[starion887]

I have never understood why we use the work "stage" for our rally route divisions, and then recently ran across the use of the word in some revolutionary era writing that referred to a 'stage' and a coach traveling the 'stage'. Some etymology from the www:

Started with Latin "staticum" - a place for standing

Progressed into Old French "estage" - story of a building or a place for performance

Progressed into Middle English - used in the sense of 'step on the ladder of virture or ladder of life'

Usage found from 1603 English - used for a 'division of a journey without stop for a rest' . Hence 'stagecoach'. (I suppose this is how the term was used in the 18th century writings for a segment of the old frontier wagon road from Philadelphia into the valley road in VA that appeared in the my recent reading.)

I would be curious to know if this usage continued in UK English and then came over to us in rallying, or came more from French into the rally lexicon.

Like the radio commercials say, "That's a useless fact!"

Regards,
Mark B.

 

[John Vanlandingham]

The Froggie's term for a "special stage" is "epreuve special", shortened or to use the Froggification "abreviation" ES.
Now knowing that 'v' and 'f' are just slight variaions of the same sound we can finger out that e-preuve is like 'e-proof' and a 'proof'
is a test, iddnit. ( and we can deduce that a-brev-iation is 'a-brief-iation' or making it 'brief'.)

So we can make a safe bet that the Engleski usage decended from the English, since the Froggies' don't use the term as we do.

Google 'epreuve special' and you see rally info as well as test in schools etc.

Now interestingly the Swedes use "SS" but they mean "Special Sträcka''
'sträcka' being also among other things a stretch.
So while you're looking up etymogogies look up 'proof', 'prove', the German 'pruf', essay, assay, and the French essai.

(and to think that some people give me crap for mis-typing, silly bâtards)





John Vanlandingham
Seattle, WA. 98168

janvanvurpa (at) f4 (dot) ca

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat!
Vive Le Groupe F!

 

[P Remner]

>
>(and to think that some people give me crap for mis-typing,
>silly bâtards)
>

I get to converse with a wide variety of people whose first language is not English. (I speak two languages, English and bad English!)

But in lotta cases I understand the "home" language to one degree to another. Half the time, I notice, people who are not native English speakers, are using lots of home-language words, only we don't ordinarily realize it because we just chalk it up to accent!

But we get the gist! Hear "Zwolf" in a long string of Englisch and you wouldn't think twice about it. Try reading it, though, and you get caught out. Same with lots of other examples that I can't think of right now, but I've almost made a game out of it with my co-worker. "You know, half of what he said wasn't English and you didn't realize it..."