Re: CHAT: what fruit bat?

Am 02.01.02, Tristan Alexander McLeay yscrifef:

> On Tue, 1 Jan 2002, Anton Sherwood wrote:
>
> > Tristan Alexander McLeay wrote:
> > > It is important to note, however, that the `spin year' is about 800
> > > days long (but the effective calendar is only 400 because there are
> > > two of each season a year, . . . ).
> >
> > oh dear, that makes too much sense.
>
> Should I assume that's sarcasm? There's a not-terribly-good explanation of
> why in the companion.
There's also an explanation in one of the early novels. I think
the 'best' explanation for 800 days is simply the Importance
placed in the Disc system on the number 7+1. :)

> The length spin year is the time it takes one point
> of the disc to reach that point again (accounting for the fact that the
> turtle is swimming forwards through space, of course). Apparently, this
> means that there are two of each season per year...
Well, there are two of each season because of the fact that any
locality passes under the Sun's arc twice a year. I.e., there
will be two times in 800 days that are close to sunrise/sunset
and two times in 800 days that are 90 degrees away. Just like
on a clock face, there are two times in an hour when the minute
hand is under the 6-12 line and two times when it's at 90
degrees.

As far as I can tell, the only real difference between the two
Summers is that in one you're over the sunrise; and during the
other, you're over the sunset.

I'd guess that during the one, mornings would be warmer; while
evenings would be warmer in the other. On the other hand, the
thaumic fields surrounding the Rim seem to have a warming effect
on the environment, which might explain why the Rim is generally
warmer than the Hub.

> ObConlang: is the Morporkian language in the Discworld series that looks
> fairly much like Latin actually Latin? (I can't remember the name of by
> heart, but I can remember reading about it, and, as one would expect, it's
> given a Discworld history, but not a real-life one.)
Some of it is, some doesn't seem to be. "Nvnc id vides, nvnc ne
vides" seems pretty good. Other bits seem to be more ad hoc, as
it were. It's called "Old Morporkian".

> Tristan
Padraic.
--
Bethes gwaz vaz ha leal.

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