Funicular

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Dr. Goodword
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Funicular

Postby Dr. Goodword » Thu Jun 07, 2018 9:53 pm

• funicular •

Pronunciation: fyu-nik-yê-lêr • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Adjective

Meaning: 1. Rope-like or having a cord, rope, or cable. 2. Operated on or by a cable. 3. Related to a funiculus: the umbilical cord (also called a funis in medicine), the spinal cord, or any bundle of nerve fibers.

Notes: The actual meaning of today's Good Word is in the process of being replaced by its use as a noun, the shortened form of 'funicular railroad' or 'funicular car'. Today this word more readily brings to mind a cable car or mountainside railway on which the cars are pulled up and down by a cable rather than by an engine. This word only means related to a rope or cable, though, as the examples below will show.

In Play: Let's start with the obvious: "Halfway up the mountain the funicular broke down and the passengers had to finish the climb up the slope on foot." This word offers far more opportunities, however: "Rose Gardner put up a decorative funicular fence around her yard." She also has ferns in funicular pots hanging from the ceiling of her porch. Indeed, Rose often wears funicular braids around San Francisco, where they call their funicular trolleys cable cars.

Word History: Funicular was a word created from the borrowed word funiculus "a slender rope" by adding the adjective suffix -ar. Funiculus is the diminutive of funis "rope, cord", a word with a cousin in Greek: thomigz "cord". This suggests that both words came from an older Proto-Indo-European form dhu-niz. We would expect a word from the same source to be spelled, roughly, dun- or don- in Germanic languages like English, but we find nothing like this. There are also no suspects in the Slavic languages like Polish, Russian, and Serbian. (Thanks to Jack Adams for getting today's Good Word to us without the use of a funicular railway.)
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Slava
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Re: Funicular

Postby Slava » Sun Jul 02, 2023 12:21 pm

I've always enjoyed riding the funicular cars in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Sadly, the Skimobile version on Mt. Cranmore was ripped out several years ago.
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bbeeton
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Re: Funicular

Postby bbeeton » Sun Jul 02, 2023 3:28 pm

And then there's the Neapolitan song "Funiculi, Funicula", written (apparently) to recognize the building of the first funicular up the side of Vesuvius.

My favorite funicular is in Quebec City, where it provides a pleasant, if brief, connection between the upper city and the Bas Ville. (Much quicker than climbing that hill.)


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