He was conning folk on land as well, if my memory serves me right.1883 R. L. Stevenson Treasure Island I. iii. xiii. 104
Long John stood by the steersman and conned the ship.
He was conning folk on land as well, if my memory serves me right.1883 R. L. Stevenson Treasure Island I. iii. xiii. 104
Long John stood by the steersman and conned the ship.
Many phrases in common everyday usage in English have a Naval origin:Just about all the words in common use about travelling in space have the same origin, relating to sea-travel on Earth.
I said: "... and deduced it was^, like so much of Trek, Conning Tower." ^ of naval origin
I forgot the key phrase
Now, does anyone know how "Conning Tower" got its name?
ˈconning-ˌtower, n.
Etymology: < conning n.2 + tower n.
a. The pilot-house of a war-ship, esp. the shot-proof pilot-house of an iron-clad. Similarly conning-shield n.
1870 Daily News 31 Aug. 2 A ‘conning’ tower is likewise being constructed of thick armour-plating, from which the officer in charge of the vessel will issue his orders during the time the ship is under fire.
1881 J. H. Johnson Specif. Patent 655, The ship‥has in addition to the turrets, what I term a conning shield or observation turret.
1884 E. J. Reed in Contemp. Rev. Nov. 623 [Other shells] pierced the conning tower and blew to pieces the admiral commanding.
(Hide quotations)
b. A superstructure on a submarine in which the periscope is mounted and from which steering, firing, etc., are directed when the submarine is on or near the surface.
1886 Graphic 17 Apr. 410/3 A New Submarine Vessel.‥ A conning tower is placed on the top of the vessel, in the sides of which are ports which enable the steersman to see in every direction, and which is covered by a strong watertight scuttle for access to the interior of the boat.
1902 A. Lang Disentanglers 406 Periscope not necessary with conning-tower out of water.
1915 W. E. Dommett Submarine Vessels iv. 42 All hatches are closed and water admitted to the tanks until the deck, which is just below the base of the conning-tower, is at the level of the water.
1955 Times 20 June 4/6 Last week your Correspondent saw some of the demonstrations from the conning tower and through the periscope of the submarine Tapir.
Etymology 5
From earlier cond, from Middle English conduen, from Old French conduire, from Latin condūcere, present active infinitive of condūcō (“draw together; conduct”).
[edit] Verb
con (third-person singular simple present cons, present participle conning, simple past and past participle conned)
Just about all the words in common use about travelling in space have the same origin, relating to sea-travel on Earth: ship, vessel, deck, bridge, helm, Captain, docking, voyage...
Unfortunately, there are some readers (for whatever reason) who have trouble with names from a wider variety of sources, as Stephen Palmer has discovered; he has recorded his experiences in this Chrons thread: http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/530601-page-99-a.html.SF writers have mostly stopped giving their characters the same set of Anglo-Saxon/Germanic names everyone in the Golden Age stuff had....
On the bridge of a ship, you have an Officer of the Deck whom represents the Commanding Officer on the bridge and has the responsibility for the ship. Under the OOD you will often have a Conning Officer (Conn). The Conn is responsible for the safe navigation of the vessel and issues orders to the helmsman; the Conn is the only person that should issue orders to the helm. During a watch changeover you will hear the exiting officer announce that the incoming officer now how has the Conn so that everyone will know who has control of the ship.Hi,
Its true, a sci-fi fan since 1972 and I'm uncertain what should be said when the average starship 'Captain' hands control over to the 'First Officer'.
Is it con or com (and if so what does it mean) or, is it something else?
Thanks,
Rusty
"There 'are' stupid questions."
All of which assumes that by the time we have manned spaceships out there, people on board will use 400-year old nautical jargon. I would find this a rather jarring archaism in a contemporary SF story, unless there's a reason in terms of plot or storytelling style.
I once had the opportunity, at the University of Florida library, to read a 1902 English version of Le Morte D'Arthur.There will be minor changes as the language evolves, but that may well be it.
Why is that Jayaprakash Satyamurthy? I know this is a ten-year-old thread and I just got here because I wanted to know the origin of "con" myself, but I'm curious why you would think that 400 years in the future man wouldn't be using nautical terms in space? Who's to say that an empty cargo ship going from a drop point to a pickup point isn't "deadheading" - a term truckers use for running with an empty trailer and not much of a nautical term (although I could be wrong there)? I'm truly curious if after ten years you've changed your view or if you are still holding fast to your view on the matter."I've always found the default use of nautical terms in spacefaring SF tales troublesome."
Jayaprakash Satyamurthy hasn't visited here since 2015, so I'm not sure you're going to get a speedy response from him.Why is that Jayaprakash Satyamurthy?
Good things come to those who wait, no?Jayaprakash Satyamurthy hasn't visited here since 2015, so I'm not sure you're going to get a speedy response from him.