40 Years of Wandering and the Exodus Population
Mark L. Bakke errancy@infidels.org
Tue, 18 May 1999 20:48:56 -0400 (00927092936, 37420A78.517B5B99@bakkster.com)
> Joe Alward:
>
> Till's rebuttal above implies that he believes that the American Heritage
> supports his use of "column" as a synonym for "row"; it doesn't.
BAKKE
The problem here is that you are confusing a dictionary definition with
military terminology. Also, you are confusing the perspectives of a
formation standing at attention with one whose members have all faced 90
degrees to the right in order to begin marching.
A military "column" is defined from the position of attention in a
formation whose members are facing their commander. "Columns", from the
point of view of the commander, are the straight lines of men which all
lead from the front to the rear of the formation. "Files" are the
horizontal lines of men which lead from the commander's left to his
right as he is facing his troops. In Till's example, there would indeed
be 15,000 columns of men arranged in 200 files. Before the commander
gives this formation the order to march, he must first order a "Right
Face". Every man in the formation will then turn 90 degrees to his
right. At this point, we will have a formation where men are standing
200 files abreast and 15,000 columns deep. The files and columns of men
are exactly as they were before. I've already given the examples of
marching commands that are used to move this formation and which
indicate the proper file and column designations in a previous message.
> Joe Alward
> These are not the "columns" Till had in mind. What he had in mind was the
> following, with the direction of march pointing to the top of this post.
>
> 1 1 1 1 1
> 2 2 2 2 2
> 3 3 3 3 3
> 4 4 4 4 4
> 5 5 5 5 5
> 6 6 6 6 6
>
> Thus, Till thinks the troops labelled "1" are in Column 1, those labelled "2"
> are in Column 2, and so on. This is not how the word "column" and "row "
> are used, ever.
BAKKE
I have just proven you to be wrong, Joe. Till's usage is right on the
money. In your example, the 1s are all in the first column, the 2s are
all in the 2nd column, and so on. Each 1-2-3-4-5-6 is a file.
Therefore, there are five files in your example.
> Joe Alward
> Below is the manner in which columns and rows are labelled, always, whether
> in the military, or elsewhere (again, with the direction of march pointing to
> the top of this post):
>
> 1 2 3 4 5
> 1 2 3 4 5
> 1 2 3 4 5
> 1 2 3 4 5
> 1 2 3 4 5
> 1 2 3 4 5
>
> We have above five columns of six men each; thus, the men labelled "1" are in
> Column 1, et cetera.
BAKKE
Trust me, Joe. I'm a 17-year veteran in the Army and do this stuff
every working day. You've got it bass-ackwards.
> Joe Alward
> To speak of men 200 abreast, in 15,000 columns--as Till did--is nonsense; the
> two statements are mutually contradictory, and Till hoped-for support from
> his dictionary is non-existent. Till should admit his mistake and take up a
> much more important question:
BAKKE
Till has no mistake to admit to, Joe. He is completely correct in his
usage and his argument maintains its full force.
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