Pantechnicon Revealed

[lindafowens]

PANTECHNICON Revealed

On most of these definition pairs, I like one a lot, but the other not. Hutch.

These are hard!  In every pair, at least one wasn't quite plausible. Pierre

           

1 a) pantechnicon, n-in Greek mythology, the gathering of Vulcan and his assistant demigods.

   b) pantechnicon, n-a two-sided griddle for frying sandwiches.

Ranjit: 1 from Eric plus 1 for correct guess=2 points!

Pan wasn't an assistant of Vulcan, but an associate of Bacchus, Dionysus, and Rhea/Cybele.  Hutch

I like the idea that a sandwich grill is "so capable" of answering every need that is is called a pantechnicon.  Pierre

 

2 a) pantechnicon, n-a federation of the trade-unions of an ancient Greek city-state, especially the Great Pantechnicon of Corinth.

   b) pantechnicon, n-a reversible argument that can be invoked either way as convenient, e.g. "I've waited thirty years and I won't wait another minute" on Monday and "You've waited thirty years, so another minute won't matter" on Tuesday.

Elliott: 2 from Jim, 2 from Ranjit, 1 from Aussie=5 plus 1 for correct guess=6 points!

There certainly OUGHT to be a word for this, but I don't believe it's this. Hutch

 

3 a) pantechnicon, n-a device that is capable of performing all of the tasks necessary in a given situation.

   b) pantechnicon, n-a garment worn by workers in certain laboratories as protection for the gonads against radiation.

Judith: 2 points from Pierre!

 

4 a) pantechnicon, n-a hardware store.

   b) pantechnicon, n-a classic swindle involving four pairs of trousers.

Jean-Joseph: 2 points from Elliott plus 2 for correct guess=4 points!

A Wallace and Gromit reference?  Hutch

OK, I will give two points to this one, on the condition that the author explains the classic swindle involving four pairs of trousers.  Elliott

 

5 a) pantechnicon, n-a [storage] warehouse.   

   b) pantechnicon, n-a furniture van. 

c) originally, a bazaar where all kinds of things were sold. [Actually, definition 1 that Hutch knew--I did not think he would envision the other defs, but he did, rats.]

Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged:  2 from Jean Joseph, 2 from Eric, 2 from Hutch, 1 from Elliott, 1 from Ranjit=8 points!

I like these two for their relationship: I could see the name of a warehouse on their delivery vans and thus getting applied to all similar delivery vans. Hutch

Always give due consideration to the humdrum.  Jean-Joseph

I think this is the right one; it jibes with the Economist's use of the word, so I won't vote for it.  Elliott

 

6 a) pantechnicon, n-a university.

   b) pantechnicon, n-exhausted disgust.

David R: 1 point from Jim=1 point!



 

7 a) pantechnicon, n-a military victory won by superior technology.

   b) pantechnicon, n-a competition in which each contestant makes a painting, a sculpture, and a musical performance.

Pierre: 2 points from Judith and 2 points from Aussie=4 points!

I like the "b" definition here.  Elliott

 

8 a) pantechnicon, n-a device used for taking a daguerreotype or tintype, a camera.

   b) pantechnicon, n-a device that collects electric current from overhead lines for electric trains or trams.

Hutch: 1 point from Judith, I point from Pierre=4 points!

Almost went for this, seeing faint cognates of "verichrome pan", and "pantograph", which those trolley contact things seem to resemble. But then I thought about the film thing, and the deal with pan film is that it picks up all colors, unlike ortho film which doesn't, and I don't think people were talking about that difference back in the days of early photography.  Jean=Joseph

 

9 a) pantechnicon, adj-characterized by a flowing and expressive melodic line.

   b) pantechnicon, v-to pummel into submission.

Eric: 1 point from Jean-Joseph, 1 point from Hutch=2 plus 2 points for correct guess=4 points!

I don't see how either of these could be this word, but they're better than anything else. Hutch

1 point to whomever had the guts to pummel this word into two different parts of speech where it doesn't quite seem to want to fit.  Jean-Joseph 

So, Webster's is the winner, with Elliott coming in second.  Elliott is the new wordmeister!  Sorry this is late, but the first tabulation disappeared, and yesterday was Election Day, with Boy Scouts in the evening  (My husband David is the Scoutmaster, and I help with merit badges, etc.)

 

Leftover and joke defs:

1)      Ranjit=the icon on the laundry-instructions label for a pair of pants.  2) David R=a tin zipper.

3)      Eric=a smooth, round stone, suitable for throwing. 4) Judith=a convocation of nerds. 5) Jean-Joseph=a gathering of heavy-breathing hedgehogs. 6) Elliott=the capital city of the clockwork men in John Milton's epic "Paradise Not Found".  7) Pierre=a hedgehog show. 



Google sez: yeah, got it right!  And it turns out the two definitions are related [Linda: pooh!].  The original pantechnicon was a building housing a big craft fair, but it went out of business, and eventually the place just for used for storing furniture. And the vehicles used to move stuff to and from this warehouse took their name from it as well.  Jean-Joseph

"Pantechnicon" is used in an essay in this week's Economist  (IIRC, "a whole Pantechnicon full of" something or other.  Elliott  [pooh, again!  Linda]

Sorry, I read Spider Robinson.  I was referring to a short story... from the "Callahan Crosstime Saloon" series of stories.  Titled "Have You Heard This One...?" published in Analog Science Fact-Fiction, June 1980, in Time Travelers Strictly Cash, 1919, and in The Callahan Chronicles, 1997.  Pantechnicon is a "bazaar of the bizarre". It was a shop in London that had a WIDE variety of goods.  Comes from the Greek meaning (something like) "everything made" or "everything artistic".  Hutch

I once met one of the honchos of Harper's Bazaar in a bizarre episode: I gave her a ride from our local train station (where I was planning a trip) to a nearby bus station, since it was pouring raining.  She was nice and did not reveal her identity until she handed me her business card as I dropped her off.  (I did not look at it until I reached home).  She was elegantly dressed  (strange in rural RI), and I of course, had on old clothes, big farm boots, dripping hair, and an old yellow slicker with holes.  Makes a funny story!  Linda

 
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