Charles Darwin's Origin of Species celebrates 150 years.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
From Clive Cussler's Arctic Drift
Reading Clive Cussler's novel, Arctic Drift, introduced me to words and terms unique to the author's genre. The words I noted down include the following:
Coho salmon: A small Pacific salmon.
Starboard is a nautical term that refers to the right side of a vessel as perceived by a person on board a vessel and facing the bow (front). The equivalent for the left-hand side is port. The starboard side of a vessel is indicated with a green navigation light at night.
Fathometer is an instrument to determe the depth of water or a submerged object by means of ultrasound waves.
Throttle is a valve to regulate flow of a fluid, and thus the power or speed of an engine.
Anchor. For a ship, it is an object, often made out of metal, used to attach a ship to the bottom of a body of water at a specific point.
Plimsoll line is the marking that shows how much of a ship is under or above water.
Gangplank is a temporary footway between a ship and a dockside.
A bunkhouse is a building that historically was used to house working cowboys on ranches in North America.
An anorak or parka is a type of heavy jacket with a hood to protect the face from a combination of freezing temperatures and wind.
A track loader is an engineering vehicle consisting of a tracked chassis with a loader for digging and loading material.
Pinochle (sometimes pinocle, or penuchle), is a trick-taking game typically for two, three or four players and played with a 48 card deck.
pouilly-fume([poo-yee-fyoo-mey)-dry white wine from the Loire Valley wine-producing region of France.
Airag-mild beverage made of fermented mare's milk. It is one of main ingredients of the summer diet of Mongols.
Vichyssoise(vish-ee-swahz)-Cold soup made from a puree of the white part of leeks, potatoes, onions, chicken stock, cream and chives.
Risotto is a traditional Italian rice dish.
Mousse-sweetened dessert with whipped cream as a base.
References: Wikipedia, dictionary.com
PS: It was very interesting to search for some of terms in Google images. This list is incomplete.
Coho salmon: A small Pacific salmon.
Starboard is a nautical term that refers to the right side of a vessel as perceived by a person on board a vessel and facing the bow (front). The equivalent for the left-hand side is port. The starboard side of a vessel is indicated with a green navigation light at night.
Fathometer is an instrument to determe the depth of water or a submerged object by means of ultrasound waves.
Throttle is a valve to regulate flow of a fluid, and thus the power or speed of an engine.
Anchor. For a ship, it is an object, often made out of metal, used to attach a ship to the bottom of a body of water at a specific point.
Plimsoll line is the marking that shows how much of a ship is under or above water.
Gangplank is a temporary footway between a ship and a dockside.
A bunkhouse is a building that historically was used to house working cowboys on ranches in North America.
An anorak or parka is a type of heavy jacket with a hood to protect the face from a combination of freezing temperatures and wind.
A track loader is an engineering vehicle consisting of a tracked chassis with a loader for digging and loading material.
Pinochle (sometimes pinocle, or penuchle), is a trick-taking game typically for two, three or four players and played with a 48 card deck.
pouilly-fume([poo-yee-fyoo-mey)-dry white wine from the Loire Valley wine-producing region of France.
Airag-mild beverage made of fermented mare's milk. It is one of main ingredients of the summer diet of Mongols.
Vichyssoise(vish-ee-swahz)-Cold soup made from a puree of the white part of leeks, potatoes, onions, chicken stock, cream and chives.
Risotto is a traditional Italian rice dish.
Mousse-sweetened dessert with whipped cream as a base.
References: Wikipedia, dictionary.com
PS: It was very interesting to search for some of terms in Google images. This list is incomplete.
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