No!! See below.
|>
|> Has anyone here ridden a Penny Farthing? Are they much like riding a
|> unicycle? Are they hard to find?
Yes, I've ridden them. They are more like bicycles, but you can make the
rear wheel come up and ride it like a unicycle. Conventional wisdom has
it that that's how the unicycle was invented....
So you may be wondering, what in the world is a UNICYCLE anyway?
I am glad you brought this up, Julian. You have awakened the lexicographer
within me, so here it is for what it's worth. I feel that British usage is
changing, but I am uncertain. Conventional wisdom, as I see it, is
something like this (these are *not* strict lexicographic definitions, but
the meanings should be clear enough).
ONE-WHEELED VEHICLE Any kind of vehicle that has only a single wheel which
comes in contact with the ground. Only used in
theoretical discussions like this one.
UNICYCLE 1. [American English usage]
A one-wheeled vehicle with the rider mounted *outside* the wheel.
2. [Contemparary British English usage, still in flux?]
A one-wheeled vehicle with the rider mounted *outside* the wheel.
MONOCYCLE 1. [American English usage]
A one-wheeled vehicle with the rider mounted *inside* the wheel.
2. [Traditional British English usage]
Any one-wheeled vehicle (American unicycle and monocycle).
UNI A colloquial equivakent of "unicycle", probably restricted to
the Americcan sense of the word.
There are probably other slangy terms like "ike" and "icicle". How about
making a list of all the synonyms? Anyone out there who know of other
synonyms, please shout.
Note that dictionaries are often inaccurate. For example, the American
Heritage Dictionary defines unicycle as "a vehicle consisting of a frame
mounted over a single wheel and usually propelled by pedals." This is
obviously inadequate since it excludes ultimate wheels, BC wheels, and the
whole family of multiwheeled unicycles, not to mention such weirdos as
the half-wheeled unicycle built by yours truly...
BTW, I invite someone with a linguistic flair (READ: Craig Rogers and Ken
Fuchs?) to propose an accurate definition for "unicycle" that does full
justice to all (or most) of its multifarioius splendor. Maybe we can even
get the next edition of Webster and Oxford to adopt it!?
BTW, many European languages use some word similar to "monocycle". Spanish
is "monociclo", but with the Puerto-Rican influence it seems to be changing
to "uniciclo". Any comments, Alberto?
I once made a list of "unicycle" in some 30 languages, which I will try to
dig up and publish. In the meantime, I suggest you wordsmiths out there
send in as many foreign language equivalents as you know, and we can start
an interesting file for the unicycling ftp site.
Enough rambling for the moment.
Mantente trepado ("Stay on top" in Spanish),
Jack Halpern
IUF Vice President
-------------------------------------------------------
P.S. FYI, I really am a lexicograpger. That's where my paycheck comes
from, anyway....
Kanji Dictionary Publishing Society
1-3-502 3-Chome Niiza, Niiza-shi, Saitama 352 JAPAN
Voice: +81-048-481-3103 Fax: +81-048-479-1323