the.com/cannonball
physics with a splash zone, beloved by kids and feared by patio furniture.
means A heavy iron or steel ball fired from a cannon — or, by extension, the act of leaping into water hugging your knees to maximize the splash.
from A plain compound of 'cannon' and 'ball,' literally the ball a cannon hurls. 'Cannon' traces back through French 'canon' to Italian 'cannone,' meaning a large tube or barrel, from Latin 'canna,' a reed or cane — so the word for the weapon is really the word for a hollow pipe. The swimming-pool sense came much later, an obvious bit of imagery: a body curled tight and dropping like the original projectile.
- naval origin
- Stone, then iron, hurled to crack ship hulls open
- hot shot
- Heated red until they set enemy ships ablaze
- pool form
- Tucked knees maximize splash, minimize dignity
- chain shot
- Two balls linked to shred masts and rigging
- slow flight
- Early ones visible enough to dodge mid-air
cannonball run — illegal cross-country car race from nyc to la, first run 1979, completed in 32 hours 51 minutes
cannonball express — nyc to chicago passenger train, operated by new york central railroad, ran from 1902-1961