2005 Herbie: Fully Loaded

2005 My Scene Goes Hollywood: The Movie

2006 A Prairie Home Companion

2006 Just My Luck

2006 Bobby

2006 Friendly Fire

2006 The Holiday

2007 Chapter 27

2007 Georgia Rule

2007 I Know Who Killed Me

2009 Labor Pains

2010 Machete

2011 Lindsay Lohan

2012 First Point

2013 Inappropriate Comedy

2013 Scary Movie 5

2013 The Canyons

2015 Till Human Voices Wake Us

2019 Among the Shadows (The Shadow Within in some markets)

2022 Falling for Christmas

2023 Irish Wish

A romantic nihilist's canon of film

1939 Wuthering Heights

1958 Touch of Evil

1958 Vertigo

1964 Dr Strangelove

1970 Zabriskie Point

1971 A Clockwork Orange

1971 Dirty Harry

1973 The Exorcist

1979 Nosferatu the Vampyre

1986 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2

1987 Nightmare on Elm Street III

1987 Withnail and I

1990 Truly, Madly, Deeply

1991 Europa (Zentropa in the US)

1991 Delicatessen

Eliminate, Exterminate & Eradicate

Eliminate (pronounced ih-lim-uh-neyt)

(1) To remove or get rid of, especially as being in some way undesirable.

(2) To omit, especially as being unimportant or irrelevant; leave out.

(3) To remove from further consideration or competition, especially by defeating in sport or other competitive contest.

(4) To eradicate or kill.

(5) In physiology, to void or expel from an organism.

(6) In mathematics, to remove (a quantity) from an equation by elimination.

(7) In sport, as elimination & eliminator (drag racing): category classifications. 

1560–70: From the Latin ēlīminātus (thrust out of the doors; expel), past participle of ēlīmināre, the construct being ē- (out) + līmin- (stem of līmen (threshold)) + -ātus (the Latin first/second-declension suffix (feminine -āta, neuter -ātum)).  The most commonly used form in Latin appears to have been ex limine (off the threshold).  Used literally at first, the sense of "exclude" was first attested in 1714; the now obsolete sense of "expel waste from the body" emerged circa 1795 although the general sense of an "expulsion of waste matter" is from 1855.  Eliminate is a verb, if used with an object, the verbs are eliminated & eliminating, eliminability, eliminant & eliminability are nouns and eliminable, eliminative and eliminatory are adjectives.

Exterminate (pronounced ik-stur-muh-neyt)

Totally to destroy (living things, especially pests or vermin); annihilate; extirpate.

1535–1545: From the Latin exterminātus, past participle of extermināre (to drive away (from terminus boundary)), perfect passive participle of exterminō, the construct being ex- + terminō (I finish, close, end), from terminus (limit, end).  In Late Latin there was also the sense "destroy" from the phrase ex termine (beyond the boundary), ablative of termen (boundary, limit, end).  The meaning "utterly to destroy" appeared in English only by the 1640s, a sense found earlier in equivalent words in French and in the Vulgate; earlier in this sense was the mid-fifteenth century extermine.  Exterminator actually came earlier: as early as circa 1400, the Late Latin exterminator (from past participle stem of exterminare) had the sense of "an angel who expells (people from a country) and, by 1848, as a “substance for ridding a place of rats etc) and by 1938 this was applied to a person whose job it was.  Exterminate is a verb, used with an object the verbs are exterminated & exterminating, exterminable, exterminative & exterminatory are adjectives and extermination & exterminator are nouns.

Eradicate (pronounced ih-rad-i-keyt)

(1) To remove or destroy utterly; extirpate.

(2) To erase by rubbing or by means of a chemical solvent or other agent.

(3) Of plants, to pull up by the roots.

1555–1565: From the Latin ērādīcātus (usually translated as “destroy utterly”; literally “pull up by the roots”), past participle of ērādīcāre (root out, extirpate, annihilate), the construct being ē- (out) + rādīc- (stem of rādīx (root) (genitive radicis)) + -ātus (the Latin first/second-declension suffix (feminine -āta, neuter -ātum)).  The assimilated form of ērādīcāre is derived from the primitive Indo-European wrād (branch, root) and from the same source, the native form of the same idea existed in mid-fifteenth century Middle English as outrōten (to root (something) out; eradicate).  A surprisingly recent creation in 1794 was ineradicable and within a few years, ineradicably.  Eradicate is a verb, eradicant is an adjective and noun, eradicated & eradicating are verbs (used with object), eradicable & eradicative are adjectives, eradicably is an adverb, eradication & eradicator are nouns.

Eliminate, exterminate and eradicate in the age of pandemics

In Modern English usage, eliminate, exterminate and eradicate are often used interchangeably despite differences in nuance.  This means also the wealth of synonyms the three enjoy are sometimes haphazardly used although some overlap does exist, the synonyms including: annihilate, expunge, abolish, erase, uproot, extinguish, efface, demolish, total, abate, liquidate, obliterate, trash, squash, purge, extirpate, scratch, slaughter, decimate, execute, massacre, abolish, erase, extirpate, destroy, oust, waive, ignore, defeat, cancel, exclude, disqualify, invalidate, drop, eject, expel, liquidate, omit, terminate, slay, discard & disregard.

In the (relatively) happy times before the emergence of SARS-Cov2's Delta variant, the New Zealand prime minister declared COVID-19 “eradicated but not eliminated” which did sound given that, regarding disease, the words have specific, technical meanings.  In the context of disease, eradication refers to the complete and permanent worldwide reduction to zero new cases through deliberate effort.  Elimination refers to the reduction to zero (or a very low defined target rate) of new cases in a defined geographical area, which can be any size, a province, country, continent or hemisphere.  As used by virologists and epidemiologists therefore, eradication is used in its normal conversational sense but elimination is applied with a specific technical meaning.  There is a quirk to this. The World Health Organization (WHO) certified the global eradication of smallpox in 1980 although small cultures remain in US and Russian research laboratories.  If these residual stocks are ever destroyed, the WHO may adopt some new term to distinguish between eradication in the wild and an absolute extermination from the planet.  Nobody seems now to believe COVID-19 will ever be eliminated, exterminated or eradicated.  It seems here to stay.

Defendants in the dock, International Military Tribunal (IMT, the main Nuremberg trial (1945-1946)). 

The meanings of eliminate, exterminate & eradicate, both in their English senses and in translation from German have been debated before.  Although not defined in law until the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG), the newly (1944) created word genocide appeared in the indictments served at the main Nuremberg trial (1945-1946) upon those accused under count IV, crimes against humanity.  This attracted the interest of lawyers who noted the words exterminate and eliminate appear both in the academic and legal discussions about the novel concept of genocide and in translations of many documents from the Third Reich which related to the Jews.  Defense counsel probed what was meant by these words and whether, in original or translation, their actual meaning in the context of their use was in accord with what was meant when applied to genocide.  The etymological excursion didn’t much help the defendants, most of whom were hanged.  Hermann Göring also raised an objection to a translation from the German being rendered as "final solution to the Jewish problem" rather than "total solution" which, he argued, should compel the court to draw a different inference.  In both discussions, the judges concluded what was being discussed was mass-murder and the relative degree of applicability between synonyms was not a substantive point.

Professionals in the field of pest control actually stick more closely to classic etymology in their technical distinction between the two central words: extermination and eradication.  Extermination (from the Latin, exterminare meaning “out of the boundary” and related to the deity Terminus who presided over boundaries) means to drive the pests beyond the boundaries of the building.  It doesn’t of necessity mean the pests are all dead, just that they are no longer in the building.  Eradicate (from the Latin eradicare meaning to root out) refers to the processes leading to extermination, to bring to light the breeding spots, the places where the infestation has, so to speak, taken root.

Putsch

Putsch (pronounced poo-ch)

A (usually violent) sudden uprising; a political revolt, especially a coup d'état.

1915:  From the German Putsch, derived from the Swiss or Alemannic German Putsch (knock, thrust, blow) and therefore of imitative origin.  It picked up the meaning “a political coup” in standard German through Swiss popular uprisings of the 1830s, especially the Zurich revolt of September 1839; first noted in English in 1915.

Operation Hummingbird (1934): Crushing the "Röhm Putsch"

Adolf Hitler looking at Ernst Röhm, 1934.

Nacht der langen Messer (Night of the Long Knives), also called Unternehmen Kolbri (Operation Hummingbird) was a purge executed in Nazi Germany between 30 June-2 July 1934, when the regime carried out a number of extrajudicial executions, ostensibly to crush what was referred to as "the Röhm Putsch".  Targets of the purge were those in the Nazi (National-Socialist) movement labelled as identifying with the need to continue the revolution so it would be as much socialist as it was nationalist.  Ironically, at the time, there was no putsch planned although Ernst Röhm (1887–1934; chief of the Sturmabteilung (the stormtroopers (the SA)), head of the four-million strong SA had certainly in the past hinted at one.

Hermann Göring, 1934.

Intended by Adolf Hitler (1889-1945; head of government (1933-1945) & head of state (1934-1945) in Nazi Germany) to be a short, sharp hit with a handful of arrests, Hummingbird suffered the not infrequent fate of operations during the Third Reich: mission creep.  By the time Hummingbird ended in early July, Heinrich Himmler (1900–1945; Reichsführer SS (Schutzstaffel (Security Section (or Squad)) 1929-1945), his henchman Reinhard Heydrich (1904–1942; high-ranking SS official, chief of Reich Security Main Office (Gestapo, Sipo, Kripo & SD 1939-1942) and Hermann Göring (1893–1946; leading Nazi 1923-1945 and Hitler's designated successor 1941-1945), then a dynamic force, settled scores and, including collateral damage, the death toll was probably around 180.  Even Hitler thought that a bit much and worried for days there might be consequences but he addressed the parliament, claimed it was a matter of national security and received the thanks of the president for sorting things out.  All’s well that ends well.

The Nazi state was so extreme in its depravity and gangsterism it can be difficult fully to appreciate the enormity of what was done in 1934 and, dreadful as it was, the regime would get worse.  After Nacht der langen Messer, the Nazis cast themselves loose from the moorings of civilization, first drifting, later accelerating towards the holocaust.  The appalling nature of Nacht der langen Messer is best understood by imagining it happening in Australia under vaguely similar circumstances. 

Operation Galah (2018): Crushing the Dutton Putsch

Malcolm Turnbull & Scott Morrison.

At about 4:30am, Malcolm Turnbull and his entourage flew into Brisbane.  From the airport they drove to Federal Police headquarters, where an enraged Turnbull dismissed the police chief and told him he would be shot.  Later that day, he was executed while a large number of other police were arrested.  Turnbull meanwhile assembled a squad of federal police and departed for the northern suburbs hotel where Peter Dutton and his followers were staying.  With Turnbull's arrival around 6:30am, Dutton and his supporters, still in bed, were taken by surprise.  The squad stormed the hotel and Turnbull personally placed Dutton and other prominent Liberal-Party conservatives under arrest. According to Michaelia Cash, Turnbull turned Abbott over to "two detectives holding pistols with safety catches off".  Turnbull ordered Eric Abetz, George Christensen, Kevin Andrews and others in Dutton’s group immediately to be taken outside, put up against a wall and shot.

Christopher Pyne.

Although Turnbull presented no evidence of a plot by Dutton to overthrow his government, he nevertheless denounced the leadership of the conservative faction.  Arriving back at Liberal Party headquarters in Canberra, Turnbull addressed the assembled crowd and, consumed with rage, denounced "the worst treachery in world history". He told the crowd that "…undisciplined and disobedient characters and malcontents" would be annihilated. The crowd, which included party members and some Dutton supporters fortunate enough to escape arrest, shouted its approval.  Christopher Pyne, jumping with excitement, even volunteered to “shoot these traitors".

Julie Bishop & Peter Dutton.

Julie Bishop, who had been with Turnbull in Brisbane, set the final phase of the plan in motion and upon returning to Canberra, telephoned Scott Morrison at 11:00am with the codeword "Galah" to let loose the execution squads on the rest of their unsuspecting victims.  Some 180 enemies of the moderate faction were killed, most by shooting although there were mistakes; the music critic of the Courier Mail was executed because of a filing error when mixed-up with a member of the Young Liberals with a similar name.  The Liberal Party sent a wreath to the funeral.

Eric Abetz & Scott Morrison.

The regime did not limit itself to a purge of the Liberal-Party conservatives.  Having banished some of them from the ministry, Turnbull and Bishop used the occasion to add to the list some moderates he considered unreliable.  Also executed were Barnaby Joyce and two other members of the National Party, apparently just because Turnbull hated them.  Another against whom he had long held a grudge, a former Treasury official, met an especially gruesome fate, his body found in a wood outside Canberra, beaten to death with a vintage mechanical adding machine.

Tony Abbott & Kevin Andrews.

Dutton, along with Tony Abbott, briefly was held in a cell at Liberal Party headquarters while Turnbull considered their fate.  In the end, he decided Dutton and Abbott had to die and, at Turnbull’s behest, Tim Wilson and Trent Zimmermann visited Dutton and Abbott.  Once inside the cell, they handed each of them a pistol loaded with a single bullet and told them they had ten minutes to kill themselves or they would do it for them.  Abbott demurred, telling them, "If I am to be killed, let Malcolm do it himself."  Having heard nothing in the allotted time, Wilson and Zimmermann returned to the cell to find them still alive, Abbott standing in a gesture of defiance, wearing just his Speedos.  They were then both shot dead.

George Christensen.

As the purge claimed the lives of so many prominent members of the party, it could hardly be kept secret.  At first, its architects seemed split on how to handle the event and Morrison instructed police stations to burn "all documents concerning the action of the past two days". Meanwhile, Julie Bishop tried to prevent newspapers from publishing lists of the dead, but at the same time used a radio address to describe how Turnbull had narrowly prevented Dutton and Abbott from overthrowing the government and throwing the country into turmoil.  Then, Turnbull justified the purge in a nationally broadcast speech in the House of Representatives.

“If anyone reproaches me and asks why I did not resort to the regular courts of justice, then all I can say is this. In this hour I was responsible for the fate of the Australian people, and thereby I became the supreme judge of the Australian people. I gave the order to shoot the ringleaders in this treason, and I further gave the order to cauterise down to the raw flesh the ulcers of this poisoning of the wells in our domestic life. Let the nation know that its existence—which depends on its internal order and security—cannot be threatened with impunity by anyone! And let it be known for all time to come that if anyone raises his hand to strike the state, then certain death is his lot”.

Peter Dutton & Malcolm Turnbull, 2016 General Election.

Concerned with presenting the massacre as legally sanctioned, Turnbull had the cabinet approve a measure that declared, "The measures taken to suppress treasonous assaults are legal as acts of self-defence by the State."  Attorney-General Christian Porter, a one-time conservative, demonstrated his loyalty to the regime by drafting the statute which added a veneer of lawfulness.  Signed into law as the Law "Regarding Measures of State Self-Defence", it retroactively legalised the murders committed during the purge.  Australia's legal establishment further capitulated to the regime when a leading legal scholar wrote an article defending Turnbull’s speech. It was named "The Prime-Minister Upholds the Law".  From Yarralumla, the governor-general sent Turnbull a personally-signed letter expressing his "profoundly felt gratitude" and he congratulated the prime-minister for "nipping treason in the bud".

Splatter

Splatter (pronounced splat-er)

(1) To splash and scatter upon impact.

(2) An act or instance of splattering, typically a spray of mud, paint, blood or other liquids which results in many small blobs, some of which may coalesce.

(3) The quantity or the residue of something so splattered; An uneven shape (or mess) created by something dispersing on impact.

(4) In film as “splatter film” or “splatter movie”, a production characterized by gory imagery, often for its own sake (something of this the type often referred to as “a splatterfest”).  Splatterpunk is either a fork or synonym depending on interpretation.  In film, the splatter ecosystem is treated by those who take such things seriously as a sub-set of the horror genre.

(5) In modern art, as “splatter art” or “splatter painting”, a technique in which paint is (variously) dripped thrown, squirted, flicked etc onto the surface (although because of its history, “drip painting” to often treated as a separate stream (or drip)).

(6) In radio, spurious emissions resulting from an abrupt change in a transmitted signal.

1760s: The origin is uncertain but it’s presumed to be a portmanteau word, the construct being spla(sh) + (spa)tter.  Splash was probably a variant of the Middle English plasch & plasche, from the Old English plæsċ (pool, puddle) and thought likely an imitative form.  It was cognate with the Dutch plas (pool, watering hole) and related to the West Frisian plaskje (to splash, splatter), the Dutch plassen (to splash, splatter) and the German platschen (to splash).  The construct of spatter was probably the Middle Low German or Dutch spatt(en) (to spout, burst) +‎ -er (the frequentative suffix) and related to spit (saliva).  Splatter, splatterdash & splattering are nouns & verbs, splatterer & splatterfest are nouns, splattered is a verb and splattery is an adjective; the noun plural is splatters.

The verb in the sense of “splash; scatter about; make a noise as of splashing water” developed from the noun and was in use by at least 1784 but the earlier splatterdash (thought a variant of spatterdash) was noted a decade-odd earlier, a development of the noun spatterdash (leather covering for the lower leg to protect from mud) from the late seventeenth century.  Splatterdash meant “in a haphazard manner; work performed in a disorganized way” and was thought (either by intent or mistake) to have evolved from or been influenced by the earlier slapdash.  The early eighteenth century splatter-faced (having a broad, flat face) was probably a perversion of platter-faced, the modern version being “plate-faced”.  Splatterpunk was in 1986 apparently coined by award-winning US writer David J Schow (b 1955), noted for his many contributions to the horror industry and the splatter fork in particular. The first known reference to its use was during his celebrated appearance at the Twelfth World Fantasy Convention in Providence, Rhode Island.  Devoted fans of the splatter movie genre often self-identify as splatterpunks.

I Know Who Killed Me (2007) was for years was a fixture on "Worst Movie Ever" lists but more recently it has built a cult following (for reasons right and wrong) and the longevity in the interest it sustains has made it one of the genre's more enduring (and profitable) titles.  It was an example of a splatter movie "cross-over" in that the splatter aspect was ancillary to the crime-focused plot.

The evolution of the splatter movie becomes obvious from around the early 1960s when graphical depictions of violence and increasing volumes of (fake) blood began to appear.  The censorship in most parts of the world was for most of the twentieth century quite rigorous and unlike the attitude of the authorities towards nudity & sex where some jurisdictions tended to be more permissive, the attitude towards violence in films was more restrictive.  The French Grand Guignol (1897-1962) theatre had staged naturalistic dramas in which the gore was said to be “most realistic” but it was unusual and tolerated as an example of intellectual Parisian bohemianism and in early cinema, about the only graphic depictions seen of blood and gore were those in battlefield scenes or anything intended to illustrate the savagery of non-white races.  The trend towards gratuitous violence in film grew in the post-war years and directors in the 1960s pushed the boundaries, something accommodated by different versions of films being released in different markets, some more cut than others.  Such was the flow of violent cinema that the authorities began banning distribution and it wasn’t until the 1990s the practice became uncommon in the West, the classification system restricting to adults those thought most disturbing thought sufficient.  If there’s a convenient watershed in the business, it might be The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) which lived up to its name; after that, all splatter movies can be considered a variation on the theme.

Freier Stress (Stress Free), Oil on linen by Albert Oehlen (b 1954).

Some regards splatter art as something distinct from drip painting (or action painting) while many claim not to be able to tell the difference although because drip painting has an establish place in modern art (one quite respectable according to many including those who pay millions for works by some of the most famous artists), it’s usually treated as something distinct.  As can be imagined, “splatter” is something within the rubric of abstract; throwing paint at a surface, sometimes from a distance of several feet rather than using a brush or even some form of spray, is going to results in something which, even if recognizably something, is at least at the margins going to be chaotic.

Lepanto, Panel 6, oil on canvas by Cy Twombly (1928-2011)

When drip painting burst (splattered?) upon the art world in the early post war years it was a novelty and at least since the late nineteenth century there had among the Western avant-garde been a thirst for the new and the shocking.  At the time first referred to as a form of abstract expressionism, what the early works did manage to convey was the feeling of something spontaneous, the relationship between what appears on the canvas and the physicality of the technique.  There had long been painters working in oil able to represent the gestures of their brush-strokes, usually with a graduated thickness in the layers on the surface but flinging the stuff around the room obviously brought a new violence to art.  Experimentation (and market differentiation) soon following and apart from the drippers and flingers, there were soon flickers, injectors (the use of syringes presumably thought a bit edgy), squeezers (wringing the paint from a soaked cloth), bursters (paint-filled balloons either thrown at the surface or popped from above) and even the odd spitter (paint ejected from the mouth).

Jackson Pollock (1912–1956) at work, dripping.  To the untrained eye, it's really not possible to work out where the dripping ends and the splatter begins or if it matters or if a distinction between cause and effect is helpful.  The most famous of the drip painters and one of art's genuine celebrities, Peggy Guggenheim (1898-1979) claimed he was “...the greatest painter since Picasso.”

Number 17A (1948), oil on fiberboard by Jackson Pollock.  In 2015 it sold for US$200 million which made it then the world's fifth most expensive painting.  An early work, it's thought one of the purest examples of drip painting and as soon as it appeared in the August 1949 edition of Life magazine, Jackson Pollock became famous.   

One thing about splatter art which simultaneously is (for practitioners) an attraction and (for detractors) a damnation is that the conventional skills traditionally needed by painters are not only not required but are simply irrelevant.  One of the most common complaints of the form by an unimpressed public was usually something like “That’s not art, anyone could do that.”  In terms of the techniques that’s certainly true in that anyone can drip, fling, flick, inject, squeeze or burst (most might draw the line at the spit) but the matter for judgment remains what was produced, not how it was done.  It’s the critics who rule on these things and those specializing in splatter (and related techniques) claim the ability to tell the good form the bad and the masterpiece for everything else.  Of course the language used between such critics is something like that of a sect in that while the words might be familiar, the meanings conveyed and the knowledge known secrets concealed from all but the chosen few and their views can be the difference between a piece being worthless or selling at auction for a sex figure sum.  We really have to take their word for it.

Times Square (2022), oil on canvas being painted by Paul Kenton (b 1968).

Paul Kenton describes himself as a “cityscape artist” and combines variations of splatter techniques with some more traditional forms of “editing” to produce works which are closer to the more traditional forms of abstract expressionism than the drip genre defined by Pollock.