Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

To: Defiant
The form of "dead" used in terms like dead ringer and dead reckoning is not the same as dead as in "not alive".

If I recall correctly, the "dead" in "dead reckoning" comes from "de'd" which is a shortened form of "deduced". In navigation, it means deducing one's position based on the time, course, and speed from a previous known position.

38 posted on 02/10/2009 2:35:38 PM PST by Ramius (Personally, I give us... one chance in three. More tea?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies ]


To: Ramius

No, I think it’s an old Saxon or Celtic word, can’t recall which, which just happens to be the same as the “dead” which means “lifeless”. It’s an intensifier, making the adjective to which it is attached absolute, exact.


41 posted on 02/10/2009 3:41:18 PM PST by Defiant (I for one welcome our new Obama Overlords.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies ]

To: Ramius
We're both right. The dead from "dead reckoning" may be from deduced, as stated here:

O.E. dead, from P.Gmc. *dauthaz, from PIE *dheu-. Meaning "insensible" is first attested c.1225. Of places, meaning "inactive, dull," it is recorded from 1581. Used from 16c. in adj. sense of "utter, absolute, quite." Dead heat is from 1796. Dead reckoning may be from nautical abbreviation ded. ("deduced") in log books, but it also fits dead (adj.) in the sense of "unrelieved, absolute.

However, most uses of "dead" as an intensifier have some whacky folk theory that is wrong, so I would not be surprised if the "deduced" theory is wrong, too. Dead reckoning could simply be "exact" reckoning, not "deduced", like "dead eye" and "dead right".

42 posted on 02/10/2009 3:48:45 PM PST by Defiant (I for one welcome our new Obama Overlords.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson