I was going to write this as a comment on Henry’s post, but decided it deserved a post of its own. Sorry Corie, it’s only peripherally about science.
True story.
At the GRC earlier this month during one of the ‘free’ periods, we’d organized to go to the lake and kayak (_is_ that a verb?) and swim and generally chill in the warm sun (the water was lovely, too). I’d made friends with a French-Italian chap (now working in the US) by the name of — well, let’s call him Giacomo, for reasons that might be self-evident — who had hired a car for the week. So I persuaded him to drive myself and three others, who all happened to be female, to the lake: even though he didn’t want to do anything so water-sporty he, being Giacomo, was happy to drive three ladies anywhere.
So the three piled in the shiny red Pontiac, leaving the front passenger seat free for me. A comment was made about the male/female distribution and I did point out that I’d let them choose their seats. Giacomo would obviously have preferred someone prettier next to him.
One of the women said something complimentary about the attractiveness of a man+sports car combo. I felt it would be remiss of me to fail to remind everyone that whereas Giacomo had hired a shiny red sports car, I actually owned one.
“Oooooooo!” chorussed the back seat.
On the return journey I sat in the back, in the middle. A fun time was had by all, with the possible exception of Giacomo.
Postscript.
The funny thing is that the following day, the weather being inclement, Giacomo and myself went to a pub in town. I ordered a couple of beers and some nachos + salsa, and was asked for my ID.
I once had a shiny black sports car, an RX7-GSL. Less than a week after I replace the original clutch at 120,000 miles it was stolen and totaled.
kayak (is that a verb?)
A word can mean whatever you want it to mean, said Humpty Dumpty.
Never mind Humpty Dumpty, what do the Guardians of the English Language (aka senior editors at Nature) say?
kayak (is that a verb?)
You were in America, so you were actually canoeing.
By the way, I was having a pizza last night with some assorted labmates and ex-editorial team members and our French postdoc was saying that the guardians of the French language actually wear swords.
How cool is that?
Hah. I carry a rifle:
(The pig was caught abusing apostrophes and using -ise in place of -“ize“:http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50122648. Let that be a warning.)
We guardians of the English Language are hip to the protean zeitgeist. So there. You can make verbs out of nouns. Whether you should is another matter. That pig is in fact a gerund, caught cutting a gerundive as any fule can cogniteriz’e.
Kayaks and canoes are completely different beasts, so location shouldn’t make a difference. And yes, kayak is a verb, and very fun it is too! (That’s what I’ve been off doing, in case anyone was wondering).
A kayak: notice front and rear beer hatches. Propelled by a single long paddle with a blade on each end. You sit on the floor of the boat with your legs out in front of you. The best way to see the BC coast.
A canoe: propelled by one or more short, single-bladed paddles. You sit on a bench with your feet more or less beneath you. Much less stable, and all your gear gets wet…
Cath, several Brits have told me that these two terms are completely reversed here. I know it’s just plain wrong, but I have to live with these people, so I’m humoring them.
I don’t know the definitive answer, because I don’t own the unabridged OED. There are certainly UK Shops that are using the North American terminology, but so far I have been outvoted. The British press is calling John Darwin “the Canoe man”, and he was definitely in a kayak, so I think I’ll just keep quiet on this.
Hmmm, never come across that before in the UK! I wonder if it’s another North/South divide thingy?
…and here in the South you’d use “canoeing” for both of them since you will most likely be in a ‘boat’ drinking beer while floating down a fairly mild river…. and then they say English is a language understood by everyone?! 😉
but to add my two cents to Richard’s question, I’d use kayak as a verb and a noun. Then again, that’s very possible and even encouraged in my native Swedish.
kayak and swim and generally chill
I understand it’s obligatory to chill when kayaking. Because you can’t have your kayak and heat it.
BANG!
It was a mercy killing.
Dash it Grant, you got in before I did.
That certainly explains the enormous calibre of the rifle you’re holding up there!
Poor Peter 🙁
R.I.P.
I like that joke and I’m going to use it.
(Ducks and covers)
Just make sure you cite the original paper, Cath.
(Me? I’m just reloading. Why?)
Ian, that’s your standard bushman’s .308. Based on the traditional .303 but takes the slighter more-pig-stopping-power larger ammo. But that’s not what we used, in the event.
Looks like a bloody .5 from where I’m sitting… usually belt-fed and mounted on the top of an APC!
That’s not fair on the pigs. Got to give them a chance.
And of course, makes eating the beast an interesting experience. The butcher gets really upset.
(.308 is allegedly based on the NATO 7.62 mm cartridge)
The Dutch Wikipedia page on canoeing settles it. I’m going to translate:
The most common types of canoes these days are the kayak and the touring canoe which is called Canadian canoe in many European countries.)
(also look at the pictures and the names underneath. It’s Dutch, but the words are easy!)
The page for “Canadian canoe” says: Canadian canoe is the name used in various European countries to describe a canoe. This nomenclature is the result of misinterpretations during the rise of canoeing as a sport in Europe, where the kayak was considered a canoe and the open touring canoe was given the nickname Canadian
So Cath is right – a kayak is a kayak and a canoe is a canoe, and the switch in England is a stupid European confusion.
The first link doesn’t work because the closing parenthesis is cut off by this stupid blog commenting software. Add a ) to the end of the URL and it should be fine.
Good to know I was right, I would have had to change my profile picture otherwise!
@Cath: Good to know I was right, I would have had to change my nationality otherwise!
>:)
The kayak is usually associated with very northern areas, I think because being cold and dry was important to preserve it. Kayaks tended to be made of skins, which would not withstand warm weather. Canoes could be made of wood which was more available and more durable in warm climates. The only readily available flexible air-tight membranes were animal skins, and they could only survive in cold dry climates.
The figure that Cath posted doesn’t show it, but there is usually a skirt that the operator ties around her/himself to make an essentially water-tight seal. This makes the kayak virtually unskinkable. The reason that people doing white-water kayaking are wearing helmets is in case their kayak flips along its axis, to protect their head from striking rocks which may be on the bottom. If one is sufficiently skilled, the kayak can be righted and the journey continued.
In some districts of north London, the word ‘canoe’ is used to refer to a Volvo. Just though you should know that.
I am definitely more ejumacated for being a member of NN.
That is all.
You know the whole relationship between the size of a man’s sports car and the size of his gerund?
I travel by train.
I’ll have you know, Scott, that the car only comes out at weekends. The rest of the time I walk.
Make of that what you will, Dr Freud.