Word of the Day

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13

Funicular

[fyoo-NIK-yə-lər]

Origin: latin, mid-17th century

• Relating to a rope or its tension.
• (of a railway, especially one on a mountainside) operating by cable with ascending and descending cars counterbalanced.
• Examples of Funicular in a sentence
• The funicular pulley system in the barn let him hoist the large bales of hay by himself.
• I don’t know how to ski, but I still enjoy taking the funicular tram to the top of the mountain.

About Funicular

Funicular comes from the Latin “funiculus,” which means rope. The adjective can be applied to any description of a rope and its tension, but it is most commonly used to describe a specific type of railway. Funicular can also be used as a noun, to name such a railway.

Did you Know?

The adjective funicular is commonly placed before railway to refer to a type of train system in which counterbalanced cars are propelled up a steep incline on a cable and pulley system. The first public funicular railway was the Funiculaires de Lyon, which opened in France in 1862. The first funicular railway in the United States was the Telegraph Hill Railroad, which was in operation in San Francisco from 1884 through 1886.

Comments

[pfrye.livejournal.com]

Illya Kuryakin lay unconscious in UNCLE medical. Napoleon had found his partner near death in a cemetery. He had been shot several times, lost a lot of blood and had stubbornly remained unconscious, even though the UNCLE doctors had indicated there was no reason he should be.

Napoleon had remained by his side as was their custom. He talked to his partner, read to him and tried all he could to get him to wake. "Come on Illya, the doctor said you can wake any time now. I'm getting worried." Napoleon raised the head of the bed thinking that perhaps the movement would help. "Let's sit up for a bit, ok? You are safe, no THRUSH, I've even done all the paperwork..no reason to stay asleep." Napoleon had to admit he was getting worried.

Illya could hear a hushed noise in the darkness. He knew he was dead, the stars he had seen in the cemetery had gone, all was black. He wondered if he was just going to become energy reintegrated into the universe or if his Grandmother was correct about heaven and hell. He felt himself rising and had a momentary image flash through his brain of riding a funicular in France while attending university. He wondered if you rode a funicular up to heaven. He found this thought amusing and chuckled.

Napoleon started as his partner chuckled. "Illya, partner...is something funny? Please wake up and let me know?"

Illya remained in darkness.