Tuesday, December 27, 2011

X 'Rated'!


ABC Wednesday is a word meme with participants from around the world. This fabulous meme was created and hosted by Mrs. Denise Nesbitt who hails from Great Britain. Over time, others have joined in to help host this wonderful and informative meme. We are now in our NINTH round! Some of the participants have been with this from the very first round; others have joined in along the way. Each week we are taken across the globe to see the varied and exciting contributions people have taken the time to discover and capture. We start with the letter, "A" and each week we post something in regards to the next letter of the alphabet. This week's letter is, "X".

Not too many words begin with X! So, I think we all have to keep 'recycling' our X's!This is most definitely an 'x rated' post just as all your posts will be!  ; )

How about:

XEBEC


Xebec is a Mediterranean sailing ship used primarily for trading. From Wikipedia:


"Xebecs were similar to galleys used by Algerian Berber corsairs and Barbary pirates having both lateen sails and oars for propulsion. Early xebecs had two masts; later ones three. Xebecs featured a distinctive hull with pronounced overhanging bow and stern, and rarely displaced more than 200 tons, making them slightly smaller and with slightly fewer guns than frigates of the period.
Notable xebecs of the French Navy include four launched in 1750:

  • Ruse, 160 tons, 18 guns
  • Serpent, 160 tons burthen, 18 guns
  • Requin, 260 tons burthen, 24 guns
  • Indiscret, 260 tons burthen, 24 guns
In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, a large polacre-xebec carried a square rig on the foremast, lateen sails on the other masts, a bowsprit, and two headsails. The square sail distinguished this form of a xebec from that of a felucca which is equipped solely with lateen sails. The last of the xebecs in use by European navies were fully square-rigged and were termed xebec-frigates.
The British brig-sloop Speedy's (14 guns, 54 men) defeat of the Spanish xebec-frigate El Gamo (32 guns, 319 men) on 6 May 1801 is generally regarded as one of the most remarkable single-ship actions in naval history. It was the foundation of the legendary reputation of the Speedy's commander, Lord Cochrane (later Admiral Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, GCB).
Sea-going Mediterranean peoples greatly favoured xebecs as corsairs, and for this purpose built them with a narrow floor to achieve a higher speed than their victims, but with a considerable beam in order to enable them to carry an extensive sail-plan. The lateen rig of the xebec allowed for the ship to sail close hauled to the wind often giving it an advantage in pursuit or escape. The use of oars or sweeps allowed the xebec to approach vessels who were becalmed. When used as corsairs they carried a crew of 300 to 400 men and mounted perhaps 16 to 40 guns according to size. In peacetime operations, the xebec could transport merchandise."

XRAY


Hard to be 'original' when it comes to the X letter! But, it is always entertaining to see how many different xrays we can all post. This image in not from the internet-it is from my personal stash of xrays that I got from someone. Won't say who, how or why. Just know that  I have a good stash of xray images! Thank you, Madame Curie!

14 comments:

Carver said...

You came up with great ideas. I love the ship and cool Xray image. Happy New Year ahead.

photowannabe said...

Great choices. I never heard of that ship name before so I again learn something from you Paula.
Not fond of Xrays since they usually mean something is wrong.

Roger Owen Green said...

What? With that title, I was waiting for something more...sordid?!

ROG, ABC Wednesday team

Leslie: said...

I'm with Roger here...was hoping for something more, shall we say, "alluring"? LOL

Kay L. Davies said...

EXcellent post for X day. Fascinating to read about the Xebecs and their very interesting history as a warship. I've never seen masts quite like that before.
Thanks, and have a happy new year, Paula.
K

Hildred said...

A romantic looking picture, - that little ship is very graceful.

Chubskulit Rose said...

Excellent Xray!

X-mas or Christmas, which one do you approve of? May you have a prosperous new year!

Tumblewords: said...

The xebec is a stunningly beautiful ship. X-rays are rather fascinating if one's only observing and not looking for trouble. :)

Reader Wil said...

Well you came up with two X words! It's amazing that every time the most difficult letters are having a turn, bloggers are inventive enough to create new words.
I wish you a great 2012.

Leovi said...

I like the drawing of xebec, nice boat and very interesting information.

Oakland Daily Photo said...

Color me impressed. Xebec isn't even in my dictionary. I almost forgot to post my X.

Chronicles of Illusions said...

New words - love it
http://jobryantnz.wordpress.com/2011/12/29/x-is-for-xanthippe/

ChrisJ said...

I love the painting of the Xebec. Its colors are so soft and muted. Well done you, for your X contributions!

Anonymous said...

great X words

ornamented joshua

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