Push bike

William writes:

On 11 May, 06:50, Evan Kirshenbaum wrote:
Jerry Friedman writes:
Where did the "k" in "bike" come from?

That's an interesting question. *The OED doesn't even have an
etymology beyond its being an abbreviation. *They cite it to 1882 in
_Wheelman_, and Google Books shows it showing up there and elsewhere
starting in 1883, without any explanation or scare quotes. *I see the
word condemned by 1896, but nobody seems to know where it comes from.
I toyed with the notion that it might originally have been spelled
"bic" (like the later "mic", which got respelled as "mike"), but I
can't find any evidence for that.

Other than "mike" itself. [Which is to say, I find that to be a
reasonably convincing argument].

Yeah, but I found absolutely zero support for "bic" in contemporaneous
writing, which seems strange if "bike" appeared widely suddenly.

--
Evan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------
HP Laboratories |I like giving talks to industry,
1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 |because one of the things that I've
Palo Alto, CA 94304 |found is that you really can't
|learn anything at the Harvard
|Business School.
(650)857-7572 | Clayton Christensen
| Harvard Business School
http://www.kirshenbaum.net/

In om,
the Omrud typed:
Django Cat wrote:
Jerry Friedman wrote:

Speaking of
stickiness, though, may I venture to remind you of the Tar Baby?

Ah. Could be before my time...

BrE folk (apparently including DC) are not in general familiar with
Brer Rabbit and his friends, unless perhaps they are fans of "Sons of
the South". Dad had a book of Brer Rabbit stories which I suspect he
may have got from Warwickshire-based American soldiers during the war
(he also laid his hands on a number of now rare 78s), so I grew up
knowing all about the Tar Baby, although it didn't make an awful lot
of sense to me in the English Midlands in the late 50s.

I had an Uncle Remus book in the 50s. Don't know anything about GIs, though.

--
Ray
UK

R H Draney wrote:
Django Cat filted:
Why oh why are all the nutters on AUE Americans? We have a proud
tradition in this country of eccentricity, ranging from the mildly
disturbed all the way up the stark raving hatstand. Yet UK posters on
AUE seem to spend an awful lot of time reasoning calmly with completely
certifiable Americans. Why can't we have some genuine British nutters
coming out with bizarre and offensive ideas for once?

(This is not to suggest all American posters are nutters; the vast
majority of US posters on AUE are wise, witty and well-informed. But
hey, guys, you got a couple of real winger dingers there!).

I may have to start a campaign. Bring back the British Nutter!

Sorry...nobody's been able to reach him for almost ten years now:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/380082.stm

Which leads to the question: Has the party continued on without him?

--Jeff

--
The comfort of the wealthy has always
depended upon an abundant supply of
the poor. --Voltaire

Django Cat wrote:
R H Draney wrote:

Django Cat filted:
R H Draney wrote:

Django Cat filted:
I may have to start a campaign. Bring back the British Nutter!
Sorry...nobody's been able to reach him for almost ten years now:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/380082.stm
A mere amateur.
You say amateur; I say bellwether....r

Screaming Lord Sutch is a sheep?

A sheep in leopardskin clothing, apparently.

--Jeff

--
The comfort of the wealthy has always
depended upon an abundant supply of
the poor. --Voltaire

John Kane wrote:
Nick Spalding wrote:
Don Phillipson wrote:
"R H Draney" wrote:

Push bike is a terribly British affectation. . . .

One of those penny-farthing jobs, innit?...r

Believe it or not, the penny-farthing was called in its day
the Ordinary Bicycle. The design with two wheels of the
same size (and chain drive, which the Ordinary did not
need) was first marketed as the Safety Bicycle.

What was the Ordinary being distinguished from before the Safety came
along.

Bicycle (or possibly 'wheel'.) The term ordinary seems to have been
applied to differentiate it from the radially new "Safety" bicycle.

Wheel seems to have been a common British term for a cycle in the late
19th century at least among avid cyclists. See for example "Round the
World on a Wheel " by John Foster Fraser.

The common name for a bicycle in Latvia is "ritenis" -- that translates to
"wheel".
--
Skitt (AmE)

On Mon, 11 May 2009 10:08:45 -0700, "Skitt"
wrote:

John Kane wrote:
Nick Spalding wrote:
Don Phillipson wrote:
"R H Draney" wrote:

Push bike is a terribly British affectation. . . .

One of those penny-farthing jobs, innit?...r

Believe it or not, the penny-farthing was called in its day
the Ordinary Bicycle. The design with two wheels of the
same size (and chain drive, which the Ordinary did not
need) was first marketed as the Safety Bicycle.

What was the Ordinary being distinguished from before the Safety came
along.

Bicycle (or possibly 'wheel'.) The term ordinary seems to have been
applied to differentiate it from the radially new "Safety" bicycle.

Wheel seems to have been a common British term for a cycle in the late
19th century at least among avid cyclists. See for example "Round the
World on a Wheel " by John Foster Fraser.

The common name for a bicycle in Latvia is "ritenis" -- that translates to
"wheel".

And there's German "Rad" with the same meanings.

The OED describes the use of English "wheel" in this sense as
"orig. and esp. U.S."

Here are two quotations:

"1880 Scribner's Monthly Feb. 483/1 A few possessors of the
birotate chariot, numbering some forty odd, enjoyed a 'wheel
around the Hub'."

"1884 Harper's Mag. Jan. 305/1 The wheel was a new thing in New
York ways."

I just love that birotate chariot.

--
James

James Hogg wrote:
"Skitt" wrote:
John Kane wrote:
Nick Spalding wrote:
Don Phillipson wrote:
"R H Draney" wrote:

Push bike is a terribly British affectation. . . .

One of those penny-farthing jobs, innit?...r

Believe it or not, the penny-farthing was called in its day
the Ordinary Bicycle. The design with two wheels of the
same size (and chain drive, which the Ordinary did not
need) was first marketed as the Safety Bicycle.

What was the Ordinary being distinguished from before the Safety
came along.

Bicycle (or possibly 'wheel'.) The term ordinary seems to have been
applied to differentiate it from the radially new "Safety" bicycle.

Wheel seems to have been a common British term for a cycle in the
late 19th century at least among avid cyclists. See for example
"Round the World on a Wheel " by John Foster Fraser.

The common name for a bicycle in Latvia is "ritenis" -- that
translates to "wheel".

And there's German "Rad" with the same meanings.

In my experience, it was usually "Fahrrad". I don't recall ever hearing
just "Rad".

rest snipped

--
Skitt, drawing from experiences in these places:
http://home.comcast.net/~skitt99/places.html

James Hogg wrote:
On Mon, 11 May 2009 10:08:45 -0700, "Skitt"
wrote:

John Kane wrote:
Nick Spalding wrote:
Don Phillipson wrote:
"R H Draney" wrote:

Push bike is a terribly British affectation. . . .

One of those penny-farthing jobs, innit?...r

Believe it or not, the penny-farthing was called in its day
the Ordinary Bicycle. The design with two wheels of the
same size (and chain drive, which the Ordinary did not
need) was first marketed as the Safety Bicycle.

What was the Ordinary being distinguished from before the Safety
came along.

Bicycle (or possibly 'wheel'.) The term ordinary seems to have
been applied to differentiate it from the radially new "Safety"
bicycle.

Wheel seems to have been a common British term for a cycle in the
late 19th century at least among avid cyclists. See for example
"Round the World on a Wheel " by John Foster Fraser.

The common name for a bicycle in Latvia is "ritenis" -- that
translates to "wheel".

And there's German "Rad" with the same meanings.

The OED describes the use of English "wheel" in this sense as
"orig. and esp. U.S."

Here are two quotations:

"1880 Scribner's Monthly Feb. 483/1 A few possessors of the
birotate chariot, numbering some forty odd, enjoyed a 'wheel
around the Hub'."

"1884 Harper's Mag. Jan. 305/1 The wheel was a new thing in New
York ways."

I just love that birotate chariot.

My born-in-England, raised-in-Utah by born-in-England parents, called
bicycles "wheels": "Here, boy, get on your wheel and bring me some
sweets." (1947)

--
Frank ess

On Mon, 11 May 2009 10:29:53 -0700, "Skitt"
wrote:

James Hogg wrote:
"Skitt" wrote:
John Kane wrote:
Nick Spalding wrote:
Don Phillipson wrote:
"R H Draney" wrote:

Push bike is a terribly British affectation. . . .

One of those penny-farthing jobs, innit?...r

Believe it or not, the penny-farthing was called in its day
the Ordinary Bicycle. The design with two wheels of the
same size (and chain drive, which the Ordinary did not
need) was first marketed as the Safety Bicycle.

What was the Ordinary being distinguished from before the Safety
came along.

Bicycle (or possibly 'wheel'.) The term ordinary seems to have been
applied to differentiate it from the radially new "Safety" bicycle.

Wheel seems to have been a common British term for a cycle in the
late 19th century at least among avid cyclists. See for example
"Round the World on a Wheel " by John Foster Fraser.

The common name for a bicycle in Latvia is "ritenis" -- that
translates to "wheel".

And there's German "Rad" with the same meanings.

In my experience, it was usually "Fahrrad". I don't recall ever hearing
just "Rad".

It's common enough, and the verb is "radeln":
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrrad

--
James

the Omrud writes:

Django Cat wrote:
Jerry Friedman wrote:

Speaking of
stickiness, though, may I venture to remind you of the Tar Baby?

Ah. Could be before my time...

BrE folk (apparently including DC) are not in general familiar with
Brer Rabbit and his friends, unless perhaps they are fans of "Sons of
the South". Dad had a book of Brer Rabbit stories which I suspect he
may have got from Warwickshire-based American soldiers during the war
(he also laid his hands on a number of now rare 78s), so I grew up
knowing all about the Tar Baby, although it didn't make an awful lot
of sense to me in the English Midlands in the late 50s.

Whatever you do, don't make me read Uncle Remus. Please don't make me
read Uncle Remus.
--
Online waterways route planner: http://canalplan.org.uk
development version: http://canalplan.eu