On Thu, 12 Jan 2012 09:09:20 -0800, Michael Britt wrote: > I was listening to the radio the other day and they were talking >about how a pistol called the "Clock" [sic] has become extremely >popular in the US. I don't know a thing about guns, but I have >heard of the Glock. As it happens, I've been reading a very >interesting book called Word Hero and I just finished your >section on the idea of Sound Symbolism and I was wondering >as I listened to the interview if one of the reasons why the Glock >was popular was because of this word's ability to, as the author >says, "evoke a mood or attitude" because of the sound of the >word and how saying the word forces your mouth into certain >shapes. Glock has a hard G and a K and the middle part forces >you to really open your mouth (which, the author claims, makes >things sound large).
Ah, no. When you finish with "Word Hero", take a look at Paul Barrett's book "Glock", an excerpt of which is available on the Daily Beast website; see: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/01/07/glock-by-paul-barrett-interview-and-except.html Long story short on why the Glock became the most popular handgun in the U.S., with about 70% of police departments using them: During the crack epidemic of the the 1980s, police found themselves out-gunned by drug dealers who were using semi-automatic guns while many cops were using six-shooters. The main selling point for the Glock is that it has a high capacity bullet holder, as shown in the Arizona gun attack against Gabby Giffords -- the Glock had a 30 bullet magazine and one bullet in the chamber (see: http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2011/01/robert-farago/giffords-shooter-jared-loughner-used-a-glock-with-extended-clip/ ) Regular Glock 19s have 15 rounds. For more detail on the history and the different lines of Glock guns, see the Wikipedia entry (yadda-yadda): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glock One interesting aspect of Glock history is that the NYPD was against using them at first while other police departments adopted them. When it was learned that the NYPD police commissioner carried a Glock while the rest of the did not, the media had a field day. So, no, nothing to do with sounds and, as usual with guns, firepower is very important. -Mike Palij New York University [email protected] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=15271 or send a blank email to leave-15271-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
