THUNDERBOLTS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22046, 28 February 1935, Page 15

THUNDERBOLTS

Sir,—Many people will be surprised at Professor Burbidge's statement that there is no such thing as a thunderbolt. The word does not, of course, mean any substance falling from the clouds. Reference to no fewer than four dictionaries of the language shows that "thunderbolt" is a specific term ; describing a flash or shaft of lightning, accompanied by a detonation of thunder. Webster says the flash of lightning is solitary, and this, in spite of the opinion that the unscientific may think of a bolt of machinery dropping from the skies, is undoubtedly the ordinary conception of a thunderbolt. This is undoubtedly the event that happened in Auckland the other day. In other words, "thunderbolt" is a definite description of a particular electric disturbance, an isolated one and one not to be confused with a general thunderstorm. I • fail' to see on what grounds a word of the language can be discarded when the best dictionaries, including the Oxford, contain it. It is rather like ■ asserting that " Jones " and " Smith " are not family names. The precise meaning given to the word may vary. In Australia, for instance, " ball " "lightning is commonly called a thunderbolt, but in New Zealand the solitary flash and detonation is called a thunderbolt, and correctly so. Whatever scientists say, the word is likely to remain in the language. At least, it has survived for many centuries, and there are such things as thunderbolts. Mataaho.