It’s nice to know that, even in the stygian depths of their apocalyptic despair, Sweetheart’s laying plans to sell rights to their story on the indie circuit.
(yes I know Sundance is the name of the dog just let me have this)
“Vast planes” actually does make sense of a kind (but of course it does, do you think he is *mad*?). The vast plains of the west are, after all, more or less flat: thus, planes.
Well, yes: the two words have the same etymology, from Latin ‘planum’. They ended up spelt differently when spelling was standardized during the Early Modern Period. The same goes for ‘convey’ and ‘inveigh’, for example.
‘Plane’ as in ‘aeroplane’, by contrast, comes from the Greek ‘πλάνομαι’, meaning ‘to wander’. This is the same root as ‘planet’, which Classical astronomers called a wandering star, because it appeared to move against the ‘fixed’ stars.
Being someone who lives on those plains, or planes if you will, I can assure you that they are not precisely flat. Rather they are more “rolling” with occasional deviations called “waterways.”
This is the alternate universe where Gordo Cooper broke the sound barrier. Here in the real world, Chuck Yeager was born in West Virginia, and through cultural diffusion all pilots speak with an Appalachian Drawl.
Even I, born in New York and twenty years a Californian, notice the shift when I put on a headset and hit push-to-talk.
Can Sweetheart still speak Dog? She’s spent so much time speaking Canadian she might have lost fluency in her native tongue.
Sundance might actually be the sanest one in St. Charlie. Telekinesis aside, he seems as intelligent as an average dog, so wouldn’t be as vulnerable to becoming mad. Not that it would help . . .
this man is actually very gifted considering this is saint charles
…as do the lyrics to “America the Beautiful”.
….Wait, there’s still a US Government?
It’s a post-apocalyptic mad science setting: Homeland Security might not be under human, or even biological, control by this point.
WuseMajor: At this point, all I’d like to conclude is that there is at least one person in St. Charlie who believes that Homeland Security exists.
I’m not even sure whether or not he believes he has access to an aircraft of any description.
True enough, but I’m sticking for now with my head-canon of the predator drone collective consciousness. 🙂
Personally, I like to think that “Homeland Security” is simply the name of a large anti-aircraft cannon somebody fixed up.
Yes, there’s an acting President working from NYC who apparently has it out for parking meter cheaters.
It’s nice to know that, even in the stygian depths of their apocalyptic despair, Sweetheart’s laying plans to sell rights to their story on the indie circuit.
(yes I know Sundance is the name of the dog just let me have this)
“Vast planes” actually does make sense of a kind (but of course it does, do you think he is *mad*?). The vast plains of the west are, after all, more or less flat: thus, planes.
Yet kinda boring, therefore plain.
And the pun prize goes to
Well, yes: the two words have the same etymology, from Latin ‘planum’. They ended up spelt differently when spelling was standardized during the Early Modern Period. The same goes for ‘convey’ and ‘inveigh’, for example.
‘Plane’ as in ‘aeroplane’, by contrast, comes from the Greek ‘πλάνομαι’, meaning ‘to wander’. This is the same root as ‘planet’, which Classical astronomers called a wandering star, because it appeared to move against the ‘fixed’ stars.
Oddly, Merriam-Webster’s (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aeroplane) gives the origin as: French aéroplane, from aéro- aer- + -plane, probably from feminine of plan flat, level, from Latin planus
That does appear to be an alternative derivation, with the word originally being a synonym for ‘aerofoil’.
Being someone who lives on those plains, or planes if you will, I can assure you that they are not precisely flat. Rather they are more “rolling” with occasional deviations called “waterways.”
If there are “vast planes” in the west, does that mean those big mother Airbuses or Boeings, or maybe the Spruce Goose?
Now I want to read my (still hypothetical) children bedtime stories from a Mother Spruce Goose collection. So … thanks, I guess?
Mother Spruce Goose, as told by Howard Hughes…
This is the alternate universe where Gordo Cooper broke the sound barrier. Here in the real world, Chuck Yeager was born in West Virginia, and through cultural diffusion all pilots speak with an Appalachian Drawl.
Even I, born in New York and twenty years a Californian, notice the shift when I put on a headset and hit push-to-talk.
Sweetheart is so good she can hear misspellings…
Channeling Antonio?
Can Sweetheart still speak Dog? She’s spent so much time speaking Canadian she might have lost fluency in her native tongue.
Sundance might actually be the sanest one in St. Charlie. Telekinesis aside, he seems as intelligent as an average dog, so wouldn’t be as vulnerable to becoming mad. Not that it would help . . .
We only have Joshua’s word that Sundance is psychokinetic. Or that Joshua is sane, for that matter…
How hard could it be? “Bark bark bark, ey! Woof woof, ey!”