flight (of wine etc.)

[Dennis Preston]

You can only hope that no former RAF members have read your message
and think you want to associate any of them with such an unmanly
drink as wine.

dInIs

>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>-----------------------
>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       James Harbeck <jharbeck at SYMPATICO.CA>
>Subject:      Re: flight (of wine etc.)
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>The term is also used for groups of skaters in a competition, as I am
>reminded watching the World Championships this week. In the free
>skate, they skate in reverse order of standing (with the leader
>coming last), in groups -- flights -- with a warmup (and in some
>cases a flood, i.e., ice resurfacing) in between, and it's a big
>thing to be in the final flight.
>
>I was wondering whether it has anything to do with flights of stairs,
>but a little looking up make sme think not quite -- that has more to
>do with the upward trajectory of the stairs specifically, whereas the
>groups of skaters -- and, I would assume, of wine -- do seem more
>like OED 8a, "A collection or flock of beings or things flying in or
>passing through the air together," or, as you say, perhaps more
>specifically "A Royal Air Force unit consisting of about five or six
>machines; the members of such a unit." This latter use is dated back
>to 1914; the former, unsuprisingly, has Middle English cites.
>
>I would imagine that the flight of wine use might have originated in
>wine competitions, which have been around for a good long time. The
>competitive nature of those and of the skating events would give
>added cause to suspect the RAF link, I'd think.
>
>James Harbeck.
>
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--
Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor
Department of English
Morrill Hall 15-C
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48864 USA

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