A unicyclke by any other name ..

General
1

>ONE-WHEELED VEHICLE Any kind of vehicle that has only a single wheel which
>comes in contact with the ground. Only used in theoretical discussions like
>this one.
…
>BTW, I invite someone with a linguistic flair (READ: Craig Rogers and Ken
>Fuchs?) to propose an accurate definition for “unicycle” that does full justice
>to all (or most) of its multifarioius splendor. Maybe we can even get the next
>edition of Webster and Oxford to adopt it!?

    I think the definition Jack that gave for ONE-WHEELED VEHICLE would be
    closer to my preference for UNICYCLE. I dislike the notion of calling
    obviously multi-wheeled vehicles "one-wheeled" merely because only one
    wheel is in contact with the ground.

    What about bicycles when they are ridden in a "wheelie", ie, with only
    one wheel touhing the ground? Are they one-wheeled vehicles, or
    unicycles, for the duration of the wheelie?

    Another problem with Jack's definition is that it doesn't specify that
    the single wheel is to be the *sole* contact with the ground. Consider a
    hypothetical "ordinary bicycle", such as a Pennyfarthing, with the minor
    wheel replaced by a skid. Should this be considered a unicycle, when the
    skid is providing substantial support? (Hmmm, maybe it should...)

    On the other hand, consider a standard unicycle being ridden as an
    ultimate wheel, with the seat dragging on the ground behind the
    rider. Is it no longer a unicycle because the seat is in contact with
    the ground? Perhaps we need to discriminate on whether any contact
    points, other than the specified one wheel, provide substantial
    support to the rider(s).

    So:

UNICYCLE Any kind of vehicle which, when in use, uses a single wheel as its sole
supporting contact with the ground.

    Note that I chose "when in use" instead of, say, "normal operation". I
    want to allow bicycles to be considered unicycles, for purposes such as
    eligibility for competition, so long as only one wheel touches the
    ground (thus, providing support) throughout the duration of the
    competitive heat or performance.

>BTW, many European languages use some word similar to “monocycle”.

    At the Unicon in Quebec City, our hosts used "monocycle" (except maybe I
    don't have the French orthography correct) for what I would call a
    "unicycle". This grated upon me intensely, as I had been raised in the
    American unicycle vs. monocycle distinction as outlined by portions of
    Jack's message (that I did't include above).

                                    Craig Milo Rogers
2

Julian Orbach wrote:
|>
|> Can someone explain the difference between a unicycle and a monocycle please?
|>
|> I know I ride a unicycle, but I don’t know what a monocycle is.
|>
|> A Penny Farthing has a large wheel and a small wheel (hence the name). Is a
|> Penny Farthing a monocycle (despite the 2 wheels)?

No!! See below.
|>
|> Has anyone here ridden a Penny Farthing? Are they much like riding a
|> unicycle? Are they hard to find?

Yes, I’ve ridden them. They are more like bicycles, but you can make the rear
wheel come up and ride it like a unicycle. Conventional wisdom has it that
that’s how the unicycle was invented…

So you may be wondering, what in the world is a UNICYCLE anyway?

I am glad you brought this up, Julian. You have awakened the lexicographer
within me, so here it is for what it’s worth. I feel that British usage is
changing, but I am uncertain. Conventional wisdom, as I see it, is something
like this (these are not strict lexicographic definitions, but the meanings
should be clear enough).

ONE-WHEELED VEHICLE Any kind of vehicle that has only a single wheel which comes
in contact with the ground. Only used in theoretical discussions like this one.

UNICYCLE 1. [American English usage] A one-wheeled vehicle with the rider
mounted outside the wheel.
2. [Contemparary British English usage, still in flux?] A
one-wheeled vehicle with the rider mounted outside the wheel.

MONOCYCLE 1. [American English usage] A one-wheeled vehicle with the rider
mounted inside the wheel.
3. [Traditional British English usage] Any one-wheeled vehicle
(American unicycle and monocycle).

UNI A colloquial equivakent of “unicycle”, probably restricted to the Americcan
sense of the word.

There are probably other slangy terms like “ike” and “icicle”. How about
making a list of all the synonyms? Anyone out there who know of other
synonyms, please shout.

Note that dictionaries are often inaccurate. For example, the American Heritage
Dictionary defines unicycle as “a vehicle consisting of a frame mounted over a
single wheel and usually propelled by pedals.” This is obviously inadequate
since it excludes ultimate wheels, BC wheels, and the whole family of
multiwheeled unicycles, not to mention such weirdos as the half-wheeled unicycle
built by yours truly…

BTW, I invite someone with a linguistic flair (READ: Craig Rogers and Ken
Fuchs?) to propose an accurate definition for “unicycle” that does full justice
to all (or most) of its multifarioius splendor. Maybe we can even get the next
edition of Webster and Oxford to adopt it!?

BTW, many European languages use some word similar to “monocycle”. Spanish is
“monociclo”, but with the Puerto-Rican influence it seems to be changing to
“uniciclo”. Any comments, Alberto?

I once made a list of “unicycle” in some 30 languages, which I will try to dig
up and publish. In the meantime, I suggest you wordsmiths out there send in as
many foreign language equivalents as you know, and we can start an interesting
file for the unicycling ftp site.

Enough rambling for the moment.

Mantente trepado (“Stay on top” in Spanish),

Jack Halpern IUF Vice President

P.S. FYI, I really am a lexicograpger. That’s where my paycheck comes from,
anyway… Kanji Dictionary Publishing Society 1-3-502 3-Chome Niiza,
Niiza-shi, Saitama 352 JAPAN Voice: +81-048-481-3103 Fax: +81-048-479-1323

3

Re: A unicyclke by any other name …

In message <199502180245.CAA13750@swufs.swu.ac.jp> Jack Halpern writes:
> Julian Orbach wrote:
> |>
> |> Has anyone here ridden a Penny Farthing? Are they much like riding a
> |> unicycle? Are they hard to find?
>
> Yes, I’ve ridden them. They are more like bicycles, but you can make the rear
> wheel come up and ride it like a unicycle. Conventional wisdom has it that
> that’s how the unicycle was invented…

I’ve been told this isn’t an urban legend by museum curators, so I’ll repeat it
in case you haven’t heard:

A sabatour cut off the rear wheel of his main opponent the night of the Hyde
Park Bicycle race. Apparently, the guy raced on one wheel, and still won.
Lucky sod. <g>

–
__
/ ____ Jimmy Brokaw -> jimmy@juggler.demon.co.uk ________\ Also at ->
unicycle@juggler.demon.co.uk
||
|| <- My Absolute Balls Red Unicycle <- Also known as really bad art

4

Re: A unicyclke by any other name …

Hi,

I’ve always liked the term ‘yike’ for unicycle (or whatever it is going to be
called), with a plural of ‘yikes’.

Adam.

5

Re: A unicyclke by any other name … (fwd)

Forwarded message:
> From bkonarsk@mcs.kent.edu Fri Feb 17 22:50:10 1995 To:
> jhalpern@super.win.or.jp
> Cc: julian@cs.uq.oz.au, unicycling (Unicycling mailing list) Subject: Re: A
> unicyclke by any other name … In-Reply-To: Your message of "Sat, 18 Feb
> 1995 11:43:00 +0200." <199502180245.CAA13750@swufs.swu.ac.jp> Date: Fri,
> 17 Feb 95 19:48:29 PST Message-Id: <11559.793079309@drax.isi.edu> From:
> Craig Milo Rogers <rogers@ISI.EDU>
>

> UNICYCLE Any kind of vehicle which, when in use, uses a single wheel as its
> sole supporting contact with the ground.
>
>
> Note that I chose “when in use” instead of, say, “normal operation”. I
> want to allow bicycles to be considered unicycles, for purposes such as
> eligibility for competition, so long as only one wheel touches the
> ground (thus, providing support) throughout the duration of the
> competitive heat or performance.
>

It might be good to distinguish between a dictionary definition and a rulebook
definition. I don’t think that we need a dictionary definition to include a
bicycle. Rulebooks can define a unicycle as anything you want though. When I
entered the 1 mile race at the NUM a unicycle was defined as having a 24" wheel,
which of course is a subset of the set of unicycles.

BTW, Webster’s New Collegiate says:

“any of various vehicles that have a single wheel and are propelled usu. by
pedals or applied draft”.

I think “applied draft” leaves open the possibility of wheel walking and
motor-driven unicycles like the Wheelie. It would, of course include monocycles
and exclude multiple wheel models.

Beirne

–

Beirne Konarski | Subscribe to the Unicycling Mailing List bkonarsk@mcs.kent.edu
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