Bathyscaphes and April Foolary
April 9th, 2007 by Stephen
BathyscapheJust to clear up any confusion by my recent flippancy on April 1st, A Bathyscaphe is:
The name given by the Swiss scientist Professor Auguste Piccard to his deep-sea diving vessel; also applied gen. to other similar vessels.
1947 Time 18 Aug. 38/1:
“Last week 63-year-old Scientist Piccard told the North American Newspaper Alliance about the ‘bathyscaphe’..his submarine balloon which will descend into the sea suspended from a..‘gas bag’ full of lightweight gasoline.”
1953 J. Y. COUSTEAU Silent World ix. 87:
“The elderly scientific extremist [Auguste Piccard] had designed the Bathyscaphe (‘Depth-craft’) a decade before and, after the delay of a world war, it had been built by a brilliant Belgian physicist, Dr. Max Cosyns. Ibid. 89 The Bathyscaphe was to navigate twenty-five times as deep as conventional submarines.”
The word is derived from two Greek words tranlsiterated as BATHY (deep) and SKAPHOS (ship).
There was never a bat or cudgel called a bathyscaphe, nor did any Spartans (to our knowledge) get lost and end up in the British isles. As for Ptince Madog of Deheubarth – there is certainly a legend that he sailed to America, but (despite the ingenious arguments of some) there is no real evidence that he got there before Columbus.
On the other hand, it is true that Spartans overpowered the Athenian fleet by shere force of numbers, despite the Athenians being much more accomplished sailors.
As for the history of April Fools: it turns out that we are not entirely sure where the custom of april foolery arose. Again there are some ingenious explanations, but they are all problematic.
Apologies to anyone for whom my attempt at an April Fool’s joke interwove fact and fiction rather too much!
In the UK there used to be a panel game calloed “call my bluff” where the panel gave three explanations for a very obscure dictionary word and the opposing panel must choose the correct definition. This can also be played as a party game (in quieter moments!) and the trick is to make the true definition sound less plausible than it really is, whilst making the false definitions sound eminently plausible. My bathyscaphe article was written in this vein.
Ha…Ha…Ha…Stephen! You got me! I read that and kept thinking that it didn’t mesh with what I had learned in school all those years ago, but it didn’t even sink in that it was April Fool’s day. What a story though! Have you ever thought of writing fiction for a living?
Shame on the rest of us for not catching you!!
I’ve always had a dilemma with the types of games you mentioned… (Disclaimer: We used to play one in high school called the dictionary game, and I’ve even done it in a Bible Study!) Every time I go to play I wonder if I should be reinforcing deceitfulness and being a good liar as something to have fun doing.
Thoughts?
On the other hand, it could be a let out for people who want to tell preposterous tales, but feel they should not be lying!
I think that the distinction between lying and such bluffing lies in the intent of the heart.
Thanks for the comment.
Stephen