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DR, was: No Lunars Era
From: Trevor Kenchington
Date: 2004 Dec 6, 21:16 -0400
From: Trevor Kenchington
Date: 2004 Dec 6, 21:16 -0400
Peter Fogg wrote:
> I don't know that its all that interesting, but assume 'ded' is an
> abbreviation for 'deduced' (reckoning) and 'dead' a mis-writing (or hearing)
> of 'ded' that has become commonly accepted.
That is commonly suggested (even stated as though it was a confirmed
truth) but it just doesn't ring true -- to me anyway. As has been argued
often enough before, abbreviating "deduced" to "ded" would be typical of
20th century practice but the expression "dead reckoning" goes back much
further to times when abbreviations and acronyms were far less prevalent.
My own guess is that DR is termed "dead" because it is not alive,
meaning that it is not updated through the use of new information on
position. But for all I know it is an anglicization of a Portuguese
navigational term.
Trevor Kenchington
--
Trevor J. Kenchington PhD Gadus@iStar.ca
Gadus Associates, Office(902) 889-9250
R.R.#1, Musquodoboit Harbour, Fax (902) 889-9251
Nova Scotia B0J 2L0, CANADA Home (902) 889-3555
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