Strand

Strand (pronounced strand)

(1) To drive or leave (a ship, fish etc) aground or ashore.

(2) To bring into or leave in a helpless position (usually used in the passive).

(3) A shore or beach (now poetic, archaic or regional).

(4) A small brook or rivulet (archaic).

(5) A passage for water; a gutter (Northern England & Scotland)

(6) A foreign country (archaic).

(7) One of a number of fibres, threads, or yarns, plaited or twisted together to form a rope, cord, or the like.

(8) A rope made of such twisted or plaited fibres.

(9) A fibre or filament, as in animal or plant tissue.

(10) A thread or threadlike part of anything.

(11) By extension, a constituent element in a complex argument.

(12) A street in the Westminster district of west-central London, running from Trafalgar Square to Fleet Street parallel to the Thames, so-called because it was the “north strand” (ie shore) of the river; also the areas immediately surrounding the street.

Pre 1000:  From the Middle English strand or strond, (sea shore), from Old English strand (shore), related to the Dutch strand and Middle High German strant (beach) and the Latin sternere (to spread).  The Old English was borrowed from the Proto-Germanic strandaz & strandō (edge, rim, shore), source also of the Danish and Swedish strand (beach, shore, strand), the Old Norse strönd (border, edge, shore) the Middle Low German strant and the German and Dutch strand (beach).  The origin of the Proto-Germanic is uncertain but may be from the primitive Indo-European ster- (to broaden or stretch out), the application of which was “the parts of a shore that lies between the tide-marks” and it applied formerly also to river banks, hence The Strand in London, the name dating from 1246.

Françoise Hardy (b 1944), The Strand, London, 1966.

Historically, in Middle English it described things riparian, the use to refer to “individual fibres of a rope, string etc” or human hair first recorded circa 1500, probably from the Old French estran, from a Germanic source akin to the Old High German streno (lock, tress, strand of hair) from which is derived the Middle Dutch strene (a skein, hank of thread) and the German strähne (a skein, strand) of unknown origin.  The meaning "to drive aground on a shore" from which flowed the figurative sense of "leave lost or helpless" as of a ship left aground by the tide, was first recorded in 1837 and survives in the words stranded & stranding. Descendants of the Germanic root appear in many European languages including Hungarian, Romanian & Serbo-Croatian and it’s a not uncommon proper noun in the Nordic lands, both as a surname and locality name.

The stranded phrase

In linguistic anthropology, a stranded phrase is a once-popular saying that has fallen from use.  The idea is shared with economics where the term stranded asset is used to describe assets held which have been subject to a premature or unanticipated devaluation in their value, the most commonly quoted potential examples being vast, undeveloped coal-fields which decades ago were highly valued, to be capitalized over a productive life which might be forty or more years but which may shortly become worthless because of shifts in the market.  Phrases can fall from favor for structural reasons or just become unfashionable in the way something like “stone the crows” is archaic, stranded in the time of its popularity, sometimes surviving only as period pieces of an era.

The phrase bunny boiler is derived from the film Fatal Attraction (1987) in which an obsessive, spurned woman, in a fit of frenzied jealousy, boils in a pot the pet rabbit of her erstwhile lover's daughter.  The epithet was coined to refer to women unable to remain rational at the end of a romantic relationship and predictably, is only ever applied to women.  In pre-web times, variations in colloquial language tended to spread more slowly than those powered by the latter-day ubiquity of the net and “bunny boiler” seems not to have entered general use until 1994.  The USENET groups which maintain online archives of such things notes bunny boiler was not used on their (pre-web) platform and while there’s no reliable information about use on the web before 1994, given that non-academic use of the internet then was a tiny fraction of today, such data might anyway not be indicative of general use but nor are there more than a handful of instances in the archives of US and British newspapers before that date.  Indeed, the first recorded instance in print is from an interview the rabbit-slaughtering actress Glenn Close (b 1947) gave to the US magazine Ladies' Home Journal in December 1990 during which she observed "…there's nothing like portraying a psychopathic bunny-boiler to boost one's self-esteem”.  If that was the first publication, that’s a plausible reason why it took so long after 1987 to disseminate and it makes sense because the epithet isn't in the original dialogue or promotional material and nor does it appear in any contemporary review.

Despite that, some sources do say it pre-dates 1990 but provide no evidence and all agree it came into wider use only after 1994 when the web began to assist dissemination, a process similar to that described by epidemiologists to illustrate the progress of viruses which, if achieving critical mass, can become an epidemic… or worse.  Bunny boiler thus began to enjoy a rapidity of infection from 1994, use peaking between 1998-2003, then declining to become stranded in its era.  The explanation offered by etymologists is that too much time elapsed between the source in 1987, the origin of the phrase circa 1990 and the mid-decade adoption so it lacked the newness and novelty these things usually require; its historic moment had passed.  Still, for men it remains useful, any needy, possessive, clingy or even talkative woman can be labelled potential or suspected bunny boiler.

Strands of Lindsay Lohan’s hair in an array of colors.

The idea is of course not new.  For some reason, the (anyway incorrectly quoted) phrase “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” is often attributed to Shakespeare, possibly because it’s plausibly in his voice or maybe because for most the only time the Middle English “hath” is seen is in some Shakespearian quote so the association sticks.  The real author however was actually Restoration playwright William Congreve (1670–1729) who coined the phrase for his 1697 play The Mourning Bride, the protagonist of which, although becoming a bit unhinged by the cruel path of doomed love, doesn’t resort to leporidaecide.  Congreve’s line, “Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned” was good but actually was a more poetic rendition of a similar but less elegantly expressed version another playwright had used a year earlier.  The Mourning Bride is also the source of another fragment for which the bard is often given undeserved credit: “Music has charms to soothe a savage breast” although that’s often bowdlerized as “Music has charms to soothe a savage beast”.

Diagnosis & Prognosis

Diagnosis (pronounced dahy-uhg-noh-sis)

(1) In clinical medicine, the process of determining by examination the nature and circumstances of a diseased condition.

(2) The decision reached from such an examination; the abbreviation is Dx.

(3) In general use, a determining or analysis of the cause or nature of a problem or situation; an answer or solution to a problematic situation.

(4) In taxonomy (particularly in biology), a written description of a species or other taxon serving to distinguish that species from all others.  Historically, this was applied especially to a description written in Latin and published.

1675–85: A borrowing from the New Latin diagnōsis, from the Ancient Greek διάγνωσις (diágnōsis) (a distinguishing, means or power of discernment), from διαγιγνώσκω (diagignṓskō or diagignōskein (to distinguish; to discern (literally "to know thoroughly" or "know apart (from another)”)) from gignōskein (inquiry, investigation, knowing; come to know).  The construct was διά (diá) (through) + γιγνώσκω (gignṓskō) (to know).

The early precise meaning in medical Latin was “pre-scientific discrimination" applied especially in pathology, soon becoming a general "recognition of a disease from its symptoms".  The noun plural is diagnoses and derived forms include the nouns diagnostician & the rare (technical use only) prediagnosis (now more often as pre-diagnosis) and the adjective diagnostic.  One that probably should be more common than it appears, given the frequency with which it happens, is misdiagnosis.

Prognosis (pronounced prog-noh-sis)

(1) In clinical medicine, forecasting of the probable course and outcome of a disease, especially of the chances of recovery.

(2) In general use, a forecast or prognostication.

1645-1655: A borrowing from the Late Latin prognōsis, from the Ancient Greek πρόγνωσις (prógnōsis) (foreknowledge, perceiving beforehand, prediction), the construct being προ- (pro-) (before) + γνῶσις (gnôsis (gignōskein)) (inquiry, investigation, knowing; come to know), from γιγνώσκω (gignṓskō) (to know); the primitive Indo-European root was gno- (to know).  The general (non-medical) use in English dates from 1706 and there were (now rare) back-formations, the verb prognose noted in 1837 and the adjective prognostical as early as the 1680s.  In the Classical Latin prognostica meant "sign to forecast weather".

Prognostic (prognostick the obsolete spelling) & prognostication are nouns, prognosticable is an adjective, prognosticate is a verb.  From the Latin root English gained prognosis, French pronostic, German Prognose, Italian prognosi, Norman prog'nose (Jersey), Spanish pronóstico & Hungarian prognózis; in the invented international language of Esperanto, it is prognozo.

Clinical use

Prognosis is the companion word to diagnosis and the two are sometimes confused.  A diagnosis is an identification of a disease via examination or the result of some diagnostic test.  What follows is a prognosis, which is a prediction of the course of the disease as well as the treatment and results.  The schoolbook trick to remember the difference is (1) that a diagnosis comes before a prognosis, and diagnosis is before prognosis alphabetically and (2) diagnosis and detection both start with "d" whereas prognosis and prediction both start with "p".

Former US President Donald Trump was diagnosed with COVID-19 after a positive result to a test.  His prognosis was based on (1) what’s known generally about COVID-19 and (2) risk-factors specific to his case.  His risk factors included:

(1) Old: (74).

(2) Overweight (BMI 30+).

(3) Male (varies between countries but male death rate tends to be higher).

(4) He is sub-Human although, as a risk-factor, this remains speculative.  It’s mostly only some black Africans who are pure Humans; the rest of the world’s population is a sub-human mongrel blend, descendants of inter-breeding between humans and Neanderthals thousands of years ago.  It’s being hypnotized the unexpectedly good outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa during pandemic suggest some genetic advantage in being a pure Human; the research is not complete and there may be other factors (or some statistical quirk) but it is possible a genetic risk-factor related to the SARS-CoV-2 virus was inherited from archaic Neanderthals some sixty-thousand years ago.

Retard

Retard (pronounced ri-tahrd and ree-tahrd (depending on definition))

(1) To make slow; delay the development or progress of (an action, process etc); hinder or impede (pronounced ri-tahrd).

(2) To be delayed (pronounced ri-tahrd).

(3) a slowing down, diminution, or hindrance, as in a machine (pronounced ri-tahrd).

(4) A contemptuous term of US origin (as a clipping of “mental retardation”) used to refer to a person who is cognitively impaired (now disparaging & offensive slang) (pronounced ree-tahrd).

(5) A person who is stupid, obtuse, or ineffective in some way (now disparaging & offensive slang) (pronounced ree-tahrd).

(6) In the tuning and maintenance of internal combustion engines, an adjustment made in the setting of the distributor so the spark for ignition in each combustion chamber is generated later in the cycle; the opposite procedure is “to advance” (pronounced ri-tahrd).

(7) In physics, as retarded, designating a parameter of an electromagnetic field which is adjusted to account for the finite speed of radiation (pronounced ri-tahr-did).

1480–1490: From the Old French retarder, from the Latin retardāre (to delay, protract), the construct being re- + tardāre (to loiter, to make slow; to be slow), from tardus (slow, sluggish, late, lingering; dull, stupid, slow-witted) (of unknown origin but one etymologist suggests it may have some relationship to the Etruscan), from which English gained tardy (late to arrive; slow in action).  The re- prefix is from the Middle English re-, from the circa 1200 Old French re-, from the Latin re- & red- (back; anew; again; against), from the primitive Indo-European wre & wret- (again), a metathetic alteration of wert- (to turn).  It displaced the native English ed- & eft-.  A hyphen is not normally included in words formed using this prefix, except when the absence of a hyphen would (1) make the meaning unclear, (2) when the word with which the prefix is combined begins with a capital letter, (3) when the word with which the is combined with begins with another “re”, (4) when the word with which the prefix is combined with begins with “e”, (5) when the word formed is identical in form to another word in which re- does not have any of the senses listed above.  As late as the early twentieth century, the dieresis was sometimes used instead of a hyphen (eg reemerge) but this is now rare except when demanded for historic authenticity or if there’s an attempt deliberately to affect the archaic.  Re- may (and has) been applied to almost any verb and previously irregular constructions appear regularly in informal use; the exception is all forms of “be” and the modal verbs (can, should etc).  Although it seems certain the origin of the Latin re- is the primitive Indo-European wre & wret- (which has a parallel in Umbrian re-), beyond that it’s uncertain and while it seems always to have conveyed the general sense of "back" or "backwards", there were instances where the precise was unclear and the prolific productivity in Classical Latin tended make things obscure.

Retard is a noun & verb (used with and without object), retardation is a noun, retarded & retardative are adjectives, retarding is a verb and retardingly an adverb.  The (now proscribed except in historic reference) noun plural was retards; retardings remaining acceptable when used in science and engineering.  Word related in meaning in these later contexts include choke off, crimp, decelerate, hamper, handicap, impede, lessen, arrest, baffle, balk, bog, brake, check, choke, clog, dawdle, decrease, defer, delay & detain.

The general sense of “delayed; delayed in development, hindered; impeded” dates from the seventeenth century and in the nineteenth was absorbed into the early technical language of psychology (having mental retardation; mentally deficient or underdeveloped) as a clipping of “mentally retarded”.  Later it was part of the formalized system of classification of intelligence, a retard defined as having an IQ below 70.  From the jargon of the profession it was picked up in twentieth century US colloquial use to describe (1) those then defined as mentally retarded, (2) those thought stupid and (3) a derogatory term to be applied as wished.  From the 1980s it came to be regarded as offensive, use disapproved of in polite society.

President Kennedy (1917–1963; US president 1961-1963) addressing the thirteenth annual convention luncheon of the National Association for Retarded Children (NARC). Mayflower Hotel, Washington DC, 24 October 1963.

The names used by the NARC are interesting in that it wasn’t until the 1990s that the word “retard” was removed.  The organization was called the National Association for Retarded Children (1953-1973), the National Association for Retarded Citizens (1973-1981) & the Association for Retarded Citizens of the United States (1981-1992) before assuming the name Arc of the United States in 1992.  While hardly illustrative of the euphemism treadmill familiar elsewhere, it does hint at the difficulties changes in the social acceptability of words can cause institutions with a corporate history or identity vested in a brand name.  The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), formed in 1909, retained the name even after “colored people” had been declared an unacceptable form and replaced by “people of color”, because the brand NAACP was thought too valuable to alter.  However, acronyms and abbreviations can continue even if divorced from their historic connections.  The oil company British Petroleum, in filings with the various regulatory agencies with which it deals, explained that it now positions itself as “an energy company” and expected to remain trading as BP, even if the day came when it no longer dealt with fossil fuels or petro-chemicals.

Retard is an interesting example of a word in English, the use of which is socially proscribed in one historical context (human intelligence) but still acceptable in other adaptations (engineering & physics).  In this it differs from other words which began as something uncontroversial and perhaps merely descriptive but which, for associative reasons, became “loaded terms” and socially (and even legislatively) proscribed, including, the other “n-word” (negro) which as late as the 1960s was socially respectable but now, even for historic purposes (such as the description of the specific stream of music once called the “negro spiritual” or the “negro league” in baseball) should probably be replaced with an uncontroversial substitute unless use is deemed essential by virtue of the context of use.  The conventions of use may yet evolve to the point reached with the original n-word word whereby it can in certain circumstances be acceptable for it to appear in print but which may never be spoken (unless by (at least some) persons of color).       

In less globalized times, the loading could be geographically (and thus circumstantially) specific.  As late as the early 1980s, the television network in Australia which held the broadcast rights to international cricket could include in their televised promotions for a series involving teams from the West Indies, Pakistan Australia & Australia the phrase “the Windies, the Pakis, the Aussies”.  Although all three were ostensibly affectionate diminutives of the country names and thus neutral, linguistic equivalents, “Paki” in the United Kingdom had by the 1960s come to be regarded as an offensive, ethnic slur referencing either (1) an actual Pakistani, (2) a person of Pakistani descent, (3) anyone whose origins were perceived to be South Asian or even (4) any person of color (Africans, Arabs et al).  Actually, structural linguistic equivalency is never of necessity any sort of guide to what a word has come to denote, “Chinaman” thought pejorative while “Englishman” is not. 

Paki acquired the offensive connotations in the 1960s from a pattern of use in the UK, reinforced by the Fleet Street (and regional) tabloids which used the word to refer to subjects of former colonies, with no attempt to disguise that it was being done in a derogatory and racist manner.  Use persists in certain sections of the community although the popular press has been forced to adopt an uncharacteristic subtlety when making their point about people of color.  Interestingly, like some other disparaging slurs (n-word, slut), there has been noted a trend of reclamation, an adoption by second and third-generation youth of Pakistani extraction to claim exclusive use of the term, excluding all outsiders, even Indians, Bangladeshis and others at whom it was originally and offensively directed.

No such phenomenon appears to have happened with “retard”, presumably because it was not a word which (in the context of human intelligence or behavior) never had any history of enjoying a neutrality of meaning, either by definition or inference always being in the negative.  Despite that, when the medical profession introduced retard, retarded & retardation to their system of classifications, genuinely it was an attempt to de-stigmatize those once labeled idiots, imbeciles & morons, the early twentieth century classifications being:

Idiots: Those so defective that the mental development never exceeds that or a normal child of about two years.

Imbeciles: Those whose development is higher than that of an idiot, but whose intelligence does not exceed that of a normal child of about seven years.

Morons: Those whose mental development is above that of an imbecile, but does not exceed that of a normal child of about twelve years.

Retard was used in relation to developmental delay in 1895 and was introduced as an alternative to idiot, moron, and imbecile because at the time it wasn’t derogatory, being a familiar technical term from engineering and mathematics but the associative connection meant that it soon became an frequently heard insult.  Indeed, following the example of the n-word, there is in the United States much lobbying by interested groups socially to construct retard as “the r-word” and render its use just as unacceptable.

US legislation in 2010 required the terms "mental retardation" and" mentally retarded" be removed from federal records and replaced with "intellectual disability" and "individual with an intellectual disability", a change reflected in the publication in 2013 of the fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).  The US National Institutes of Health, which took several years to scrub “retarded” and related terms from their archival material, recommend “intellectually and developmentally disabled”, the acronym IDD being one which rolls not easily from the tongue and is therefore less susceptible to entering the vernacular as an insult.  Other organizations focused on specific conditions have also made suggestions but constructions such as “differently-abled” do seem likely to attract derision and be applied as insults, as happened with “special”.

Ignition timing: Advancing and retarding the ignition

Intake, compression, power, exhaust: the four-stroke cycle.

In a four-stroke, internal combustion engine, the ignition timing is measured in degrees of a crankshaft rotation before top dead center (BTDC).  To ensure the power stroke is at this point achieved, the spark plugs need to fire at the right time and this is achieved by advancing or retarding the timing of the engine.  Advancing the timing means the spark plugs fire earlier in the compression stroke, further from the TDC, meaning the fuel/air mixture in the combustion chamber doesn’t burn immediately.  The primary advantage in advancing the timing of ignition is an increase in top-end horsepower at the expense of some low end response.

Retarding the ignition causes the spark plug to fire later in the compression stroke which can reduce engine detonation, which is combustion inside the cylinders after the spark plug fires, commonly referred to as “engine knocking”.  In the early days of emission control systems, retardation was usually part of the process.  In the special (although now quite common) case of engines which use forced aspiration (by turbocharging or supercharging), retarding can be beneficial because it adjusts for the increased pressure, compensating for the denser fuel/air mixtures.

Woolsack

Woolsack (pronounced woo l-sak)

(1) A sack intended to carry wool (sometimes wool-sack).

(2) The speaker’s chair in the House of Lords, one of a number of cloth-covered seats or divans, stuffed with wool, once used also by law lords, but best known as the seat of the Lord Chancellor and now the Lord Speaker.

(3) A reference to the historic Lord Chancellor's office.

(4) The historic name for the modern Australian wool bale.

1250-1300: Middle English compound word wool + sack.  Wool came from the Middle English wolle, from Old English wull, from Proto-Germanic wullō (cognate with the Saterland Frisian wulle, the Low German wull, the Dutch wol, German wolle and Norwegian ull.  All are thought derived from the primitive hwĺ̥hneh, thought also to have influenced the Welsh gwlân, the Latin lāna, the Lithuanian vìlna, the Russian во́лос (vólos), the Balau влас and the Albanian lesh.  All meant variously “wool, hair, fleece”.

Sack was from the Middle English sak (bag, sackcloth) from the Old English sacc (sack, bag) and sæcc (sackcloth, sacking), both from the Proto-Germanic sakkuz (sack), from the Classical Latin saccus (large bag), derived from the Ancient Greek σάκκος ((sákkos (bag of coarse cloth)).  Ultimate source is though Semitic, possibly Phoenician.  Word was cognate with the Dutch zak, the German Sack, the Swedish säck, the Hebrew שַׂק‎ ((śaq, sack, sackcloth)), the Aramaic סַקָּא‎, the Classical Syriac ܣܩܐ‎, Ge'ez ሠቅ (śäḳ), the Akkadian saqqu and the Egyptian sꜣgꜣ (to gather together).  There are sack factions among the etymologists.  Some suggest sack was originally Egyptian, a nominal derivative of sꜣq that also yielded the Coptic sok and made its way into Greek by way of a Semitic intermediary.  Others reject this view on the technical grounds that an originally Egyptian word would be expected to yield the Hebrew סַק rather than שַׂק (only they understand this stuff).  This faction posits the Coptic and Greek words are both borrowings from Semitic, with the Coptic word perhaps developing via Egyptian sꜣgꜣ.

The Horsesack

The Woolsack is the seat of the Lord Speaker in the House of Lords, the UK’s upper house although until the constitutional reforms of the twenty-first century, that was the role of the lord chancellor, an office dating at least from the Norman Conquest though references to the title appear as early as 605.  The New Labour government attempted in 2003 to abolish the office but a review determined it couldn’t be done without an act of Parliament and that was a distraction the government at the time preferred not to inflict on itself.  Instead, enabling legislation providing for the creation of the office of Lord Speaker and a redefinition of the role of lord chancellor was drafted in 2004 and, after a few squabbles, received royal assent a year later with the structural changes effected by 2006.

The Lord Chancellor (once styled as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain) is in the UK’s order of precedence, the highest-ranking among the extant Great Officers of State, out-ranked only by certain royal personages and the Archbishop of Canterbury.  A lord chancellor is appointed by the sovereign on the advice of the prime-minister and before the acts of union which made them constituent parts of Great Britain, there were separate lord chancellors for the Kingdom of England (including the Principality of Wales) and the Kingdom of Scotland, the office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland disestablished in 1922, consequent upon the Anglo-Irish Treaty (1921) which granted Ireland a considerable autonomy which in the years to come would evolve into independence.  That the office of Lord Chancellor for Ireland existed as early as the twelfth century seems certain but whether this was something distinct from the English office is unclear and the oldest surviving records which verify a separate Irish office date from the thirteenth century.  For centuries the Irish appointee was a clergyman, usually English and while lay chancellors tended to be the rule after the Reformation (no cleric appointed after 1665), Irish-born appointments were rare before the mid-nineteenth century.

Today, as minister for justice, the Lord Chancellor sits in cabinet and is responsible for the administration and independence of the courts.  In this detail things differ from the Australian practice because in the UK, both the attorney-general and solicitor-general sit in parliament, although, by modern convention, the former now does not attend cabinet except when summoned to provide advice.  New Labour’s constitutional changes not only moved the roll of presiding over the Lords to the newly-created lord speaker but also ended the lord chancellor’s roll as head of the judiciary in England and Wales and presiding judge of the Chancery Division of the High Court, these duties assumed respectively by the lord chief justice and the chancellor of the High Court.  The rationale of the changes in 2005 was to give constitutional effect to the separation of powers (in the British context a division between the legislature & executive (which passes and administers the laws) and the judiciary (which interprets and enforces the laws).  In practice, the distinction had for many years been observed but structurally, it looked very murky, the lord chancellor as a cabinet member belonging to (1) the executive, on the Woolsack as presiding officer in the Lords belonging to (2) the legislature and as a judge in the chancery division, belonging to (3) the judiciary, ruling on laws he or she had earlier participated in passing.

It was the fourteenth century Edward III (1312–1377; King of England 1327-1377) who commanded his Lord Chancellor, when in council, should sit on the wool bale which became known as The Woolsack, the king wishing to draw attention to the crucial importance of the wool trade to the economy of medieval England.  In 1938, to symbolize imperial unity, the Lords directed the Woolsack be re-stuffed with wool from throughout the empire at which point it was discovered the Woolsack was actually stuffed with horsehair.  Even when re-stuffed, because of the construction, some horsehair had to be added to ensure structural integrity, the Lord Chancellor, (Quintin Hogg, second Lord Hailsham, 1907–2001; first entered parliament in 1938, Lord Chancellor 1970-1974 & 1979–1987), noting in 1986 that “wise Victorian ancestors” were responsible for the substitution.

Trans

Trans (pronounced trans or tranz)

(1) A person who identifies as transgender (though now the polite use seems to be as a modifier (trans-man, trans-woman, trans-gender and not always hyphenated), the prefix denoting “on the other side of,” referring to the misalignment of one’s gender identity with one's sex assigned at birth.

(2) As an offensive slur, a historic term for a transsexual (itself a now less common term) and often used as “trannie” (which tended to be non-offensive if used within the transsexual community).  As a slur, both trans and trannie are sometimes used (often technically incorrectly) as expressions of general disapprobation of anybody perceived as maintaining an identity outside traditionally constructed gender norms.

(3) In chemistry, in (or constituting, forming, or describing) a double bond in which the greater radical on both ends is on the opposite side of the bond.

(4) In chemistry, in (or constituting, forming, or describing) a coordination compound in which the two instances of a particular ligand are on opposite sides of the central atom (eg the trans effect is the labilization of ligands which are trans to certain other ligands).

(5) In cytology, of the side of the Golgi apparatus farther from the endoplasmic reticulum.

(6) In the slang of mechanics and certain mechanical engineers, a shorting of “transmission” (an intermediate input/output device between a power unit and its eventual delivery), sometimes also truncated as “tranny” (both dating back at least decades).

Mid-late twentieth century: Transsexual appears in the literature in 1953 but then it had the meaning "intense desire to change one's sexual status, including the anatomical structure" but as early as 1941 “transsexuality” was being used to describe both "homosexuality & bisexuality".  In the current sense it has existed since 1955 but for decades the older uses overlapped.  The prefix trans- is from the Latin trāns (adverb and preposition) (across, beyond, through) from the Proto-Italic trānts, from the primitive Indo-European tr̥h-n̥ts, from terh- (through, throughout, over).  It was cognate with the English through, the Scots throch (through), the West Frisian troch (through), the Dutch door (through), the German durch (through), the Gothic þairh (through), the Albanian tërthor (through, around) and the Welsh tra (through).  Trans is a noun and adjective, the noun plural historically was transes but as trans has become a notable component of identity politics, trans is now often used, especially collectively.  The noun transness is a recent coining and although they’re still non-standard forms, (sometimes jocular) creations such as transbionic & transnessness) have and will continue to be created but it doesn’t seem that transitivity (either (1) the rule in formal grammar which defines the degree in which any one verb can take/govern objects or (2) in mathematics and formal logic, the property of being transitive) has yet in this context been re-purposed. 

The prefix trans- most occurs in loanwords from the Latin (transcend; transfix) and the model imparts meanings related to “across,” “beyond,” “through,” “changing thoroughly,” “transverse,” in combination with elements of any origin: transubstantiation; trans-Siberian; transempirical etc.  In chemistry, the prefix indicating that a chemical compound has a molecular structure in which two groups or atoms are on opposite sides of a double bond trans-butadiene and there does seem to be a widely followed convention in chemistry that trans is written in italics.  In astronomy the prefix denotes something farther from the sun (than a given planet), thus the terms trans-Martian; trans-Neptunian etc.  In genetics, it refers to having two genes, each carrying a mutation, located on opposite chromosomes of a homologous pair.  Transylvania (literally "beyond the forest) was from the Medieval Latin, the construct being trans- + sylva (the geographical area referenced); it was so-called in reference to the wooded mountains that surround it.  The pop-culture associations with vampires make the place famous.  The title of Giuseppe Verdi's (1813–1901) 1853 Opera La traviata (literally “the woman led astray”) but usually translated as “The Fallen Woman” is from traviata ("to lead beyond the way”) from tra- (across, beyond), from the Latin trāns.  English has many words either influenced by or which trans is a part including Trans-Atlantic, trans-oceanic, transnational, transsexual, translocation, transpontine, transliteration, transept, transect, transducer, transmit, transfer, transit, transmute, translucent, transform, transverse, transfuse, transitive, transcribe, transubstantiation, transplant, transcend, transfigure, transgress, transfix, transact, transmutation, transpire, transient, transfusion, transparent, transport, travesty, transpose, transgression, translate, transmigration, transaction & trajectory.

The state commonly called Jordan (الأردن in the the Arabic (Al-ʾUrdunn)) is officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.  In one of the classic colonial fixes at which the British (through long practice) used to be really good, the Emirate of Transjordan was created in 1921 as a British protectorate, independence granted in 1946 as the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan, renamed in 1949 to its present name to celebrate the capture of the West Bank during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, held as annexed territory until lost in the six-day war in 1967, the claim not renounced until 1988 as part of a peace treaty with the state of Israel.  The name of Jordan is from the Jordan River which forms much of its northwestern border, the name though derived from the Hebrew ירד (Yarad) (one who descends), a reference to the waterway’s physical geography.  The name “Transjordan” wasn’t actually an invention of the British Colonial Office but an adoption of a geographical expression in use for centuries meaning “across the Jordan” and used, historically, to denote the lands east of the river.

The trans wars

The terms transgender and trans (in this context) are technically interchangeable but so fraught are the politics of identity that some may have objections to either and the general rule is to conform to whichever preference is expressed.  The developments have been so rapid in the early twenty-first century that trans has attracted the interest of the linguistics community and its been noted there are transgender people who prefer writing trans compounds as two words (ie trans man, trans woman, trans person), and when used as an open compound with a space, trans functions as an adjective modifying a noun.  Although to many it may seem a fine distinction, spelling these words as closed or hyphenated compounds (transmale, trans-woman etc) loses the distinction between trans as a descriptive adjective and man, woman, or person as a human being and on that basis cis male and cis female would be preferred although there’s no evidence of concern from the CIS community except those who assert the concept is unnecessary and add nothing to male & female.

There is also trans+, dating from 2003, which doesn’t as such add a new category to gender fluidity but instead acts (mostly adjectively) as an expression of inclusiveness, an all-encompassing blanket term covering all specific gender identities which are not cisgender and (more controversially), is used by some even to include "allies" (in the sense of the "A" in LGBTQQIAAOP) from the among the CIS.  The emergence of the concept of trans+ may have been political, a desire to avoid the internal divisions which have been documented between the LGBTQQIAAOP factions although the extent to which another constructed (and by some perhaps imposed) label can be effective in limiting the fissiparousness which may to some extent have been at least encouraged by the dictatorial implications of the label LGBTQQIAAOP is debatable.

What trans+ does is add to the (narrowly defined ) trans community (the range of gender identities including transgender, genderqueer, gender-fluid etc) the genderless, the agender, the subgender, the postgender, the bigender, the varigender and (presumably) whatever other flavors may emerge from the seemingly expanding spectrum(s) among the non-cisgender.  Another intriguing innovation, noted first in 2017 was the appending of the asterisk, presumably as a wildcard as used (since circa 1969) when handling the searching of computer file systems but linguistically, trans*, trans+* & trans*+ don’t appear in any way to change the meaning of trans+ and should probably be thought of as a strengthening of the denotation of inclusiveness.  That said, within any community (however defined), there will always be those who long for (an exclusionary) exclusivity for their faction so it’s not impossible that trans+ may yet fracture.  Transgender Day of Visibility is celebrated every 31 March, the day set aside to advocate for and celebrate the accomplishments of transgender persons, one right wing US politician who made no secret of their transphobia opining that if it has to exist, it should be moved to 29 February.

TERF but not teal: The photogenic Katherine Deves for whom green is green and  blue is blue and never the twain shall meet.

Unexpectedly, transphobia emerged as an issue in the 2022 Australian general election.  Ms Katherine Deves (b 1978; lawyer and candidate (Liberal) for the division of Warringah (NSW)), the personal selection (“captain’s pick” in the sporting parlance borrowed by politics) as candidate by Prime Minister Scott Morrison (b 1968; prime-minister since 2018) excited controversy firstly by expressing a view that trans-women should not be allowed to compete in sporting competition against cis-women because of the advantages in strength she said their origins as cis-men inherently conferred, regardless of any subsequent treatment.  That was enough to excite a reaction on twitter but things really erupted when historic social media posts were leaked, including “half of all males with trans identities are sex offenders”, referring to (gay) surrogacy as “prostitution”, suggesting a link between “transvestism and serial killers”, claiming trans teenagers were “surgically mutilated” and describing a gay magazine as “… just a mouthpiece for misogynists and the Rainbow Reich.”  Given comparing anything to the Nazis is best left to consenting historians behind closed doors, that might have been expected to trigger another twitterstorm but reaction was untypically subdued, the issue of transphobia seemingly drowning out everything else.  The US president had also caught her eye.  Disturbed by his pro-trans position, she posted that she didn't "...believe Biden is capable of thinking much at all, he’s clearly showing signs of dementia’’ although she refused to accept his views were sincere and he was forced by political necessity to pander to the “very powerful and incredibly dangerous” transgender activists within the Democratic Party.

Demonstration in the Warringah electorate by the Community Action for Rainbow Rights to protest the Liberal Party’s endorsement of Ms Deves as their candidate.

Ms Deves, a self-described TERF (trans exclusionary radical feminist) issued a statement in which she acknowledged that “…trying to prosecute arguments about complex, nuanced and difficult subjects ... should not take place on a platform that propagates offence and division and hurt.” “Going forward…” she added, “I will be conducting myself in a dignified and respectful fashion”, noting that twitter “…was not the appropriate platform to do so.”  “I have removed myself from that platform, and I will not be going back there again.”  “With this issue, we have a collision of rights and thus far the voices of women and girls have not been heard. And when we have a collision of rights in liberal democracies, we debate them in a reasonable, measured fashion – that's what should have taken place here.”

It wasn’t a difficult statement to deconstruct, Ms Deves, who previously had also condemned surrogacy as a “human rights violation” not retreating from or recanting her expressed opinions, just saying they’d no longer appear on twitter.  Mr Morrison, not previously noted for any contribution to feminist thought, seemed grateful finally to have stumbled on such a champion of women’s rights and declared “She is a woman standing up for women and girls and their access to fair sport in this country”, adding “I am not going to allow her to be silenced.”

Nor it seems, shortly, will twitter.  Ms Deves may be joyful about libertarian Elon Musk's (b 1971) plans to overthrow the censorious ancien régime at twitter and may yet return to the platform but it may be a moot point whether her advocacy in the matter of women’s sport is anyway an example of transphobia.  That discussion is solely about participation in sporting competitions restricted to “women”, there being no debate about the right of trans-persons to enter events restricted to “men”.  The issue therefore is not one of a generalized transphobia but rather "transwomanphobia" although that does seem no less objectionable.  However, regardless of the syntax, it’s not something which is going to go away soon because the medical and legal devices adopted by sporting codes and the anti-doping agencies have not satisfied everybody and it may be no such solution exists.  The dispute remains afoot.

The Warringah electorate has existed in essentially its present form since a 1922 redistribution (re-districting) and has been associated with some notable characters in political history.  The member (as an independent and for the Liberal Party and its predecessors) between 1937-1951 was Sir Percy Spender (1897–1985; foreign minister 1949-1951; Ambassador to the United States 1951–1958; member of the International Court of Justice 1958–1967 (president 1964-1967)).  Sir Percy was the grandfather of Allegra Spender (b 1978), a Sydney business identity & heiress who is standing as one of the so-called “teal independents” (teal presumably the idea of mixing a “blue-blood” establishment background with a “green” environmental consciousness) targeting those Liberal-held seats thought vulnerable because the voters’ profile tends to a more progressive agenda.  Throughout his career at the bar, in politics and on the bench, Sir Percy was noted, though not always praised, for his independence of mind and one suspects he might have approved of his grand-daughter’s designs on his old seat.

Sunday at Clontarf Beach (1979), oil on canvas, by Salvatore Zofrea (b 1946).

Edward (Ted) St John (1916-1994; a practicing QC) (confusingly pronounced sin-gin in one of the historic quirks of Anglo-French) held the seat for three turbulent years between 1966-1969, during which he managed to upset two prime-ministers and not a few others repelled by his moralizing although, despite his prudish and puritanical reputation, he was a doughty defender of free speech and appeared for the defense in the Oz and Thurunka obscenity cases (which saw him, bizarrely, labeled as "a pornographer") and would later in his legal chambers hang Salvatore Zofrea’s Sunday at Clontarf Beach, something a little more explicit than what usually adored the walls of the Sydney bar.  His memoir (A Time to Speak (1969)) was uncompromising but well-written.

Less impressive was the tenure of Michael MacKellar (1938–2015) who kept the plum seat in his grasp between 1969-1994.  Due more to the effluxion of time than any obvious talent, he served as an undistinguished member of the Fraser government (1975-1983) but is now remembered only for an attempt to evade duty on imported goods, an event blamed, as is traditional, on a mistake by a member of staff apparently employed by the taxpayer also to attend to the minister’s personal paperwork.  In an example of how cover-ups tend to be worse than the original indiscretions, a fellow Minister, John Moore (b 1936; MP 1975-2001, minister in the Fraser and Howard governments), attempted a cover-up, the consequence being they both were compelled to resign their offices.  Whatever might be the criticisms of Malcolm Fraser (1930–2015; prime-minister 1975-1983), he did maintain high standards of ministerial propriety which have for some time, essentially ceased to exist and the decline in the enforcement of those standards does mean subsequently there have been plenty of second and third acts in Australian politics.  Although he never again held office, Mr Mackellar did return to serve on the opposition bench and thrice unsuccessfully sought the deputy leadership of the Liberal Party.

Mr Moore’s story was even more amusing.  In opposition between 1983-1996, he served in the shadow cabinet while also making a few unsuccessful attempts to become deputy leader but his most notable contribution was as one of a triumvirate of malcontents who (quite competently it must be admitted) in 1989 arranged the knifing in the back of John Howard’s (b 1939; prime-minister 1996-2007) leadership and the re-installation of (the previously and subsequently) unsuccessful Andrew Peacock (1939–2021; leader of the opposition 1983–1985 & 1989–1990).  Mr Howard proved remarkably forgiving (or just desperate to afforce his team with some experience, none except him, Moore and one other ever having served in a cabinet), appointing Mr Moore to cabinet in 1996 and even (in a sign of the declining standards which have since further been eroded) not sacking him when he was found to have breached the ministerial code of conduct.  His usefulness to Mr Howard over by 2001, he was dropped from cabinet and Mr Moore resigned his seat at a point when the party’s fortunes were at a low ebb, the subsequent by-election delivering to the Labor Party what had hitherto been a safe Liberal seat.  In 2015, in what came to be known as the “snouts in the trough” case, Mr Moore and three other former MPs took to the High Court the claim that some (slight) limits placed on some taxpayer-funded allowances (to which they claimed they were for life entitled) were unconstitutional.  They lost.

MacKellar’s successor was Tony Abbott (b 1957; prime-minister 2013-2015) who held Warringah between 1994-2019, always for the Liberal Party although his views seemed more often to reflect those of the Democratic Labor Party (DLP or "Vatican down-under" as it's better understood) which many assumed was his true spiritual home.  Mr Abbott, in what may prove either an aberration or emblematic of something of a shift in political alignments, in 2019 lost the seat to Zali Steggall (b 1974; lawyer and former Winter Olympian) who stood as an independent on a platform which focused on the matter of climate change (the scientific validity of which Mr Abbott once famously dismissed as "crap").  Ms Steggal will in the 2022 poll be re-contesting Warringah, joining Ms Spender as one of the “teal independents”.

The Trans-Am

Trans-Am racing 1969: Porsche 911Rs and Alfa-Romeo GTA.

The Trans-Am Series is a motorsport competition in North America (thus the name trans- (across) + America(s)).  Sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA).  It was first held in 1966, its classic years between 1966-1970, an era in which many of the US manufacturers provided factory backing to the participating teams and there was a symbiotic relationship with the SCCA which came to adjust the rules to suit the available machinery, a reversal of the original model in which the regulations were laid down and the cars were required to conform.

Trans-Am racing 1969: Chevrolet Camaro Z/28s and Ford Boss Mustangs.

Popular from the start, the rules were designed to attract the interest of the baby boomers who were buying versions of the cars raced, and it was originally a series for FIA Group 2 Touring Cars, (slightly) modified standard production vehicles within certain size constraints and built in a certain volume in two capacity classes (122 cubic inches (2.0 litre) and 305 cubic inches (5.0 litre)), both running together on the track.  As intended, it attracted the entries of the US "pony cars" (Plymouth Barracuda, Ford Mustang and their imitators) and the high-performance versions of the European machinery sold in the US.  Bizarrely as it now sounds, the latter class included the then two-litre Porsche 911 because the Germans had prevailed on the SCCA to classify it as a "sedan" but it was then a different sort of vehicle and, cognizant of its evolution, it was later re-classified as a "sports car".  The two litre class was interesting and fiercely contested but it was the noise and fury of the V8 powered pony cars which attracted sponsorship and crowds.

Trans-Am racing 1970: Ford Boss Mustang and Plymouth T/A Cuda.

The series is remembered for the competition between pony cars such as the Ford Mustang, Mercury Cougar, Chevrolet Camaro, Pontiac Firebird, Dodge Challenger, Plymouth Barracuda & AMC Javelin but it didn't long last as something for the typical cars bought from showrooms in the tens of thousands.  The victory of the Mustang in the first two years of the championship had done much for Ford's image and in response, with a pot of money in one hand and a copy of the SCCA rule-book in the other, Chevrolet built a special version of their new pony car, the Camaro Z/28 which featured a unique 302 cubic inch version of the small-block V8 which, highly strung and noisy, obviously wasn’t intended for anywhere but a race track.  To this, Ford responded.  They had enlarged their mainstream small-block V8 to 302 cubic inches but it wasn't race-ready like the Z/28 so what was concocted was one of the wilder power-plants of the era, the tunnel-port 302 although, despite the company's assurances, it was never produced in sufficient numbers to conform with the SCCA's rules but of greater concern was the way it was prone to blowing up.  What Ford had done was to take a technique which had proved successful on the bigger FE engine, which in 427 cubic inch (7.0 litre) form had been reliable enough twice to win the Le Mans twenty-four classic, solving a problem inherent to pushrod engines; the limitations imposed on intake port size by the need to provide a passage for the pushrod tube.  A tunnel-port was, as the name implied, a tunnel for the pushrod which passed directly through the port which could now be made as large as possible.  Surprisingly, the tubular tunnels proved to have no adverse effect on gas flow, the tunnel-port 302s producing prodigious power and, satisfied what they'd seen on the dynamometer was indicative of a race-winning engine, Ford went racing.  Unfortunately, those big ports which guaranteed the stunning top-end power actually inhibited low and mid-range torque and that was what was required on the twisty road courses and street circuits where the Trans-Am cars ran and the high-revving tunnel ports, away from the static environment of the dynamometer test rig, generated much stress and components began frequently to break.  Chevrolet won the next two Trans-Am titles.  Ford came up with a better idea the next year, the Boss 302 sacrificing some of the tunnel-port's intoxicating high range response but delivering its power over a range actually usable by race drivers and Ford duly won the 1970 championship.

Trans-Am racing 1968: Pontiac Firebird.

The writing however was on the wall for the practice of putting race-engines in road cars.  The world was changing and the manufacturers were being forced to divert resources away from motorsport to more prosaic pursuits like safety and emission control, racing budgets shrinking or evaporating.  In response, the SCCA changed the rules so that it was no longer necessary for manufacturers to produce and sell a specified number of the sometimes cantankerous race-bred mills, instead allowing them to modify just what was used in the race-cars, even increasing or reducing capacity as required.  Thus the exotic 302s (and Pontiac's stillborn 303) were retired and Chrysler was encouraged to enter the fray, the race teams de-stroking their LA 340 cubic inch (5.5 litre) V8 to meet the limit.  The pragmatic approach sustained interest for another couple of years but by 1973 the manufacturers had withdrawn support to concentrate on things more essential and the first oil shock that year guaranteed the corporate gaze would remain averted from the circuits.  The Trans-Am series however, under a variety of names, continued and is still run although it's never again captured the imagination the way it did in that first half-decade.

The Pontiac Trans Am

1969 Pontiac Trans Am.

Over four generations, the Pontiac Firebird was produced between 1967-2002 but is best remembered for the Trans Am versions, introduced in 1969.  The original intention had been that like Chevrolet’s Camaro Z/28, the Firebird Trans Am would be a genuine race-ready package, the centrepiece of which would be a short-stroke, 303 cubic inch V8.  Unfortunately, development of the 303 was delayed and by the time a reputed twenty-five odd had been installed in pre-production vehicles, the SCCA had changed the rules and the special race engines were no longer required but, having invested so much already in the other parts, Pontiac decided anyway to proceed which meant (1) the true Trans Am never actually took part in the series after which it was named and (2) the production version was really just a Firebird which looked like a racing car.  Fortunately, it transpired that was exactly what the market really wanted and for decades the Trans Am was usually Pontiac’s most profitable range, the bottom like dented only slightly by the US$5.00 per unit paid to the SCCA as a licensing fee for the use of the name (although Pontiac deleted the hyphen).

1973 Pontiac Trans Am SD-455.

Perhaps the most famous of the Trans Ams were those produced in 1973-1974 and fitted with the SD-455 engine (455 cubic inches (7.5 litre)), an unexpected throwback to high-performance in an era when outputs were in decline and it was thought both the industry and buyers had lost interest in such things.  Resurrecting the SD (Super-Duty) moniker which Pontiac had used as a high-performance designator in the early 1960s, the SD-455 is infamous for the trick with which Pontiac tried to fool the EPA’s (Environmental Protection Agency) inspectors, a primitive version of dieselgate which in the twenty-first century would cost Volkswagen and others (all also guilty as sin) billions.  Pontiac’s engineers had studied the parameters of the EPA’s tailpipe-emission test cycle and, noting it ran for fifty seconds, devised an ingenious system which after 53 seconds deactivated the critical anti-emission plumbing.  Under this regime, the SD-455 was able to produce the 310 horsepower which was by then the top rating in the industry while still receiving the vital EPA certification required legally to sell the thing.  Unfortunately, the EPA’s engineers turned out to be just as clever and detected the ruse, a more impressive performance than that of the later eurocrats who “caught” Volkswagen only because Mercedes-Benz snitched on them in exchange for immunity from prosecution.  Those were more forgiving times and instead of being pursued through the courts, Pontiac was required only to follow the rules and although the SD-455 had to be detuned a little, the resulting 290 horsepower was still more than anyone else could manage in those years.

High Performance Cars Magazine, April 1973.

SD-455 production numbers were low, 295 in 1973 (252 in Trans Ams & 43 in Firebird Formulas) and 1001 in 1974 (943 Trans Ams & 58 Formulas) and after the troubles with the EPA, plans to offer the engine in other models were abandoned although not until after some pre-production (310 horsepower) Trans Ams and one GTO (a larger, four-seat coupé) had been given to the press for testing and publicity.  The SD-455 Trans Am’s reputation is thus probably a little inflated because many of the performance numbers quoted come from the early tests of the machines with the anti-EPA cheat gear attached but more embarrassing was that Hi-Performance Cars magazine, impressed with the SD-455 GTO they'd tested, announced it as the winner of their 1973 Car of The Year Award, the magazine hitting the news-stands just the decision was taken not to produce the thing.