[Ads-l] Possible antedate to "pneumatic"

[Andy Bach]

wikip-ing gives first century AD Greek Hero of Alexandria as the initiator
of it all but Otto von Guericke perhaps in on the coining of the term:

One of the professors at the College, Fr. Gaspar Schott
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaspar_Schott>, entered into friendly
correspondence with von Guericke and thus it was that, at the age of 55,
von Guericke's work was first published as an Appendix to a book by Fr.
Schott - *Mechanica Hydraulico-pneumatica* - published in 1657

I don't imagine a woman's figure came into the discussion until we got
tires:

Robert William Thomson (1822–1873) invented the actual first vulcanized
rubber pneumatic (inflatable) tire. Thomson patented his pneumatic tire in
1845, and while his invention worked well, but it was too costly to catch
on.

That changed with John Boyd Dunlop (1840–1921), a Scottish veterinarian and
the recognized inventor of the first practical pneumatic tire. His
patent, granted in 1888, wasn't for automobile tires, however. Instead, it
was intended to create tires for bicycles
<https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-the-bicycle-1991341>. It took another
seven years for someone to make the leap. André Michelin and his brother
Edouard, who had previously patented a removable bike tire, were the first
to use pneumatic tires on an automobile
<https://www.thoughtco.com/automobile-history-1991458>. Unfortunately,
these did not prove durable. It wasn't until Philip Strauss invented the
combination tire and air-filled inner tube in 1911 that pneumatic tires
could be used on automobiles with success.

Was Huxley just using an ordinary term or was he implying an evolution to
include more than just akin to having been inflated?

On Tue, Mar 17, 2020 at 4:55 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> 'Lush' seemed to work for a while.
>
> JL
>
> On Tue, Mar 17, 2020 at 5:24 PM Mark Mandel <markamandel at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I prefer "zaftik".
> >
> > MAM
> >
> > On Tue, Mar 17, 2020, 5:17 PM Andy Bach <afbach at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > It was an adjective of some promise in "Brave New World" - Spark notes
> > > over-eggs it a tad:
> > > pneumatic
> > >
> > > The word *pneumatic *is used with remarkable frequency to describe two
> > > things: Lenina’s body and chairs. *Pneumatic *is an adjective that
> > usually
> > > means that something has air pockets or works by means of compressed
> air.
> > > In the case of the chairs (in the feely theater and in Mond’s office),
> it
> > > probably means that the chairs’ cushions are inflated with air. In
> > Lenina’s
> > > case, the word is used by both Henry Foster and Benito Hoover to
> describe
> > > what she’s like to have sex with. She herself remarks that her lovers
> > > usually find her “pneumatic,” patting her legs as she does so. In
> > reference
> > > to Lenina it means well-rounded, balloon-like, or bouncy, in reference
> to
> > > her flesh, and in particular her bosom. Huxley is not the only writer
> to
> > > use the word *pneumatic *in this sense, although it is an unusual
> usage.
> > > The use of this odd word to describe the physical characteristics of
> > both a
> > > woman and a piece of furniture underscores the novel’s theme that human
> > > sexuality has been degraded to the level of a commodity.
> > >
> > >
> > > I thought it was used to refer to more than one woman; I always assumed
> > it
> > > had a more direct relation to the pump than the air that comes out of a
> > > pump.
> > >
> > > On Tue, Mar 17, 2020 at 9:29 AM Jonathan Lighter <
> wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com
> > >
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > Cowhide whips??  O. Henry???
> > > >
> > > > JL
> > > >
> > > > On Mon, Mar 16, 2020 at 6:05 PM Ben Yagoda <byagoda at udel.edu> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > The relevant definition of “pneumatic” is “humorous. Of, relating
> to,
> > > or
> > > > > characteristic of a woman with a well-rounded figure, esp. a large
> > > bosom;
> > > > > (of a woman) having a well-rounded figure, esp. large-bosomed.”
> > > > >
> > > > > The first citation is T.S. Eliot (!) in the 1919 poem “Whispers of
> > > > > Immortality”: "Grishkin is nice... Uncorseted, her friendly bust
> > Gives
> > > > > promise of pneumatic bliss." A more recent one is from The Sunday
> > Times
> > > > in
> > > > > 1994: “Making her film debut in 1981 as a pneumatic Texan temp in
> the
> > > > > office comedy Nine To Five, Dolly Parton was an instant success.”
> > > > >
> > > > > But a character in a 1905 O. Henry story, “The Girl and the Graft,”
> > > > > presents a long slangy list of feminine wiles: "signed letters,
> > false
> > > > > hair, sympathy, the kangaroo walk, cowhide whips, ability to cook,
> > > > > sentimental juries, conversational powers, silk underskirts,
> > ancestry,
> > > > > rouge, anonymous letters, violet sachet powders, witnesses,
> > revolvers,
> > > > > pneumatic forms, carbolic acid, moonlight, cold cream and the
> evening
> > > > > newspapers.”
> > > > >
> > > > > By the way, the kangaroo walk was a locomotion fad that involved,
> as
> > > one
> > > > > source put it, a “hoppy, springy stride and a swinging relaxation
> of
> > > the
> > > > > arms.” It inspired a 1902 song called “The Girl with the Kangaroo
> > > Walk.”
> > > > >
> > > > > Ben
> > > > >
> > > > > benyagoda.com
> > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> > > truth."
> > > >
> > > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > >
> > > a
> > >
> > > Andy Bach,
> > > afbach at gmail.com
> > > 608 658-1890 cell
> > > 608 261-5738 wk
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


-- 

a

Andy Bach,
afbach at gmail.com
608 658-1890 cell
608 261-5738 wk

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