Zinzin

Nomenclature

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NBA Finals fun: Nicknames of the Golden State Warriors & Boston Celtics

Golden State Warriors - Boston Celtics

Call us crazy (or just plain Zinzin), but naming is in our DNA, even when we’re watching the NBA. In honor of our local team, the Golden State Warriors, and their awesome run to this year’s NBA Finals — their sixth finals appearance in the last eight seasons — we take a brief look at Warriors naming history and current player nicknames. We also included a nicknaming-nod to the Warriors 2022 Finals rival, the Boston Celtics…because we may be “Zinzin,” but we love a good (naming) showdown.

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Industry Jargon: Elephant Walk

Image: U.S. Air Force, via theaviationist.com.

I stumbled across the term “elephant walk” in a photo caption describing the U.S. Air Force’s recent “show of force” in the Pacific. Instantly, I had a Proustian tea-soaked involuntary memory of Henry Mancini’s 1962 classic “Baby Elephant Walk” waddling nonchalantly, languidly, hypnotically through my mind for the next day and a half. That splendid excursion was indeed a wonderful distraction from the news of the day. Upon returning from my mini Hatari-staycation, I wanted to know more. My first thought — desire really — was to find the true meaning and origin of this charming and evocative term.

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Industry Jargon: Development Mule

2018 Ford Mustang test mule
A 2018 Ford Mustang test mule, replete with razzle-dazzle camouflage, and Velcroed front grill and rear end disguise. Photo: AutoMotorBlog / Spy Photographs.

I recently came across the term “development mule” in an article at Jalopnik, and several Ford Mustang “mules” were featured in director David Gelb’s A Faster Horse, which documents the design, production, and development of the 2015 Mustang. I was fascinated with the term, so I did a little research. According to Wikipedia, a development mule, test mule, or (simply) mule in the automotive industry is,

a testbed vehicle equipped with prototype components requiring evaluation. They are often camouflaged to deceive competitors and thwart a curious automotive press.

So what is the difference between a “prototype” and a “development mule?”

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A Brief History of X (1895-2014)

A group of U.S. experimental aircraft (X-Planes). In the center, the Douglas X-3 Stiletto; around it, clockwise from bottom left: Bell X-1A, Douglas D-558-1 Skystreak, Convair XF-92A, Bell X-5, Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket, Northrop X-4 Bantam.
A group of U.S. experimental aircraft (X-Planes). In the center, the Douglas X-3 Stiletto; around it, clockwise from bottom left: Bell X-1A, Douglas D-558-1 Skystreak, Convair XF-92A, Bell X-5, Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket, Northrop X-4 Bantam.

Patient X

I first encountered the X modifier in my youth. As an aviation enthusiast I was introduced to the radical X-3 Stiletto. The Douglas Aircraft Company designed and manufactured the X-3 Stiletto experimental jet aircraft for the U.S. National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The NACA was the precursor of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

X-Plane it to me

The X-3 looks like a personification of the beaked-nose white spy from Mad magazine’s Spy vs. Spy, with its a slender fuselage, a long tapered nose, and ultra-modern white-on-white paint scheme. The United States military developed a series of experimental airplanes, helicopters and rockets — collectively referred to as “X-Planes” — that were used to test and evaluate new technologies and aerodynamic concepts:

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Nicknames and slang of the Detroit Tigers

Detroit_Tiger_Paul_Dizzy_Trout.
Paul Howard “Dizzy” Trout (June 29, 1915 – February 28, 1972) played for the Detroit Tigers for fourteen seasons, appearing in two World Series, in 1940 and 1945 (in which he had an ERA of 0.66 in the Series).

I heard on the radio this morning an appropriate turn of phrase in lieu of  Justin Verlander’s (“The Monarch”) performance in yesterday’s Game 1 of the World Series, and it goes something like this: The are two types of ball players. Humble ones and those preparing themselves to be humbled.

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