Gower pools

adam

Member
Hi Cavers,
I'm used to the term 'gower pool' for describing a pool formed by calcite deposits in a cave but I've now got cause to explain this term to a foreign scientist and I'm struggling. A google search turns up surprisingly little of use. Can anyone suggest a more formal/technical/scientific term for a gower pool? I'd also be interested to see some sort of definition and a description of how they are formed if anyone cares to venture...
Thanks,
Adam
 

Glenn

Member
I used to go crabbing in Gower pool, those in Oxwich were especially rewarding.

Tip, try Googling Gour Pool
 

graham

New member
Glenn is right, this is a spelling point not one of terminology. it is 'gour pool'.

Yes, boys and girls, correct spelling does aid comprehension.

 
I don't know the etymology of the word gour and neither does the Oxford English Dictionary: in fact the word in the speleothem sense is not there at all. Maybe it seemed too technical for them?

It does appear in a French dictionary with a speleological reference from 1965 [ http://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/gour ] where it appears to be taken from a dialect word to do with pools in a river.

The British Caving Library has a reference to micro-gours in an article from November 1959 called Lamino-Ondulatory Circulation & Subterrranean Morphology co-authored by French caver Michel Siffre in the American NSS News, Vol 17. I suspect the word has been used increasingly since the British cavers starting visiting French caves in the 1950's, with the Gouffre Berger and other popular caves in the Vercors having fine examples...

The OED does have a synonym - rimstone [ n. Geol. a thin deposit of calcite forming a dam round the rim of an overflowing basin or evaporating pool of water, typically found in caves.] - which it can only trace back to: "1930  W. M. Davis in Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer. 41 485  Rimstone has been added to the list to name calcareous deposits formed around the rims of overflowing basins.".

 

mrodoc

Well-known member
And we are advised not to be hard on people who misspell. With homophones (words spelt differently but sounding the same) there are always problems - I can't count the number of times I have seen flare confused with flair (googling one and not the other when you want some 70's clothing will get you fireworks or the RNLI I expect!  Sometimes words have different connotations - try typing in Plug and Feathers and see what you get then ;)

Of course I expect Adam got some nice images of the famous Blue Pool on the Gower!
 

Bottlebank

New member
Most common one in caving is probably "draught" and "draft". Draft is correct in the US, but not here. I've done it myself :)
 

Bottlebank

New member
Maybe in Wales, up here it's generally pronounced "gour", as in sour  ;)

Obviously as Northerners we couldn't give a s**t how Suverners or foreigners want us to pronounce things  :tease:
 

Spike

New member
mrodoc said:
...I can't count the number of times I have seen flare confused with flair (googling one and not the other when you want some 70's clothing will get you fireworks or the RNLI I expect!...

But the 70's clothing, fireworks and RNLI sort are all spelt the same... :tease:
 

Spike

New member
In this instance pendant is, I believe, the correct term. One of the more senior forumites may be able to enlighten us as to why, or of course there is a search box...

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

 

Subpopulus Hibernia

Active member
ChrisJC said:
glyders said:
gus horsley said:
Any applications for the post of forum pendant?
Is that something you hang round your neck to make sure you get things right?
:clap: How ironic for such a faux-pas to be made on this thread!

Chris.

Not ironic at all. More of an unfortunate coincidence. Now if it was on a forum where the specific topic was someone complaining about standards of spelling among cavers, and it was started by Gus Horsley, then it would be ironic. But it's not. So it isn't.

Since we're on the topic, I'm a member of the Campaign for Real Irony and I'd like to invite you to one of our Irony Education Camp in Ironville, Derbyshire. Many people have commented that it is ironic that we run an Irony Education Camp in a place called Ironville, but that's just a coincidence. Jeff, the campaign secretary, just happens to live there and lets us use the granny flat for the camps.

Becoming a member of the CRI allows you to meet like-minded people, take parts in school outreach programmes, go onto forums and berate people for improper irony use, and join us on or annual trip to the US where we teach Americans the difference between cosmic irony and real irony.

125x125.gif


Do I get to be the pendant now?
 

graham

New member
Spike said:
In this instance pendant is, I believe, the correct term. One of the more senior forumites may be able to enlighten us as to why, or of course there is a search box...

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

SH is quite correct, the term is ironic and was originally applied using lashings of irony to hold it in place. Anyone who is being completely kept from their favoured environment by the inclement weather could use their excess free time to search back over the forum to discover both when it was first applied and to to whom it has been applied.

I am afraid that I have a survey model to build and a report to edit so am unable to assist.
 
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