laydown, n.

[Jonathan Lighter]

http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1301/17/cnr.05.html


JL

On Sat, Jan 19, 2013 at 8:15 PM, Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at ix.netcom.com>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM>
> Subject:      Re: laydown, n.
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> FWIW, my first instinct was that it was an error for "lowdown."
>
> Benjamin Barret
> Seattle, WA
>
> On Jan 19, 2013, at 4:58 PM, Dave Wilton <dave at WILTON.NET> wrote:
>
> > The military sense quoted in Wiktionary is:
> >
> > 1984, Ashton B. Carter et al., Ballistic Missile Defense[3], ISBN
> > 0815713118, page 141: "The offense could contrive a variety of laydowns
> to
> > intensify the defense's problems."
> >
> > I'm not sure how widespread this usage is. I don't recall it from my
> > military and arms control days. My guess is that this sense comes from
> the
> > older sense of a "laydown delivery" of a nuclear weapon, which uses a
> > parachute to retard the descent of the bomb so that it actually "lays
> down"
> > on the ground before detonating in order to maximize the ground
> shockwave to
> > destroy underground facilities.
> >
> > I don't think this is what the CNN reporter intended. It looks to me
> like a
> > misspoken "layout."
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> Behalf Of
> > Benjamin Barrett
> >
> >
> > http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/laydown has:
> >
> > (publishing) A physical mockup or layout of a page design
> > (military) A pattern of deployment
> >
> > The OED has two nouns for "lay-down," but neither cover this meaning.
> >
> > Benjamin Barrett
> > Seattle, WA
> >
> > On Jan 19, 2013, at 2:02 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> CNN reported a day or two ago - without feeling the need to define it
> >> - that a U.S. drone had flown over the whereabouts of the hostages in
> >> Algeria so as to "get a laydown of the area."
> >>
> >> I assume it means a panoramic digital photo, even though, for the
> >> well-known reason,.one should never "assume."
>
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