From lojban@cuvmb.bitnet Tue Jul 30 23:30:57 1996 Received: from punt4.demon.co.uk by stryx.demon.co.uk with SMTP id AA13455 ; Tue, 30 Jul 96 23:30:55 BST Received: from punt-4.mail.demon.net by mailstore for ia@stryx.demon.co.uk id 838743236:10432:2; Tue, 30 Jul 96 17:13:56 BST Received: from cunyvm.cuny.edu ([128.228.1.2]) by punt-4.mail.demon.net id aa10052; 30 Jul 96 17:13 +0100 Received: from CUVMB.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU by CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU (IBM VM SMTP V2R3) with BSMTP id 5453; Tue, 30 Jul 96 12:12:29 EDT Received: from CUVMB.COLUMBIA.EDU by CUVMB.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU (Mailer R2.07) with BSMTP id 1564; Tue, 30 Jul 96 12:12:16 EDT Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996 11:10:42 -0500 Reply-To: Scott Brickner Sender: Lojban list From: Scott Brickner Subject: Re: may the wind be always at your back X-To: David A Johnston X-cc: Lojban Mailing list To: Multiple recipients of list LOJBAN In-Reply-To: (Your message of Fri, 26 Jul 1996 22:57:02 PDT.) Message-ID: <838743195.10052.0@cunyvm.cuny.edu> Status: R David A Johnston writes: > To be perfectly honest, I don't think this saying has much to do with >sailing. Yes, it may have started there, but it wouldn't have gained such >wide usage if it didn't appeal to the human spirit. I think that it >caught on because of the idea of the thing. With the wind at your back >it's easier going in almost any circumstances. This is common sense. Actually, I thought about it a little more and it occurred to me that the wish for a tailwind is of most benefit to a military archer. He gets better range on his flights while the enemy faces a headwind. This seems more likely than a nautical origin, now that I reconsider.