The Velodrome

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freiheit

00:03

@Criggie So, when a synonym is created, it basically changes all future use of the synonym to the main ("lead") tag. As mods, we would probably also want to perform a tag merge (rename all existing uses of the synonym to the main tag, or remove it it both tags are already on a question).

gschenk

00:17

thanks

Criggie

yeah ok so usage of the synonoms gets lost - a question tagged athena might be specific to that.

gschenk

I read Clydesdale before. I did not remeber it well enough to make the connexion to Clyde.

gschenk

00:36

Why would anyone find the term 'heavy' pejorative.

It seems descriptive to me, and rather accurate at that. Taking Robokaren's definition of a weight that's a few sigma above average.

I tried to find out why Athena is used as a synonym for heavy. And also why Clydesdale is not used for women. However my web search was not specific enough or that's a question that's not often asked or answered.

1 hour later…

Criggie

01:41

Guessing - clydesdales are draught horses, used for pulling heavy wagons or ploughs.

A "masculine" setting.

Athena is the Greek goddess "wisdom, handicraft, and warfare" and often pictured wearing a helmet.

So it kinda fits the cycling theme, slightly.

I'm sure there are female clydesdale horses and male Greeks at war or wise.

Heavy is a bit more factual.

gschenk

02:02

Clydesdale doesn't seem very masculine to me

Work horses would have been about as many mares as geldings.

However, it doesn't have to make sense. It is an arbitrary convention after all.

I wonder still about Athene. Americans are usually much better with the classics than people over here. They certainly have a better reason to associate Athene with heaviness.

gschenk

02:21

While I should like Clydesdale as an euphemism, in the context of cycling races it strikes me as rude. A horse race between draught horses might rarely be a nail biter.

Criggie

03:16