It really doesn’t matter on a cosmic scale, and I’m only asking because it came up on a couple of other threads, and to challenge everyone’s language skills, but how would you define Muni? Before we know how many people do it, or what the purpose of it is, we need to know what ‘it’ is.
So, wordsmiths, in one sentence, a definition of Muni, please.
So here’s my shot:
Muni is unicycling on unmetalled tracks or unmade ground where the terrain is deliberately chosen for the challenge that it presents to the skills of the rider.
Hmm, two good definitions, can’t think of a sentence that’s significantly different to those but what about it’s usage? How do we use ‘it’.
I need to MUni
On my MUni cycle (or Municycle)
That looks a nice place for MUni’ing
I must be a MUni cyclist (or Municyclist)
Etc.
Good point though Mike, if the word is going to be used a decent definition is needed if we are to understand each other. And how does it translate to other languages, I’d be interested in that.
>… and one more thing…
>
>What about pronunciation?
>
>Do you say -MOO-nee- ,
>
>or -MOON-ee- ,
>
>or -moo-NEE- ,
>
>or -MYU-nee- ???
>
>
>–
>sendhair - Dismember
>
> Rick
I would think that since it is built on the word (or the prefix used as a word)
“YOO-nee,” it would be pronounced either “MEW-nee,” like the word “municipal,”
or maybe “EM-yoo-nee” to more clearly indicate that it is a particular species
of “uni.”
Another pitfall of the English language… Knowing how to spell something
doesn’t tell you how to pronounce it, or vice-versa.
> Another pitfall of the English language… Knowing
> how to spell something
> doesn’t tell you how to pronounce it, or vice-versa.
I was somewhat amused by an article I saw in Japanese.
Japanese has a phonetic syllabary that could specify
the exact pronunciation, but the article had muni’ in
English - I think this is kind of trendy in Japan. This
was followed by a definition in Japanese which would
be pronounced ‘maunten yunisaikuru’. Helpful…
Arnold’s right about the “trendy” thing, and nb’s right about ichirinsha. English is often slung around in everyday Japanese for a kind of exotic effect. For mundane topics, the regular Japanese word is used, but for “high tech” or “cool” things, particularly if an item originated abroad, the borrowed English word (pronounced with Japanese syllables) is common. So, for example, talking about the type of bicycle that schoolkids and housewives use, it’s jitensha , but if it’s one of those two-wheeled things with knobby tires, shock-absorbers, 18-21 gear combinations, V-brakes, and handlebars all over the place, it’s maunten baiku.
Plain old vanilla 20-inchers are ichirinsha, but go to 24 or 26 inches, and add any other changes so that you can go off-road, and you’ve got a maunten yunisaikuru !
I have a Muni and I went out for a Muni ride, unless I change the tire on my Muni then I went for a ride on my uni. But if I go on my Muni and ride some flow stunts I just went and rode stunts on my Muni. I’m so confused
Hmmm, yeah, I recall wondering whereinthehell the Dutch Olympic Mountain Bike Team trains… Well, Klaas Bil? Do they have a time-sharing option for summer use of the Jamaican Bobsled Team’s training camp? Is Muni-ing possible in the Netherland’s? Does it “count” if all your Muni-ing is on horizontal land?
>Hmmm. No Dutch word for mountain… just as there is no indigenous
>Eskimo word for ‘palm tree’?
mountain - berg
unicycle - eenwieler
bike - fiets
You see, we do have words for the separate terms but not for the
combinations. Well, no indigenous words. We also say “computer” or
“PC”, and many more English terms.
>Hmmm, yeah, I recall wondering whereinthehell the Dutch Olympic Mountain
>Bike Team trains… Well, Klaas Bil? Do they have a time-sharing
>option for summer use of the Jamaican Bobsled Team’s training camp? Is
>Muni-ing possible in the Netherland’s? Does it “count” if all your
>Muni-ing is on horizontal land?
I don’t know about where the DOMBT would train. But MTB is a
much-practiced sport here, even if we don’t have mountains we do have
slopes. I haven’t come around yet to posting pictures of the slopes
near my house where I do most of my muni’ing. That is in a nearby park
that has also a network of designated MTB trails.
Anyway, this is also in the Netherlands:
<www.xs4all.nl/~klaasbil/muniweekend02.htm>. That was in the hilliest
part of our country, with heights just over 1000 ft.
Funny that both of you start replies with “Hmmm”. Is that to signify
you are pondering over the insight I provided?
Hmmm, sorry, Klaas, but while I often do ponder over the insights you provide; in my postings, “Hmmm” is not an indicator of ponderous thought. It’s actually G# below middle C, because all of my posts are meant to be sung, which is how they are composed and typed. (sigh)! Just one more limitation of communicating via the written word! Maybe I should start indicating key signatures with my posts…
> >And how does it
> >translate to other languages, I’d be interested in that.
>
> In Dutch we say Mountain Unicycle. But then we also say Mountain Bike.
> There are simply no indigenous words for that.
There’s no Dutch word for mountain?!
I know Holland is flat, but you’re in Europe! There are mountains in Europe,
I’m sure of it.
That sounds funny Jagur. As funny as bergfiets for mountain bike. Over
here, an MTB is more associated with rough terrain than with
mountains. Calling it a bergfiets presses us with the nose on the fact
(Dutch expression) that we don’t have mountains. “Mountain” sounds
more abstract than “berg”, because of the language barrier.
>
>Klaas Bil wrote:
>> *mountain - berg
>> unicycle - eenwieler
>> bike - fiets
>> You see, we do have words for the separate terms but not for the
>> combinations. *::well then, lets just go with
>bergeenwieler.::
>
>
>–
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