Tricorder and tricord

Thu Dec 29 11:22:01 UTC 2011

All true... but the question I have is, what is a "tricord"?

http://goo.gl/L3xiv
Lady's Realm: An Illustrated Monthly Magazine. Volume 10. London: August
1901
The Home Beautiful. By Arden Holt. p. 390/1
> How different are the instruments of to-day from those of years ago!
> Even the cheapest have decorative ebony, walnut, or rose-wood cases
> and iron frames--a very few pounds extra insuring check action,
> tricord, and bushed or ivory keys. An extended price gives marquetry
> panels, a full tricord, and brass pin-plate, a front escapement, brass
> pressure-bar, and other distinguishing features of the more expensive
> kinds.

The instrument in question is a piano. [Some might find interest in a
piece on p. 381 on The History of the Corset.] And it is in reference to
pianos that the term generally appears:

http://goo.gl/SU3NJ
Scientific American. June 27, 1885
Improvements in Upright Grand Pianos. p. 403/1
> The invention consists of an extra string (C) next to the three
> strings ol the tri-cord, but on a lower plane, and consequently not
> struck by the hammer.

http://goo.gl/YLJwq
The Exchange and Mart: The Journal of the Household. London: February
22, 1871
Pianos [Classifieds]. p. 247/1
> Magnificent toned tricord grand pianoforte, by Broadwood, ...
> Tricord cottage piano, by Nutting and Addison, ...

http://goo.gl/Rbsm8
Southern Presbyterian Review. Volume 9(2). October 1855
Types of Mankind. p. 277
> And now if we gaze from our native shores over that vast ocean of
> human speech, with its waves rolling on from continent to continent,
> rising under the fresh breezes of the morning of history, and slowly
> heaving in our own more sultry atmosphere,--with sails gliding over
> its surface, and many an oar plying through its surf, and the flags of
> all nations waving joyously together--with its rocks and wrecks, its
> storms and battles, yet reflecting serenely all that is beneath, and
> above and around it,--if we gaze, and hearken to the strange sounds
> rushing past our ears in unbroken strains, it seems no longer a wild
> tumult, or [aneksithmon gelasma], but we feel as if placed within some
> ancient cathedral, listening to a chorus of innumerable voices ; and
> the more intensely we listen, the more ll discords melt away into
> higher harmonies, till at last we hear but one majestic tricord, or a
> mighty unison, at the end of a sacred symphony.

The last one seems to be pretty clear, but the ones referring to pianos
are a bit less so. Tricord appears to something patented in the 1860s.

An entirely different meaning, apparently a trademark--or several
trademarks:

http://goo.gl/fR1L9
Electrical World. Volume 77(21). New York City.
February 26, 1921
Wilson Acquires Wescott Jobbing Business. p. 517/1
> The electrical jobbing business of George T. Wescott & Company, 645
> Washington Boulevard, Chicago, has been taken over by Gordon D.
> Wilson, who will continue to represent the following companies under
> his own name: The Scranton Button Company, manufacturer of composition
> socket bushings, insulation material, etc.; Triangle Conduit Company,
> "Triduct" flexible non-metallic conduit, "Tricord" portable conductor
> for hard service, etc.; Dongon Electric Manufacturing Company, bell
> ringing transformers, ammeters; Fibro Products Company, electrical and
> mechanical tubes; Scranton Glass Instrument Company, battery
> thermometers, etc., and the D. M. Steward Manufacturing Company,
> "Lavite" insulators.
May 21, 1921
Triangle Conduit Opens Factory in Chicago. p. 1193/1
> Armored conductors, armored lamp cord and flexible steel conduit will
> be manufactured in this new plant, but stocks of the company's
> non-metallic flexible conduit, "tri-cord," etc., will be carried there
> in addition to stocks of the steel materials made there.

Another variant found in a footnote.

http://goo.gl/PmV1W
A Thousand and One Night. Volume 2. London: 1906
The Story of 'Ali the Son of Bekkar, and Shems-En-Nahar. p. 46 (fn.)
> A kind of dulcimer, tricord, played with a plectrum attached to the
> forefinger of each hand.

None are listed in OED or other dictionaries. The variations appear to
refer to something that involves a three-note cord or a cord (string or
cable) composed of three strands (wires). The latter apparently is
related to a particular kind of pianos, prevalent between 1868 and 1905.
but extending into the 1920s. One item refers to "a scale of prices for
grand, cottage, bicord, tricord, &c., &c." for pianos. Here's another US
patent from 1918 http://goo.gl/K2x45

VS-)

On 12/29/2011 3:50 AM, Benjamin Barrett wrote:
> In "Physics of the Future: how science will shape human destiny and our daily lives by the year 2100," Michio Kaku's predictions of the future include the miniaturization of the MRI machine to the size of a cell phone. His discussion includes mention of the tricorder (http://ow.ly/8cMe3), a word not found in the OED or AHD.
>
> On December 16, the Seattle Times reported on an "all-in-one diagnostic tool." The article says:
>
> -----
> Medical researchers already have developed some of the tests they want to include in the all-in-one device, but more need to be developed, while pulling them together in one battery-powered "tricorder" will be the biggest challenge, said Dr. Peter Singer, chief executive officer of Grand Challenges Canada.
> -----
>
> The tricorder comes from the original Star Trek series (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tricorder), and the word has had amazing staying power. According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tricorder, tricorder technology improved between the original series and Next Generation, with modifications including a large touchscreen interface.
>
> Smart phone users can download apps that simulate a tricorder. You can also purchase "real" tricorders, such as the one at http://www.stim.com/Stim-x/0996September/Sparky/tricorder.html that measures electromagnetic waves, weather, colors and light; it also gives you the stardate time.
>
> Additionally, there are medical devices called tricorders, such as the one at http://www.labx.com/v2/spiderdealer2/vistaSearchDetails.cfm?LVid=11065179, which seems to measure blood flow.
>
> Whether the word will be adopted as a general term for hand-held medical devices is yet to be seen, but the word surely deserves a place in our English dictionaries.
>
> --------------------
> As expected, the word has become a verb as well by way of back formation. Most hits are fan fiction or duplicates, but numbers 2 and 3 are not.
>
> 1. "Lifewish," Emma Woodhouse, 2 Aug 1996 (http://www.alara.net/trek/alt_fan_q/adult/Lifewish.txt)
>
> -----
> After turning their tricorded coordinates over to Torres' Engineering team, the two men reported to Sickbay for their post-away team scans.
> -----
>
> 2. "There's a reason it's called a RIVERboat," Mitch (Kahn?), 3 July 2005 (http://mitchkahn.blogspot.com/2005/07/theres-reason-its-called-riverboat.html)
>
> -----
> With my handy-dandy Crackberry I tricorded the distance at a scant 30 miles from the airport.
> -----
>
> 3. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdawg/3514453250/
>
> This refers to someone who has had some sort of bioscan performed. Comments are from 32 months ago, c. April 2009
>
> -----
> Tim reacts to being Tricorded
> -----
>
> 4. http://kylemehr.avx.pl/fanfic/viewstory.php?sid=17&chapter=5
>
> Fan fiction apparently from 2010
>
> -----
> I went to retrieve a tricorder—a scanner, as they called it here—and tricorded, err, scanned the replicator.
> -----
>
> 5. "The Zoalus," Prosetto, 3 Apr 2011 (http://martianinstarfleet.wordpress.com/the-zoalus/)
>
> -----
> Sal wished that he could have tricorded them so that he could examine them in detail now.
> -----
>
> 6. http://archiveofourown.org/works/196550; 8 May 2011
>
> Star Trek fan fiction:
>
> -----
> “Did I get tricorded?”
> “You totally did.”
> “Did you get tricorded?”
> “Yeah.”
> “What’s it feel like?”
> Kyle thinks for a moment. “It’s like going through an electrical storm with your shield up. A really lightweight static charge.”
> -----
>
> -----------------------------------------------
> A curious use of "tricord" shows up in March 2008, meaning to record a screen:
>
> "EcoQuest-2-Lost-Secret-of-the-Rainforest," Part 5, Adam (http://lparchive.org/EcoQuest-2-Lost-Secret-of-the-Rainforest/Update%205/)
>
> -----
> Also, I tricorded some Leaf-cutter ants on the tree, but I'm not going to bother uploading a picture of that....
> I tricorded a bunch of shit and it won't fit into a gif, so here's a little list:
> -----
>
> He also uses it in part 6 (http://lparchive.org/EcoQuest-2-Lost-Secret-of-the-Rainforest/Update%206/):
>
> -----
> I tricorded the Darter bird in the bottom corner, along with the Liana and the Canopy.
> -----
>
> -----------------------------------------------
> A separate meaning of "tricorded" (adjective) also exists, unrelated to medical technology:
>
> "Saints and their symbols: recognizing saints in art and in popular images," Fernando Lanzi, Gioia Lanz, Liturgical Press, 2004, p. 107 (http://ow.ly/8cN1c)
>
> -----
> Other attributes are a baby in a crib, that is a reminder of the boy who acclaimed him, and a tricorded whip, which is perhaps also an allusion to the Trinity, which he defneded against the Arian heresy.
> -----
>
> Benjamin Barrett
> Seattle, WA

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