Word: corde
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...three days the marine tramped bootless through Viet Cong territory. Except to offer him food or water, Dodson's escort ignored him. By day his hands were bound in green nylon cord; at night he was tied hand and foot to a bamboo rack. Passing through villages, people turned out in droves to gape and offer water, candy, cigarettes and bananas. Only in a recently bombed hamlet were the villagers hostile, pushing close in an angry, chanting crowd until the chief arrived to disperse them. Four times, English-speaking Vietnamese appeared. Each asked Dodson's name and told...
Their concern is understandable. For even in childhood, mumps may occasionally cause complications leading to permanent deafness, impairment of vision, or inflammation of the brain and spinal cord. Such difficulties are more common and are likely to be more severe among adults. Grown men face the added risk that inflammation of the testicles may affect fertility...
Creativity Limitation. Such space-speak metaphors as "umbilical" (the cord connecting a space-walking astronaut to his craft) and "milk stool" (the arrangement of a missile's three rocket engines) are vital additions to the language, says McNeill. He is equally impressed by such metonyms as "eyeballs in" and "eyeballs out" (describing extreme conditions of acceleration and deceleration, respectively), and he approves of neologisms such as "rockoon" (a rocket launched from a balloon). Unfortunately, metaphors, metonyms and neologisms-and the creativity required to invent them-are limited. They constitute only about one-eighth of the entries in official NASA...
This week in Kansas City, Goodyear also will begin test marketing "radial-ply" tires, which have been popular in Europe for years, but are new to the U.S. Normally the layers of cord in a tire are set at 30° angles to one another, forming a diamond pattern around the wheel, but in a radial tire the cords are at 90° angles, forming a pattern of crosses. With this structure, the faster a car goes, the more tread is slapped onto the ground. The result is better road grip and up to 100% longer tread life-but also...
Trouble Spot. The greatest changes are in the cord fibers used to make the carcass of a tire. Nylon is a particularly admirable cord, but automakers are not fond of it. Only 6% of the nation's new cars carry nylon tires as original equipment, though 80% of the tires sold in the replacement market are nylon. Detroit's resistance derives largely from the fact that nylon tires tend to make a thumping noise for the first few blocks or miles of a ride-and auto dealers can have a difficult time convincing customers that the thump comes...