The Tangent Thread

[butnut]

Here's a real Friday afternoon thread for you.

I love it when threads go off on weird and strange tangents; ones that you could never have predicted when it started. So here's a completely artifical environment in which to try an experient.

The point - take something based on what the last poster wrote, and take it off somewhere else. For it to work properly, it must still be very loosely related to what that person wrote. And if we get multiple tangents - so much the better.

Here's some interesting quotes on tangents to kick things off:

(n) A condition in which a straight line is in contact with a curve at only one point. Tangents describe the smooth transition from a linear/planar element to a curved one. Geometric construction techniques are used to define tangent curves in an engineering drawing.

In early clavichords, keys outnumbered strings and as a consequence, individual strings could be activated by more than one key to produce notes of different pitch. This fact, that a string was required to produce more than one note, meant that some notes could not be played simultaneously.

Depression of a key caused the tiny, arm-mounted, metal wedge (the tangent) to hit the selected string at the point where the ratio of productive string length allowed a note of the required pitch. Thus, the tangent served a dual purpose inasmuch as it both "stopped" the string at the desired point and acted as the agent responsible for string vibration.

This ability to "stop" an individual string in different places appeared to be synonymous with the fretted fingerboards of lutes and viols so, as a consequence, early clavichords were deemed to be "fretted."

[Partridge's Love Child]

A tangent is also a name for a male coon.

[dirkfunk]

fugget it

[hotvans]

stamp out racism

[Partridge's Love Child]

That's what the National Front do isn't it?

[Neville Chamberlain]

fugget it

What, that black men's teeth are made of clouds?

[dirkfunk]

yes, it's rubbish

[butnut]

I've just realsied this is just the 'nothing of note' thread in another guise really. For true tangents to occur, you must have a topic from which they can divert from. But as the topic here is tangents themselves, where can we go?

I'd say this experiment is going badly at the moment.

[Pinball]

yes, it's rubbish

.. which is a much under-appreciated source of energy that, far from being thrown away, should be used to save the environment.