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Tzadkiel's ship

Jeff Wilson · 03 Dec 2007, 09:44 · from 2007-December.txt.gz

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From: jwilson at io.com (Jeff Wilson)
Date: Mon, 03 Dec 2007 03:44:15 -0600
Subject: (urth) Tzadkiel's ship
In-Reply-To: <c873c2920711282109x83692cat771f6e6bc8bf6855 at mail.gmail.com>
References: <9a33123d0711280610g2ebe9adbte27022bd9af837ca at mail.gmail.com>	<1718.24.119.55.228.1196282468.squirrel at webmail.io.com>	<1f7617370711281351w3eedf9c8h7ddcaa80e3f1b286 at mail.gmail.com>	<474E45D0.80909 at io.com>
	<c873c2920711282109x83692cat771f6e6bc8bf6855 at mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <4753CFEF.7020503 at io.com>

Mark Millman wrote:
> Dear Mr. Wilson:

>> If "ship" can come to include "rockets and four
>> masters and magical space time machines that
>> traffic with other universes" over millenia, why
>> must "volant" remain fixed in stone? If you insist
>> on strictly historical heraldry, "a ship volant" is
>> as meaningless a device as "a serpent rampant";
>> you can't draw it because historical ships have
>> no wings any more than historical serpents had
>> feet.
> 
> Not so; a ship volant would show no waterline, while a ship natant would.

Pimsley says "natant" means swimming to the right, and applies to fish.

Calling floating "natant" seems as figurative as sailing being called 
"volant".

-- 
Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com
< http://www.io.com/~jwilson >

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