17 Comments

Fathom is by far one of my favorite words :D

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"Do you even fathom, bro?!"

I didn't realize the fathom stuck around as long as it did though.

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I didn't even touch on the more common use of the word!

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nautical nomenclature mnemonics Port is left facing front (both 4 letters), starboard right

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Years ago I did some worldbuilding for my books and specifically about the Spacers. Back then I read about fathom and it quickly became one of my favorite words. Terran Spacers, being the equivalent of olden Earth mariners and explorers, they have their specific jargon. Following the massive destruction caused by the communist during WW2, most Spacers were Russian, and a whole bunch of their words were adopted into the lingo. For example, instead of saying they are going on a space walk, a Spacer would use the word "sapog" which is boot in Russian. The measure of a standard length grappling cable for a spacesuit (10m) "verevka" or rope, is used to measure distance between objects during short boarding operations.

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Nice connection!

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I could swing hard since the Starshatter Universe is alternate history :D Russia of today had recovered mostly because of the Spacers who went out in space, exploring, trading, and salvaging. They might've engaged in just a wee bit of privateering. On the side. Boarding pirate and slaver starships is still quite the profitable enterprise :3

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I'm dying to know what you think of For All Mankind if you've seen it yet.

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The tv show? I have not watched it yet. Is it any good? I hope they didn't botch their politburo research.

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I've enjoyed it. I think it's up there with Man in the High Castle for alternative timeline type shows. I'm not sure any truly good ones came out before High Castle.

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Man in the high castle was ok. Too many overused nazi tropes for me, but I still enjoyed it because of the great acting and stunning visuals. If For all Mankind is like this, I will set some time aside to watch. What is the basic premise?

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This is the kind of thing I think about all the time — how deep the ocean is, how the majority of the sea floor has never been fully explored, what else is down there that we don’t know or understand yet. I think my fascination with this is why I love visiting aquariums and oceanic science centers so much. I always want to know more because they’re constantly discovering something new every day.

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I love the wonder and diversity of biology. It took me until fairly recently to really embrace this field, but now I can't get enough of it!

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It’s hard to fathom the patience needed to map the ocean floor with a rope and anchor. Or even the English Channel. Excuse me while I go refresh my latest post stats. Again.

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I strongly suspect that people's patience increased vastly during the weeks or months following a horrible shipwreck! I know mine would.

"Take your time, fellas!"

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