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Ha-ha wall

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Re: Ha-ha wall

#81

Post by jdietrich »

gonational wrote: post #15

Not suggesting this should be done, but for the sake of practical engineering argument, if a wall like this was used on the southern border, and I guess in areas where there is no hill it would have to be essentially a moat, with this theoretically save a lot of money over into nonsensically expensive concrete wall that offers a similar level of human blocking power?

Nothing will perfectly secure a border of that length, not even a minefield.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortifications_of_the_inner_Ge...

Re: Ha-ha wall

#83

Post by kgwgk »

compiler-guy wrote: post #12
saagarjha wrote: post #5

Does a moat count as a ha-ha wall?

Although it serves something of a similar purpose, a moat interrupts the view and usually doesn’t slope on one side only.

> a moat interrupts the view

No, it doesn't: it's just a ditch. (But it's not very effective as a defensive element if not combined with a wall).

Re: Ha-ha wall

#84

Post by jacquesm »

I've seen a house in the united states that was built into the facing wall, from many angles the house was totally invisible.

Re: Ha-ha wall

#85

Post by Ensorceled »

osrec wrote: post #75
Jenz wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Contributing to Wikipedia is quite fun and not enough people do it. You don't even need to make an account. How is this not in the spirit of HN? Sure you might already know, but are we not to share knowledge/opinion because readers might already know it? Plus, other people (like me) also read these comments, and they might lack relevant knowledge... educating is not a bad thing.

Educating is a great thing. Patronising not so much. If the OP's comment is for the good of the wider community, it should probably not contain a friendly yet subtle insult to the tune of "rather than just criticising, get off your backside and do something about it, you might even enjoy it". And I'd be very surprised if someone reading HN is unaware that Wikipedia can be edited...

I did not find the comment patronizing. Assuming bad intent on the part of other commentators is ALSO not in the HN spirit.

Re: Ha-ha wall

#86

Post by csswizardry »

wyldfire wrote: post #37
orpheline wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Punic refers to the people. Carthage was the name of their city, so they're also referred to as Carthaginians (see also: New Yorkers, Londoners, Dubliners, Parisians, etc.).

You chose some relatively ordinary demonyms, these are some fun ones: Mancunian, Muscovite, Liverpudlian, Glaswegian, Munsonian, Buddies.

I’m a proud Loiner.

Re: Ha-ha wall

#87

Post by aasasd »

wyldfire wrote: post #37
orpheline wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Punic refers to the people. Carthage was the name of their city, so they're also referred to as Carthaginians (see also: New Yorkers, Londoners, Dubliners, Parisians, etc.).

You chose some relatively ordinary demonyms, these are some fun ones: Mancunian, Muscovite, Liverpudlian, Glaswegian, Munsonian, Buddies.

‘Muscovite’ is from ‘Muscovy’, denoting the Middle-Ages' Duchy of Moscow and in turn descending from Latin ‘Moscoviae’.

Since English has chronic trouble mapping sounds, especially vowels, that are fundamental for Russian, ‘Muscovy’ is in fact a rather reasonable approximation. ‘Moscovia’ would be better, but alas. It's like we're seeing different fundamental colors―which we sort of do with English ‘indigo’ and Russian ‘light-blue’ (the latter being close to Newton's ‘blue’).

Re: Ha-ha wall

#88

Post by ad404b8a372f2b9 »

twic wrote: post #16

See also the 'Punic ditch'. I can't find a good description online ([1] is the most specific), but basically it's a fortification comprising a human-scale haha with the wall on the outward side, and the slope on the inward side. The idea is that attackers can cross it easily, by jumping down the wall, then charging up the slope, at which point you open fire on them, then when they turn to run way, they have to climb…

It made me wonder whether "punic" was the root of words like "punish" and "punitive". But there seems to be no connection. http://www.fantasy-writers.org/forum/question-about-word-pun...

Re: Ha-ha wall

#89

Post by ad404b8a372f2b9 »

orpheline wrote: post #42
happytoexplain wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This was precisely my assumption. I was surprised by the etymology.

I'm both surprised and skeptical. It makes me wonder whether there's a larger story, now lost... Perhaps the archetypal occurrence was someone famously humorless, and their outburst was forever burned into the minds of those present. Or perhaps the first instance was on the estate of a noble who thought it funny and insisted everyone else find it funny, too...

You might know this already given your username, but for the sake of the thread I feel I should mention "Ha ha" is a common expression in french when discovering something, and not exclusive to this feature (which I felt wasn't made clear in the article). It has a specific intonation pattern and doesn't sound much like laughing, so to me the etymology isn't all that surprising.

Re: Ha-ha wall

#90

Post by osrec »

Ensorceled wrote: post #85
osrec wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Educating is a great thing. Patronising not so much. If the OP's comment is for the good of the wider community, it should probably not contain a friendly yet subtle insult to the tune of "rather than just criticising, get off your backside and do something about it, you might even enjoy it". And I'd be very surprised if someone reading HN is unaware that Wikipedia can be edited...

I did not find the comment patronizing. Assuming bad intent on the part of other commentators is ALSO not in the HN spirit.

How is it not patronising?! The person is telling me that they disagree with my viewpoint - and rather than then explaining why they disagree, they decide to explain to me that I can edit Wikipedia! To me, that is patronising.

While their language is mild and friendly, their message is utterly patronising.

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