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Chris -- 2018-04-11
The conning tower of a boat or submarine is where you’ll find the ship’s officers, cunningly plotting their strategies. About 300 ghits:
The 1st chain connects the middle cunning tower of the 1st submarine to the middle cunning tower of the 2nd submarine.
causeeffect.org/articles/phopart5.html
On the counterattack, the Toti first opened fire with the machine guns, hitting the enemy’s cunning tower, and later also with the deck gun. www.regiamarina.net/subs/submarines/toti/toti_us.htm
On the ARGO there were two galleys, one powered by electricity and one burning diesel fuel located within the cunning tower.
www.velella.it/english/dati/dat_int.html
The cunning tower of a U-Boat is indeed very low.
www.airdisaster.com/forums/archive/inde … 61032.html
Typical of Italian submarines, the periscope sleeves extended considerably from the cunning tower and were enclosed in a light metal structure…
www.velella.it/english/dati/dat_per.html
Further alterations included the removal of the cunning tower and the periscope.
forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=57914
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And then, we also might have the Cunny Tower, and that might have some other associations, possibly things relating to Periscopes and Banana Boats. What would Titus Pullo say?
Seriously, though, folks, this is one one my words of interest. Obviously, we have a connection between Cunning (= knowing) and Conning (= seeking to know). And that takes us on to Hunting (also = seeking). Hunt, then, obviously relates to Hound (= a hunting/seeking dog)..
Now I am going to get a little nasty. Hunt relates to Cunt, somehow. You can see it especially in the Greek, where Cynthia (= Cunthia in Greek) is a name of Artemis, the goddess of the Hunt, the goddess who had Hounds, and also the basic female goddess, the goddess of childbirth, and femaleness, and so on.
So, my wordy pals, how does this idea of Knowing (Conning, Cunning) relate to the idea of Hunting and Hounds, and to the idea of Poontang????? Can you explang?
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Tom—conning and cunning in the senses you’re talking about are closely related—the two words were originally just variants of each other. The “conning-” of “conning-tower” might or might not be related; the wordanistas aren’t sure.
That’s a terribly ungentlemanly transformation you’ve worked upon Artemis/Cynthia/Diana—she’s not just the goddess of the chase, but of the chaste, too. (And from what I recall of Greek mythology, it’s not a good idea to mess with her in any sense.) Your wordplay doesn’t work in Greek—protogermanic *kunton seems to have been restricted to us foul-mouthed Teutons.
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“Conning” as in the tower comes from the word “conn” (2 Ns), from ME “condien,” to confuct, from Latin’s “conducere,” which itself is “com” + “ducere,” to lead.
Is that the same place as “con” (one N) “to know,” which is from ME “connen” to know, learn, study; related to “”can”? I don’t THINK so, bcs my dictionary has a separate listing for “con, var. of conn.” Those separate listings are usually because the word has a different root and, though spelled the same, are different words (see “rare,” hard to find; vs. “rare,” barely cooked).
The thing is, most people don’t know the word “conn.” Including me, bcs I thought the nautical phrase (used by Capt. Picard often) was “he has the con”; it is “the First Officer has the conn.”
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TootsNYC—the OED also thinks that “con” is probably a reduced form of something like “condue,” but they hedge their bets;—they note the possibility that a verb related to the “connen” you cite has something to do with it. Here’s the etymological note given for the “Conning-tower” version of “con”:
[app. a weakened form of COND used in same sense. (Some think it has been associated with CON, v.1 As a possible connexion, the following has been cited: 1393 GOWER Conf. I. 59 They conne nought here shippes stere, i.e. They know not how to steer their ships.)]
“CON, v.1” is the verb related to “connen,” “to know.” I do have to say, though, that the evidence they cite from Gower for that relationship seems pretty darn weak now that I’m looking at it.
Last edited by patschwieterman (2007-12-10 17:04:51)
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It occurred to me, reading these posts, how many separately derived “con” words English has. We can ask “Did she con the con’s con con?” (“Did she understand the oppositional trick of the erstwhile prison inmate?”). This is just wrong.
Last edited by kem (2007-12-10 20:01:23)
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
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