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TOURBILLION

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 11:24 pm
by Dr. Goodword

• tourbillion •

Pronunciation: tur-bil-yên • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: 1. A vortex, as a whirlwind or whirlpool. 2. A skyrocket with a spiral or spinning flight path.

Notes: No, this word has nothing to do with tours or billions, although it may have reached its current spelling through folk etymology influenced by these two words. The earlier French spelling, tourbillon, supports this interpretation.

In Play: The rapid spinning motion implied by today's Good Word may move on an upward trajectory: "Derry Yare rose to fame on a tourbillion of hype, talent, and skimpy outfits that was faster and more brilliant than anyone expected." It may also move downwards: "Canby Allgood was sucked into a tourbillion of ever-increasing corruption from which he could not escape."

Word History: Today's Good Word came into English from Old French torbeillon, which goes back ultimately to Latin turbo, a borrowing from Greek turbe "noise, confusion, turmoil". Once turbo arrived in Latin, it quickly went into the making of the verb turbare "to confuse, create turmoil". It also produced turbidus "muddy, full of confusion", which English borrowed, via French, as turbid "muddy". Turbulent is another related word based on the borrowed Greek word that came to us from Latin via French. In Latin it meant "boisterous, stormy, tempestuous" and was based on turbula "a disorderly crowd".

Re: TOURBILLION

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2013 1:41 am
by Philip Hudson
Tourbillion has some etymological cousins. I wish The Good Doctor had given us some. I believe turbine, turbulent, turbulence and turbid, are related. I think, but have not confirmed, that torque is a related word. No doubt The Good Doctor knows more, including those in foreign languages. Does anyone else know cognates or cousins of tourbillion? The more obscure and esoteric the better.

Re: TOURBILLION

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2013 4:03 am
by mikespeir
So, just now you get around to telling us about this word? I can think of specific instances in the past where I might have used it. But no. Too late; too late. Maybe one day the opportunity will arise again.

:D

Re: TOURBILLION

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2013 7:39 am
by MTC
Other turbo-powered words ("spinoffs"?) include, disturb, perturb, imperturbable, turbinate, turbocharger, and turbot, to name a few. Trouble and related words derive from Latin turbidus.

As Dr. Goodword points outs, tourbillion moves both up as a firework and down as a whirlpool. This contrarian movement enhances the word's essential whirly meaning.

Tourbillion also refers to the escapement movement in a watch. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourbillon for a tourbillion movement in action.

Must spin off now...

Re: TOURBILLION

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2013 2:45 pm
by LukeJavan8
Living in the middle of 'tornado alley' I wonder why
they were called tornadoes instead of tourbillions.

Re: TOURBILLION

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2013 3:17 pm
by FrancisKisner
In my previous occupation, I was a jeweler. The word tourbillion is used among watchmakers. A traditional watch movement centers around the balance wheel, pallet fork, and escape wheel. The balance wheel, as the name suggests, needs to be perfectly in balance. A few centuries ago, some watch designers were concerned that the balance might not be perfect in all directions. If the watch were always sitting in the same orientation to vertical, the balance would be true. If it were carried and the position changed, the balance might not be correct and the watch could gain or lose time.
To correct for this, they designed a mechanism in which the whole balance system goes through a rotation as the watch runs. In this way, if the watch is moved, the differences from true time will cancel each other out. The correcting mechanism was very complicated and it didn't catch on. In fact, it wasn't really necessary for most purposes. The name they gave to the system was "tourbillion". In high-end modern watches, the tourbillion is considered a "complication". It is added to movement designs to set them apart from lesser makes.

Re: TOURBILLION

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2013 7:55 pm
by Slava
In my previous occupation, I was a jeweler. The word tourbillion is used among watchmakers. A traditional watch movement centers around the balance wheel, pallet fork, and escape wheel. The balance wheel, as the name suggests, needs to be perfectly in balance. A few centuries ago, some watch designers were concerned that the balance might not be perfect in all directions. If the watch were always sitting in the same orientation to vertical, the balance would be true. If it were carried and the position changed, the balance might not be correct and the watch could gain or lose time.
To correct for this, they designed a mechanism in which the whole balance system goes through a rotation as the watch runs. In this way, if the watch is moved, the differences from true time will cancel each other out. The correcting mechanism was very complicated and it didn't catch on. In fact, it wasn't really necessary for most purposes. The name they gave to the system was "tourbillion". In high-end modern watches, the tourbillion is considered a "complication". It is added to movement designs to set them apart from lesser makes.
Thanks for the short history lesson Francis. And welcome to the Agora. Dare we hope we have a new gem in the group?

Re: TOURBILLION

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2013 8:35 pm
by LukeJavan8
Indeed, welcome

Re: TOURBILLION

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2013 11:52 pm
by Philip Hudson
FrancisKisner: Thrice welcome!

Re: TOURBILLION

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 7:55 am
by MTC
Thrice will not suffice!
You clarified the history of "complications," Francis. Welcome.

Re: TOURBILLION

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 8:52 am
by Philip Hudson
Luke: Is Nebraska in the middle of 'tornado alley'? That alley is pretty long and pretty wide, taking in most states. Statistics puts Texas number one with an average of 155 tornados a year. Of course Texas has size to account for. Interestingly Florida is next with 66. Alaska and Rhode Island tie for last at 0. I have had several close calls but never a direct hit. Of course, when the tourbillious monster is roaring down on you, you are, de facto, in tornado alley.
See http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/sev ... adoes.html .

Re: TOURBILLION

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 12:57 pm
by LukeJavan8
I think tornado alley is wherever you are located, and one
comes thru, as you say. I've lived thru 3 of them here in
this city. One totally destroyed a hospital and the beams
and steel work now make the entrance gate to a park
called Tornado Alley Park. I was debating heading to
the basement one time, thinking it was just another
scare. I was watching out the window and saw an
office chair fly over head. That made up my mind for
me. We had one in 1975 that decimated a huge area,
schools, churches, post office, hospital, businesses by
the dozen. A maintenance man found a bible in the
yard opened on the ground. The first words
on the page were: "...a mighty wind shall..." , as well
as two $100 bills in a chain link fence perfectly entertwined
next to each other, and the serial numbers were
consecutive.
I had debris in my yard from the hospital, rubber gloves,
surgical apparatus, etc, which was 2 miles away. Roofing
and texts from the high school also all over the place.
Three tornadoes is enough - don't want any more in my
life. Weather Channel each spring calls NE and KS and
OK the tornado alley. But you are right about anywhere in
North America being eligible for the title.

Re: TOURBILLION

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 5:23 pm
by MTC
" I was watching out the window and saw an
office chair fly over head."

Surreal! Are you sure you weren't watching a rerun of The Wizard of Oz?

Re: TOURBILLION

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 7:53 pm
by LukeJavan8
Nope, not Oz. I was listening to a small hand held
transistor radio (remember those), and following the
movement by radio personality, seeing the chair I
realized I was only about 3 blocks away.
One boy in my class was going to skip baseball
practice (6grade) and take a nap, but decided at the
last minute to go. The team hid in a dugout, and when
he came home, what was left of it, there were 3 pieces
of plate glass lodged in his mattress. The image
still gives me the shudders.

Re: TOURBILLION

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 11:02 pm
by Perry Lassiter
i arrived in Waco in the fall of 1953. A friend of mine, a Baylor senior, had been living with his brother, a freshman, the spring before when a tornado went down the main street of Waco , wreaking terrible damage. My friend got home from class that afternoon and discovered his brother wasn't there yet. He fixed a sandwich, sat down to eat, and his brother came in sopping wet. "Where have you been? Why are you so late? And why are you wet?"
"There was a big wind down town."
"Where's your car?"
"We'll have to go get it. There was a big wind down town."
Still not understanding, the two got in the senior's car and went downtown to discover a building wall had fallen on his brother's car. They pitched in and helped and didn't get home for two days.
Yeah, there was a big wind down town.