Retrospective

Retrospective (pronounced re-truh-spek-tiv)

(1) Directed to the past; contemplative of past situations, events etc.  Of, relating to, or contemplating the past.

(2) Affecting or influencing past things; retroactive

(3) Looking or directed backward; affecting or influencing past things; retroactive.

(4) In law, as “retrospective legislation”, retroactive statutes which can render unlawful, acts which were lawful at the time they were undertaken.

(5) An art exhibit showing an entire phase or representative examples of an artist's lifework.

(6) Any exhibition or series of showings or performances, as of painting or musical composition, representing the work of an artist or performer over all or a major part of a career.

1655-1665: A compound word, the construct being retro- + spect + -ive.  It was from the Classical Latin retrōspectus, perfect passive participle of retrōspiciō (I look back at).  The retro- prefix was from the French rétro, from the Latin retrō (backward, back, behind), from the Proto-Italic wretrō (probably taken from intrō and other similar adverbs).   It was used in loan-words (almost always from the Latin) to add the sense of “backward” (retrogress) and on this model was productive in English (eg retroactive, retrorocket etc).  Spect was from the Latin specio (to look at, perceive, or observe), from specere & spicere (to look, to see), from the Proto-Italic spekjō, from the primitive Indo-European spéḱyeti and was cognate with the Ancient Greek σκέπτομαι (sképtomai), the Avestan spasyeiti and the Sanskrit पश्यति (páśyati).  The –ive suffix was from the Anglo-Norman -if (feminine -ive), from the Latin -ivus.  Until the fourteenth century, all Middle English loanwords from the Anglo-Norman ended in -if (actif, natif, sensitif, pensif etc) and, under the influence of literary Neolatin, both languages introduced the form -ive.  Those forms that have not been replaced were subsequently changed to end in -y (hasty, from hastif, jolly, from jolif etc).  Like the Latin suffix -io (genitive -ionis), the Latin suffix -ivus was appended to the perfect passive participle to form an adjective of action.  Dating from the early fifteenth century, the antonym was prospective, from the late Middle English prospecte, from the Latin prōspectus (outlook, view), past participle of prospicere (to look forward”), the construct being pro- (before, forward) + spect.  Apart from the (often disapproving) use in legal discussion, dating from 1964, the now most familiar form is the noun “retrospective”, short for “retrospective exhibition”, first noted in 1908.  Retrospective is a noun & verb, retrospectivity & retrospectiveness are noun, retrospectively is an adverb; the noun plural is retrospectives.

Retrospective legislation

Since antiquity (with the odd interruption), a central tenant of western legal systems has been nullum crimen, nulla poema sine lege previa (There can be no crime and no punishment without a pre-existing law).  Laws described as ex post facto (after the event) are retrospective and, where found to exist (such as those created to try the surviving Nazi leadership and institutions at the Nuremberg Trials (1945-1949), are the subject of much discussion, some jurisdictions actually prohibiting retrospective laws from being applied to criminal matters but tending to be more permissive in civil matters.

Written with George III in mind, retrospectivity in law was expressly proscribed in the United States Constitution, this covering both Federal and state laws and in the United Kingdom, ex post facto laws are permitted by virtue of the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty (although when the occasion arises, judges have been known to make their disquiet known).  Australia could have proscribed retrospective laws in the constitution but the notion appears never to seriously have been discussed.  Retrospective laws in Australia are rare, the most famous being those enacted in 1980 by the Fraser government (1975-1983) to outlaw the bottom of the harbour tax evasion schemes of the 1970s.  However, parliament must make the retrospectivity explicit in both meaning and extent because, wherever ambiguity has existed, judges have tended to “read-down” the suspect clauses.

Nine paintings from the Lucian Freud Retrospective, Irish Museum of Modern Art (2016).

Top row: Frances Costelloe (2003), Box of Apples in Wales (1939) & Louisa (1998); Middle row: Queen Elizabeth II (2001), Girl in a Fur Coat (1967) & Girl in a Dark Jacket (1947); Bottom row: Woman with Eyes Closed (2002), Self- portrait-Reflection (2004) & Self portrait with Black Eye (1978).

Three of the galleries at the Lindsay Lohan Retrospective by Richard Phillips (b 1962), Gagosian Gallery, 555 West 24th Street, New York, 11 September-20 October 2012.

Described by the artist as an installation, the exhibition was said to be "an example of the way Phillips uses collaborative forms of image production to reorder the relationship of Pop Art to its subjects, the staging and format of these lush, large-scale works said to render them realist portraits of the place-holders of their own mediated existence."  The curator explained the retrospective was conducted as an example of the way collaborative forms of image production can reorder the relationship of Pop Art to its subjects, the staging and format used to render them realist portraits of the place-holders of their own mediated existence.  That seemed to explain things.

Homage

Homage (pronounced hom-ij, om-ij or oh-mahzh)

(1) Respect or reverence paid or rendered.

(2) In feudal era custom & law, the formal public acknowledgment by which a feudal tenant or vassal declared himself to be the man or vassal of his lord, owing him fealty and service; something done in acknowledgment of vassalage (archaic).

(3) The relation thus established of a vassal to his lord (archaic).

(4) Something done or given in acknowledgment or consideration of the worth of another.

(5) To render homage to (archaic except in artistic or historic use).

(6) An artistic work imitating another in a flattering style.

(7) A (sometimes controversial) way of describing an imitation, clone or replica of something.

(8) A demonstration of respect, such as towards an individual after their retirement or death (often in the form of (an obviously retrospective) exhibition).

1250–1300: From the Middle English hommage, omage & umage (the existence of “homage” is contested), from the Old French homage & hommage, from the Medieval Latin homināticum (homage, the service of a vassal or 'man'), the construct being (h)ome (man), from the from Latin hominem, accusative of homō (a man (and in Medieval Latin “a vassal”)) + -āticum (the noun-forming suffix) (-age).  The suffix -age was from the Middle English -age, from the Old French -age, from the Latin -āticum.  Cognates include the French -age, the Italian -aggio, the Portuguese -agem, the Spanish -aje & Romanian -aj.  It was used to form nouns (1) with the sense of collection or appurtenance, (2) indicating a process, action, or a result, (3) of a state or relationship, (4) indicating a place, (5) indicating a charge, toll, or fee, (6) indicating a rate & (7) of a unit of measure.  The verb homage was derived from the noun in the late sixteenth century (the agent noun homager noted from the turn of the fifteenth).  In Scots the spelling was homage and in Irish, ómós and the old synonym manred has been obsolete since the fourteenth century.  The predominately US pronunciation with a silent h happened because of a conflation with the nearly synonymous doublet hommage, pronounced thus.  Homage is a noun & verb, homager is a noun, homaged & homaging are verbs and homageable is an adjective; the noun plural is homages.  Despite the esistance of homager, the noun homagee seems never to have been acknowledged as a standard form.

By convention, the modern use of the form is usually as “pay homage to” but because of the variations in pronunciations (the h silent and not), homage is sometimes preceded by the article “a” and sometimes by “an” and under various influences in popular culture, the French pronunciation has in some circles become fashionable.  The term “lip homage” is much the same as “lip service”: something expressed with “mere words”.  In Middle English, the meanings variously were (1) an oath of loyalty to a liege performed by their vassal; a pledge of allegiance, (2) money given to a liege by a vassal or the privilege of collecting such money, (3) a demonstration of respect or honor towards an individual (including prayer), (4) the totality of a feudal lord's subjects when collected and (5) membership of an organized religion or belief system.  In feudal times, an homage was said to be an “act of fealty”.  The Middle English noun fealty dates from the twelfth century and was from feaute, from the Old French feauté, from fealte (loyalty, fidelity; homage sworn by a vassal to his overlord; faithfulness), from the Latin fidelitatem (nominative fidelitas) (faithfulness, fidelity), from fidelis (loyal, faithful), from the primitive Indo-European root bheidh- (to trust, confide, persuade).  In feudal law, to attorn was to “transfer homage or allegiance to another lord”.  The verb attorn (to turn over to another) was from the Middle English attournen, from the Old French atorner (to turn, turn to, assign, attribute, dispose; designate), the construct being a- (to) + tourner (to turn), from the Latin tornare (to turn on a lathe) from tornus (lathe), from the Greek tornos (lathe, tool for drawing circles), from the primitive Indo-European root tere- (to rub, turn).  Attornment was a part English real property law but was not directly comparable with the operation of those laws which in matters of slavery assigned property rights over human beings which technically were no different than those over a horse.  Attornment recognized there was in the feudal system some degree of reciprocity in rights & obligations and it was held to be unreasonable a tenant should become subject to a new lord without their own approval.  At law, what evolved was the doctrine of attornment which held alienation could not be imposed without the consent of the tenant.  Given the nature of feudal relations it was an imperfect protection but a considerable advance and attornment was also extended to all cases of lessees for life or for years.  The arrangement regarding the historic feudal relationships lasted until the early eighteenth century but attornment persists in modern property law as a mechanism which acts to preserve the essential elements of commercial tenancies in the event of the leased property changing hands.  It provides for what would now be called “transparency” in transactions and ensures all relevant information is disclosed, thereby ensuring the integrity of the due diligence process.

The historical concepts of homage and tribute are sometimes confused.  Homage was a formal ritual performed by a vassal to pledge loyalty and submission to a lord or monarch.  There were variations but the classic model was one in which the vassal would kneel before the lord, place his hands between the lord's hands, and swear an oath of loyalty and service.  That was not merely symbolic for it signified the vassal's acknowledgment of the lord's authority and their willingness to serve and protect the lord in exchange for a right to live on (and from) the land.  The relationship was that creature of feudalism; something both personal and contractual.  Tributes were actual payments made by one ruler or state to another as a sign of submission, acknowledgment of superiority, or in exchange for protection or peace.  Tribute could be paid in gold, other mediums of exchange or in the form of  goods or services.  Tribute was something imposed on a subordinate entity by a dominant power, either as a consequence of defeat in war or as a way of avoiding being attacked (ie a kind of protection racket).  The meaning of homage in feudal property law was quite specific but synonyms (depending on context) now include deference, tribute, allegiance, reverence, loyalty, obeisance, duty, adoration, fealty, faithfulness, service, fidelity, worship, adulation, honor, esteem, praise, genuflection, respect, awe, fidelity, loyalty & devotion.  However, those using homage for anything essentially imitative might find out other synonyms include fake (and more generously faux, tribute, reproduction, pastiche, clone or replica).

One implication of the acceptance of both pronunciations (the “H” silent and not) is that both “a homage” and “an homage” are acceptable in written form although in oral use the later must use the silent “H”.  In US use “an homage” is common with no suggestion of deliberately “formal” use or artistic association although elsewhere in the English-speaking world that does seem the case, movie critics everywhere usually careful to write “an homage” though the style guides seem all to be permissive and caution only that use should be consistent.  There are in English other words where the choice between “a” & “an” is dictated by pronunciation and frequently they’re those where the status of the initial “h” is contested.  Although there are still prescriptive pedants, informally at least there seems to be a general acceptance “H-optional” words do exists and use is a thing of dialect, register or even personal preference.  They wiser style guides also suggest avoiding the “H war” which is the battle over whether the letter “H” should be pronounced aitch or haitch, the former long classed a “U word” as part of “correct” RP (received pronunciation) while the latter was thought “a bit common”.  Historically, the evolution wasn’t quite that linear but in some places (notably Australia where “haichers” were associated with (1) Irish ancestry and (2) being a product of the Roman Catholic education system) the class-identifier sometimes assumed a political dimension.  The modern principle is to accept however individuals choose to “H” and treat it as part of the rich diversity of life.

Other “optional H” words include “herb” (especially in US use), “historic” (which can be tricky because the structure of some sentences bests suits “a historic” while in others “an historic” sounds “natural” and that’s a better guide (at least in oral use) that any “rule”) and “hotel” (although “an hotel” seems used only in poetry or as a deliberate archaism).  The most common mistake is probably with “heir” (pronounced air, that correct use rather cruelly applied by the Duchess of Windsor (Wallis Simpson); 1896–1986) who was known to complain her husband (the former King Edward VIII (1894–1972) “wasn’t “heir conditioned”).  The guiding principle remains to use “a” before words starting with a consonant sound, and “an” before those starting with a vowel sound, a “rule” applied regardless of spelling although in scientific, literary and poetic use there have been exceptions.  Although “a hypothesis” is now the standard form, “an hypothesis” does appear in older texts and it does better suits some sentences.  In poetry both “an harangue” and “an harbinger” were used because metrically things flowed better but euphony in poetry is a special case and in general oral and written use the conventional forms are better.  For historic reasons some outliers do endure such as “an hymn” or “an harlot”, the latter because it’s set in the linguistic stone of the King James Version of the Bible (KJV, 1611) but not even the popular use by contemporary critics of “an horrible” this and that when writing of William Shakespeare’s (1564–1616) more torrid scenes has been enough for that to remain respectable.

Sample from Ariana Grande’s (b 1993) Thank U, Next (2018). 

Singer Ariana Grande’s (b 1993) song Thank U, Next (2018) was one of the year’s big successes and the video included well-constructed references to a number of early-century pop culture products including Legally Blonde (2001) and Mean Girls (2004).  Within popular culture, there seems to be a greater tolerance of works which are in some way an homage, the term “sampling” presumably chosen to imply what was being done was (1) taking only a small fragment of someone else’s work and (2) for all purposes within long established doctrine of “fair use”.  Interestingly, instead of regarding sampling as fair use, US courts initially were quite severe and in many early cases treated the matter as one of infringement of copyright, apparently because while a attributed paragraph here and there in a paper of dozens or hundreds of pages could reasonably seen as “fair use”, a recurring snatch of even a few seconds in a song only three minutes long was not.  Of late, US appeal courts seem to have been more accommodating of sampling and have taken the view the legal doctrine of de minimis which has been used when assessing literary or academic works should apply also to sampling but the mechanics of calculating “fair use” need to be considered in the context of the product.  The Latin phrase de minimis (pertaining to minimal things) was from the expressions de minimis non curat praetor (the praetor does not concern himself with trifles) or de minimis non curat lex (the law does not concern itself with trifles) and was an exclusionary principle by which a court could refuse to hear or dismiss matters to trivial to bother the justice system.  One Queen of Sweden preferred the more poetic Latin adage, aquila non capit muscās (the eagle does not catch flies).  As a legal doctrine, it actually predates its fifteenth century formalization in the textbooks and there are records in civil, Islamic and ecclesiastical courts of Judges throwing out cases because the matters involved were of such little matter.  In many jurisdictions, governments now set a certain financial limit for the matters to be considered, below which they are either excluded or referred to a tribunal established for such purposes.

One suspects artists, architects, film directors and such are inclined to call their work an homage (or probably the French hommage (pronounced omm-arge)) as a kind of pre-emptive strike against accusations of plagiarism or a lack of originality.  Car manufacturers are apt to do it too, examples in recent decades including the BMW Mini, Volkswagen Beetle, Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet Camaro, all of which shamelessly followed the lines of the original versions from generations earlier.  The public response to these retro-efforts was usually positive although if clumsily executed (Jaguar S-Type) derision soon follows.  Sometimes, it’s just a piece which is homaged.  On the Mercedes-Benz CL (C215 1998-2006), the homage was to the roofline of the W111 & W112 coupés (1961-1971), especially the memorable sweep of the rear glass although all of that was itself an homage to the 1955 Chryslers.  It was a shame the C215 didn’t pick up more of the W111’s motifs, the retrospective bits easily the best.

1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 (left) and 2023 Chevrolet Camaro.

The original Chevrolet Camaro (1966-1969) was a response to the original Ford Mustang (1964) which had given the "pony-car" segment both its name and instant popularity.  It was a profitable place to be and while the Camaro's lines were different while adhering to the concept, Chevrolet for 1970 abandoned the look for something almost Italianesque, just as Chrysler picked-up and perfected the cues for the Dodge Challenger & Plymouth, both of which debuted with a splash but didn't last even to the end of 1974 (even Richard Nixon (1913-1994; US president 1969-1974 lasting a little longer), early victims of what would prove a difficult decade.  Chevrolet however picked them up again in 2010 but their homage to 1966 was perhaps a little too heavy-handed, dramatic though the "chop-top" effect was.  Still, the result doubtlessly was better that what would have been delivered had the designers come up with anything original and that's not a problem restricted cars.  One wishes architects would more often pay homage to mid-century modernism or art deco but the issue seems to be all the awards architects give each other are only for originality, thus the assembly line of the ugly but distinctive.

1970 Dodge Challenger (left) and 2023 Dodge Challenger (right).

The original Challenger (and its corporate companions the Plymouth Barracuda & Cuda) was an homage to the 1966 Camaro and so well executed that Chrysler’s pair are thought by many to be the best looking pony cars of the muscle car era.  In 2008 when the look was reprised, it was thought a most a accomplished effort and better received than would be the new Camaro two season later.  Chevrolet must have been miffed Dodge was so praised for paying homage to what in 1969 had been borrowed from their 1966 range.

1979 Volkswagen Beetle Cabriolet by Karmann (left) and 2015 Volkswagen Beetle Cabriolet (right).

First produced in 1938, Volkswagen clung to the rear-engine / air-cooled formula so long it almost threatened the company’s survival and while the public showed little enthusiasm for a return to the mechanical configuration (the Porsche 911 crew are a separate species which, if they had their way, would still not have to bother with cooling fluid), the shape of the Beetle did appeal and over two generations between 1997-2019, the company sold what was initially called the “New Beetle”.  Despite the pre-war lines imposing significant packaging inefficiencies, it was popular enough to endure for almost two decades although the mid-life re-styling never quite succeeded in increasing the appeal to male drivers; to this day the New Beetle remains a quintessential "girl's car".

1966 Austin Mini-Cooper 1275 S (left) and 2001 BMW Mini (right).

Students of the history of design insist the BMW Mini was not so much an homage to the British Motor Corporation’s (BMC) original Mini (1959) but actually to some of the conceptual sketches which emerged from the design office between 1957-1958 but were judged too radical for production.  That was true but there are enough hints and clues in the production models for nobody to miss the point.

1965 Jaguar 3.8 S-Type (left) and 1999 Jaguar S-Type.

Released in 1963, the Jaguar S-Type was an updated Mark 2 with the advantage of more luggage space and markedly improved ride and handling made possible by the grafting on of the independent rear-suspension from the E-Type (XKE) and Mark X (later 420G).  The improvements were appreciated but the market never warmed to the discontinuity between the revised frontal styling and the elongated rear end, the latter working better when a Mark X look was adopted in front and released as the 420.  Still, although never matching the appeal of the classic Mark 2 with its competition heritage, it has a period charm and has a following in the Jaguar collector market.  According to contemporary accounts, the homage launched in 1999 was a good car but it seemed a curious decision to use as a model a vehicle which has always been criticized for its appearance although compared with the ungainly retro, the original S-Type (1963-1968) started to look quite good, the new one the answer to a question something like "What would a Jaguar look like if built by Hyundai?".  As an assignment in design school that would have been a good question and the students could have pinned their answers to the wall as a warning to themselves but it wasn't one the factory should ever have posed.  Quietly, the new S-Type was dropped in 2007 after several seasons of indifferent sales.

1956 Chrysler 300B (left), 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280 SE Coupé (centre) and 2005 Mercedes-Benz SL65 (right).

The 1955-1956 Chryslers live in the shadow cast by the big fins which sprouted on the 1957 cars but they possess a restraint and elegance of line which was lost as a collective macropterous madness overtook (most of) the industry.  Mercedes-Benz in 1961 paid due homage when the 220 SE Coupé (W111; 1961-1971) was released and returned to the roofline with the C215 (1998-2006).  The big coupé was the closest the factory came to styling success in recent years (although the frontal treatment was unfortunate) but one must be sympathetic to the designers because so much is now dictated by aerodynamics.  Still, until they too went mad, the BMW design office seemed  to handle big coupés better.  

In the collector market, there are many low-volume models which have become highly prized.  Some were produced only in low numbers because of a lack of demand, some because the manufacturer needed to make only so many for homologation purposes and some because production was deliberately limited.  Such machines can sell for high prices, sometimes millions so, especially where such vehicles are based on more mundane models produced in greater numbers, many are tempted to “make their own”, a task which car range from the remarkably simple to the actually impossible.  Those creating such things often produce something admirable (and technically often superior to the original) and despite what some say, there’s really no objection to the pursuit provided there is disclosure because otherwise it’s a form of fraud.  When such machines are created, those doing the creating seldom say fake or faux and variously prefer tribute, clone, recreation, homage or replica and those words in this context come with their own nuanced meanings, replica for example not meaning exactly what it does in geometry or database administration.

A 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO in silver (US$70 million) and a fine replica by Tempero of a 1963 model in rosso corsa (racing red) (US$1.2 million).  Even the Ferrari cognoscenti concede the craftsmanship in a Termero replica is of a higher standard than the original. 

As an extreme example of the homage was inspired by the Ferrari 250 GTO, of which it’s usually accepted 36 were built although there were actually 41 (2 x (1961) prototypes; 32 x (1962–63) Series I 250 GTO; 3 x (1962–1963) “330 GTO”; 1 x (1963) 250 GTO with LM Berlinetta-style body & 3 x (1964) Series II 250 GTO).  The 36 in the hands of collectors command extraordinary prices, chassis 4153GT in June 2018 realizing US$70 million in a private sale whereas an immaculately crafted replica of a 1962 version by Tempero (New Zealand), said to be better built than any original GTO (although that is damning with faint praise, those who restore pre-modern Ferraris wryly noting that while the drive-trains were built with exquisite care, the assembly of the coachwork could be shoddy indeed) was listed for sale at US$1.3 million.  Even less exalted machinery (though actually more rare still) like the 1971 Plymouth Hemi Cuda convertible also illustrate the difference for there are now considerably more clones / replicas / recreations etc than ever there were originals and the price difference is typically a factor of ten or more.  On 13 November 2023, the market will be tested when a Ferrari 250 GTO (chassis 3765LM) will be auctioned in New York, RM Sotheby’s, suggesting a price exceeding $US60 million.  A number which greatly exceeds or fails by much to make that mark will be treated a comment on the state of the world economy.

Balkanize

Balkanize (pronounced bawl-kuh-nahyz)

(1) To divide a country, political entity or other geographical territory into small, quarrelsome, ineffectual states (can be initial upper or lower case depending on context of use).

(2) To divide groups or other constructs into contending and usually ineffectual factions (should always be initial lower case).

Circa 1920: A compound word balkan + ize.  Balkan is (1) the descriptor of the geographical Balkan Peninsula and (2) a general term of description for all or some of the countries within and beyond that geographical space.  Word is of Turkic origin, related to the Turkish balkan (wooded mountain range).  The ize suffix is from the Middle English isen (ise, ize), from the Old French iser (ize) from the Latin izāre (ize), derived from the Ancient Greek ίζειν (ízein), the ultimate root being the primitive Indo-European verbal suffix idyé.  It was cognate with other verbal suffixes, the Gothic itjan, the Old High German izzen and the Old English ettan.  It’s often used in conjunction with the suffix ation to produce the suffix forming nouns denoting the act, process, or result of doing something, or of making something, ie a noun of action (eg balkanization).  It’s from the Middle English acioun & acion, from the Old French acion & ation, derived from the Latin ātiō, an alternative form of tiō (from whence tion).  The alternative spelling is balkanise, a mostly British form.

Geopolitics: The Balkans.

Balkanize was coined to describe the turmoil on the Balkan Peninsula circa 1878-1913 when the nominally European section of the Ottoman Empire fragmented into small, warring nations.  There’s no consensus among etymologists regarding the author, most preferring, on the basis of documentary evidence, the English writer James Louis Garvin (1868-1947) while other suggests earlier Germanic sources. The geographical concept of the Balkan Peninsula dates from 1808 which conveniently aligned with the European provinces of the Ottoman Empire although the first known use of the word appears in a fourteenth century Arab map which named the Haemus Mountains and Balkan and Ottoman diplomats used the word in the 1560s.  Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898; Chancellor of the German Empire 1871-1890), Chancellor of Germany during the early decades of the Second Reich, well understood the instability of the Balkans and the threat its squabbles posed to European civilization.  While he affected a complete uninterest in the place, once saying the Balkans wasn’t worth “…the bones of one German soldier” and claimed never to bother opening the diplomatic bag from Constantinople, the troubles of the place often absorbed much of his time.  Although the quote "…the great European War would come out of some damned foolish thing in the Balkans" attributed to him may be apocryphal, he may have predicted the origins of World War I (1914-1918), many sources documenting his prophecy “…it will start in the east” although, much of what he wrote in his memoirs may be retrospective foresight.  Some though recorded their thoughts on the Balkans when memory was fresh.  While working at the UK Foreign Office in 1915, the future politician Duff Cooper (1890–1954) was dealing with the seemingly intractable disputes between Serbia and Bulgaria while managing the effects on Macedonia and Roumania (sic),  He noted in his diary: "If only all those damned little states could be persuaded to pull together."  In the hundred-odd years since, that must have been a sentiment felt by many foreign ministers.  

Geography: The Balkan Peninsula.

To geographers, the Balkans is the peninsula south of Eastern Europe, surrounded by the Adriatic, the Ionian, the Aegean and the Black Sea; to the east lies Asia Minor.  Although there's little dispute among geographers, there have been many disputes about which states should be thought of as "Balkan".  Scholars have their reasons for their particular construct of what makes a geopolitical entity characteristically "Balkan" while others have their own agenda.  At the moment, the closest to a consensus is that eleven nations constitute (politically) the Balkans: (1) Albania, (2) Bosnia and Herzegovina, (3) Bulgaria, (4) Croatia, (5) Kosovo, (6) Moldova, (7) Montenegro, (8) North Macedonia, (9) Romania, (10) Serbia & (11) Slovenia.  It’s because of the historic construct of Greece as a cradle of Western civilization that, despite the geography, it’s not considered Balkan.  A different reservation is applied to the small portion of Türkiye (formerly Turkey) that lies northwest of the Sea of Marmara; because most of the Turkish land-mass lies in Asia-Minor, it’s thought part of West Asia although historically, when it constituted the core of the Old Ottoman Empire, it wasn’t unusual for it to be spoken of as “European”, Nicholas I’s (1796–1855; Tsar of Russia 1825-1855) the memorable phrase describing Turkey as the “sick man of Europe” ever since recycled when criticizing whichever European country was most obviously in economic decline.  In one form or another, Türkiye's application for membership of the EU has languished in various in-trays since 1959 (it was then seeking associate membership of the EEC (European Economic Community)) so the moment of it being thought European may have passed; even Ankara seems to have lost hope.

Lindsay Lohan on the cover of the Croatian edition of Cosmopolitan, May 2006.  Hearst also publishes a Serbian edition.

For centuries, wars, conquest and population movements have meant cross-cutting cleavages have beset the Balkan Peninsula, the bloody break-up in 1992 of the former Yugoslavia (formed at the end of World War II (1939-1945)) the most recent major event and some Balkan states are also considered "Slavic states" as they are typically defined as Slavic-speaking communities (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia), something which influences their relations with nations to the east.  The other regional phrase of note is “Western Balkans”, used to refer to the countries on the western edge, along the Adriatic coast (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia).  The ripples of the convulsions of the last round of balkanization, triggered by the wars of 1991-1995 which followed the breakup of Yugoslavia, may have played out with the constructs of North Macedonia, Kosovo and Montenegro now formalized (although Kosovo remains a work in political progress).  Although there remains the hope the gradual integration of the Balkan states into the EU may impose a permanent peace, the history of the region does suggest it’s one of those places best managed by competing spheres of influence which can administer rolling truces punctuated by occasional, small ethnic wars to effect minor adjustments to borders.  One hopeful sign however is that whatever the antagonistic bellicosity of Balkan politicians, the countries do tend to vote for each other in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Dump

Dump (pronounced duhmp)

(1) To drop something or let fall in a mass; fling down or drop heavily or suddenly.

(2) To empty the contents of something (by tilting, overturning etc).

(3) To dismiss, fire, or release from a contract.

(4) In informal (and very common) use, to end a relationship with someone (especially a romantic partner), used mostly when the action is one-sided although there are many mutual dumpings, even if some are technically retrospective.

(5) Suddenly to transfer or rid oneself of some responsibility, task or duty.

(6) In the slang of boxing (1) to knock down an opponent & (2) intentionally to lose a match.

(7) In commerce (1) to put (goods or securities) on the market in large quantities and at a low price without regard to the effect on market conditions or (2) deliberately to offer goods in large quantities or at prices below the cost of production & distribution in an attempt to drive out competition.

(8) In international trade, to sell (goods) into foreign markets below cost in order to promote exports or damage foreign competition.

(9) In computers, (1) to print, display or record on an output medium the contents of a computer's internal storage or the contents of a file, often at the time a program fails, later to be used to debug or determine the cause or point of failure or (2) as screen dump, to print or create an image file of the screen’s display.

(10) Of precipitation (rain, hail & (especially) snow), heavy downfalls.

(11) In historic use, a small coin made by punching a hole in a larger coin (called a holey dollar and issued in both Canada and Australia).

(12) A deep hole in a river bed; a pool (a northern England regionalism).

(13) In slang, to kill; to arrange or commit murder.

(14) To fall or drop down suddenly.

(15) To throw away, discard etc something.

(16) In informal use, to complain, criticize, gossip, or tell another person one's problems (often as “to dump on”); to treat with disrespect, especially to criticize harshly or attack with verbal abuse.

(17) In vulgar slang, an evacuation of the bowels; to defecate (often as “take a dump”; men especially fond of the phrase “huge dump”).

(18) An accumulation of discarded garbage, refuse etc; a tip or landfill site, also called a dumpsite or dumping-ground.

(19) In military use, a collection of ammunition, stores, etc, deposited at some point, as near a battlefront, for distribution (ammo dump, fuel dump etc).

(20) In mining, a runway or embankment equipped with tripping devices, from which low-grade ore, rock etc., are dumped; the pile of stuff, so dumped.

(21) In informal use, a place, house or town (even a state or entire country according to some) that is dilapidated, dirty, or disreputable.

(22) In merchandising, a bin or specially made carton in which items are displayed for sale.

(23) In surfing (of a wave) to hurl a swimmer or surfer down.

(24) To compact bales of wool by hydraulic pressure (Australian and New Zealand).

(25) A mournful song; a lament; a melancholy strain or tune in music; any tune (obsolete).

(26) A sad, gloomy state of the mind; sadness; melancholy; despondency (usually in the form “down in the dumps”).

(27) Absence of mind; reverie (now rare).

(28) Heavily to knock; to stump (Scottish, obsolete).

(29) A thick, ill-shapen piece (UK, archaic).

(30) A lead counter used in the game of chuck-farthing (UK, archaic).

(31) A type of dance (obsolete).

1300–1350: From the Middle English dompen & dumpen (to fall suddenly, plunge), from the Old Norse dumpa (to thump, strike, bump).  The modern senses of the transitive verb and noun are unknown prior to the nineteenth century and may either be from another source or are an independent expressive formation.  There may have been some Scandinavian influence such as the Norwegian dumpa (suddenly to fall) which may also be linked with other Germanic forms such as the Middle Low German dumpeln (to duck) and the Danish dumpe (suddenly to fall).  The use in the sense of “hole used for the disposal of unwanted items by burying” was a development of the Scots dump (hole in the ground), the Norwegian dump (a depression or hole in the ground), the German Low German dumpen (to submerge) and the Dutch dompen (to dip, sink, submerge), something obviously not unrelated to the early fourteenth century meaning “throw down or fall with force, drop (something or someone) suddenly” which didn’t exist in Old English.  The modern use is actually most modern, the sense “unload en masse, cause to fall out by tilting up a cart etc” not recorded until it emerged in American English by 1784 while that of “discard, abandon” dates from 1919.  The use in economics to describe “export or throw on the market in large quantities at low prices” was first noted in 1868 in the context of anti-competitive practices.  A dumping ground was first documented in 1842 although the term may earlier have been in oral use.  Dump & dumping are nouns & verbs, dumped is a verb, dumper & dumpage are nouns and dumpy is an adjective; the noun plural is dumps.

By 1865, the noun dump was understood as place “where refuse is dumped, piled or heaped; a repository of refuse matter” and applied originally to extractive mining as a development of the verb, the use extending to sites for discarding domestic rubbish by 1872, the earlier “dumping-ground” common by 1857.  The meaning “any shabby or dilapidated place” dates from 1899 while the use by the military to describe places for the “collection of ammunition, equipment etc, deposited at a convenient point for later distribution” was a product of World War I (1914-1918), noted first in 1915 and possibly a development from soldiers’ slang although the later war-time slang to mean “act of defecating” appears to be of civilian origin, noted first in the US in 1942.  The dump-truck was first so described in 1930s and although truck had for decades been used to dump stuff, the name was derived from the use of hydraulic rams to enable to load more quickly to be emptied by raising the load bed or freight compartment at an acute angle.

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

The “Dempster-Dumpster trash-hauling mechanism” remains familiar as the modern “dumpster”, a large, mobile container designed to be removed by a truck and taken away so the contented could be dumped in a dump, the container quickly reused.  It was patented by the Dempster brothers of Knoxville, Tennessee who ran an operation manufacturing waste collection vehicles (which would eventually include the Dempster Dumpmaster and Dempster Dinosaur).  The Dempster-Dumpster system achieved success by creating a system of mechanically emptying standardized metal containers which had been perfected between 1935-1937.  The concept of the dumpster (a standardized design able to be stored, re-used and transported efficiently) later influenced the development of container shipping.  The name dumpster became generic and was itself linguistically productive: “dumpster diving” (1979) described the practice of scavenging from dumpsters while “dumpster fire” was a figurative reference to a situation at once calamitous, foul and either insoluble or, if fixable, not worth the effort.  In use, a “dumpster fire” is similar to a “train wreck” or “shit show” but different from a “hot mess”, hot messes worth fixing because they remain in essence, desirable.  The use of “dumpster fire” spiked in the run-up to the 2016 US presidential election, used not only by both camps but also disillusioned neutrals.

The noun landfill dates from 1916 was a euphemism for dump although unlike some of the breed, it was at least literally true.  The adjective dumpy (short and stout) was from circa 1750 and the origin is undocumented but many etymologists assume it was linked to dumpling (mass of boiled paste (also “a wrapping in which something is boiled”)) which dates from circa 1600 and was from the Norfolk dialect, again of uncertain origin but the source may be Germanic or simply from “lump” (and there are those who argue dumplings were probably originally “lumplings”).  Lump was from the Middle English lumpe, from a Germanic base akin to the Proto-Germanic limpaną (to glide, go, loosely to hang).  “Humpty Dumpty” was a French nursery rhyme hero (it seems first to have been translated into English in 1810) and in the late eighteenth century it had been used to mean “a short, clumsy person of either sex”, presumably a reduplication of Humpty (a pet form of Humphrey (which was used of mandarin Sir Humphrey Appleby in the BBC Television comedy Yes Minister) although a humpty-dumpty in the 1690s was originally was a drink, a cocktail of “ale boiled with brandy” which probably tasted better than it sounds.  The construction was based presumably on hump and dump but the basis has eluded researchers.  In the late twentieth century, “hump & dump” was repurposed to describe the practice (habit, calling, tactic, whatever) of enticing a woman in order to enjoy sex and immediately afterwards leaving, never to ring or call.  It’s subsequently be claimed by bolshie women for much the same purpose; the variations included “fuck & chuck”, “pump & dump:, “jump and dump” and “smash and dash”.

Crooked Hillary dumping on deplorables, Georgia, 2016.

Big buses have long been used by politicians for their campaign tours.  They offer lots of advantages, being offices and communications centres with at least some of their running costs offset by a reduction in staff travel expenses.  Additionally, with five large, flat surfaces, they are a rolling billboard although that can be good or bad.  In 2016, one of crooked Hillary Clinton’s campaign buses was photographed in Lawrenceville, Georgia dumping a tank full of human waste onto the street and into a storm drain.  The local news service reported that when police attended the street was “…was covered in toilet paper and the odor was noxious”.  Hazmat crews were called to clean up the scene and the matter was referred to the environmental protection division of Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources.  The Democratic National Committee (DNC) later issued an apology, claiming the incident was “an honest mistake.”  Using the word “honest” in any statement related to crooked Hillary Clinton is always a bit of a gamble and there was no word on whether the dumping of human excrement had been delayed until the bus was somewhere it was thought many deplorables may be living.  If so, that may have been another “honest mistake” because Gwinett County (in which lies Lawrenceville) voted 51.02% Clinton/Kaine & 45.14% Trump/Pence although the symbolism may not have been lost on much of the rest of Georgia; state wide the Republican ticket prevailed 50.38% to 45.29%.

Dump has been quite productive.  A “dump-pipe” is part of the exhaust system in an internal combustion engine; a “brain dump” or “info dump” is the transfer of a large quantity of information or knowledge from one person (or institution) to another, although it’s also used in the slang of those working in the theoretical realm of the digitizing of human consciousness; a block dump was an image contains the sectors read from an original floppy diskette or optical disc; “dump months” are those periods during which film distributers & television programmers scheduled content either of poor-quality or of limited appeal; a “dump job” was either (1) the act of moving a corpse or some incriminating material from the scene of the crime to some un-related place, preferably remote & deserted or (2) the abandonment of an unfinished task for which the abandoner might be expected to take responsibility, especially in a fashion that makes it likely that one or more colleagues will take on its completion; the “mag dump” was military slang for the act of firing an entire magazine-full of ammunition from a fully-automatic weapon in a single burst; “dumpsville” could be either (1) the figurative location of a person who has been dumped by a lover or (2) a description of an undesirable town or other locality; to be “down in the dumps” is to be depressed, miserable and unhappy.

An electrically controlled exhaust system "cut-out", the modern version of the old, mechanical, "by-passes".  All dump-pipes work by offering exhaust gasses a "shortcut" to the atmosphere.

In internal combustion engines (ICE), there are both down-pipes and dump-pipes.  Their functions differ and the term down-pipe is a little misleading because some down-pipes (especially on static engines) actually are installed in a sideways or upwards direction but in automotive use, most do tend downwards.  A down-pipe connects the exhaust manifold to exhaust system components beyond, leading typically to first a catalytic converter and then a muffler (silencer), most factory installations designed deliberately to be restrictive in order to comply with modern regulations limiting emissions and noise.  After-market down-pipes tend to be larger in diameter and are made with fewer bends to improve exhaust gas flow, reduce back-pressure and (hopefully) increase horsepower and torque.   Such modifications are popular but not necessarily lawful.  Technically, a dump-pipe is a subset of the down-pipes and is most associated with engines using forced aspiration (turbo- & some forms of supercharging).  With forced-induction, exhaust gases exiting the manifold spin a turbine (turbocharger) or drive a compressor (supercharger) to force more of the fuel-air mixture into the combustion chambers, thereby increasing power.  What a dump-pipe does is provide a rapid, short-path exit for exhaust gases to be expelled directly into the atmosphere before reaching a down-pipe.  That makes for more power and noise, desirable attributes for the target market.  A dump pipe is thus an exit or gate from the exhaust system which can be opened manually, electronically, or with a “blow-off” valve which opens when pressure reaches a certain level.  In the happy (though more polluted) days when regulations were few, the same thing was achieved with an exhaust “by-pass” or “cut-out” which was a mechanical gate in the down-pipe and even then such things were almost always unlawful but it was a more tolerant time.  Such devices, lawful and otherwise, are still installed.

Grab from a Microsoft Windows system dump.  Although dumps contain much, of the thousands of lines one might contain, only a small string of text in one line might be relevant and users may need some assistance to interpret the result. 

In computing, a system dump is typically a commitment to a file of what exists in memory (random access memory (RAM) or on a paged volume) and they’re created usually at points of failure, creating essentially a snapshot of what was happening either at or immediately prior to the unfortunate event.  The contents of a system dump can be used to identify errors and debug programs.  A “stand-alone dump” program (a SAD or SADMP) produces a dump occupied by either (1) a system that failed or (2) a stand-alone dump program that failed.  Either the stand-alone dump program dumped itself (a self-dump) or the operator loaded another stand-alone dump program to dump the failed stand-alone dump program.  It’s less ominous than it sounds and together, the stand-alone dump program and the stand-alone dump together form what is known as the stand-alone dump service aid.  The significance of the element “stand-alone” is that the dump is performed separately from normal system operations and does not require a system to be in a condition for normal operation.  It means that except in cases of catastrophic failure (especially if involving the total loss of mains & UPS (uninterruptable power supply) power, it should be possible always to create a high-speed, unformatted dump of central storage and parts of paged-out virtual storage on a tape device or a direct access storage device (DASD).  The stand-alone dump supplies information which can be used to determine why the system or the stand-alone dump program failed.