"Rules of the Game - by Andrew Gordon" Topic

Apropos of nothing but astonishment at the scholarship involved…

While explicating the manifold interrelationships between Victoria's navy (more or less an enormous yachting club,) and British Royalty, Andrew Gordon writes this paragraph in "THE RULES OF THE GAME, Jutland and the British Naval Command." It concerns the dispersion of MELAMPUS senior crew (which included Even-Thomas who would play such a pivotal and eternally debatable role commanding 5BS at Jutland,) after Prince George was done with "commanding" her in what was to be his last assignment at sea (because his elder brother died and he was next in line to the throne.)

"Godfrey-Faussett himself went out to the Pacific to be flag-lieutenant to Rear-Admiral Henry Stephenson (equerry to the Prince of Wales, 1878-93). He "undoubtedly owed the appointment to the good offices of Prince George," whose additional equerry he became in 1901 and remained for thirty-five years. Suitably for a courtier, he married Eugenie Dudley Ward whose uncle, the 2nd Viscount Esher, was a member of Queen Victoria's private circle. Bryan later took pains to smooth the acceptance at Court of Captain David Beatty and his divorcee wife -- to be repaid with Beatty's affair with Eugenie. The Godfrey-Faussetts' son David, as a matter of interest, was the Swordfish pilot credited with spiking BISMARCK'S rudder in 1941." (p. 236)

So there you have it: the future of the German navy from Jutland to the sinking of the Bismarck defined by the need to keep a crown prince in good company.

An "equerry," btw is defined here link as a sort modern day squire or page.

explicating

Which dictionary is that word in?

You made me think it was only in my personal one (i.e. I made the word up.) But I was using it in the second sense: link

It's English, o Sage Connard:
link

Explicating

ex·pli·cate

Pronunciation: \ˈek-splə-ˌkāt\

Function: transitive verb

Inflected Form(s): ex·pli·cat·ed; ex·pli·cat·ing

Etymology: Latin explicatus, past participle of explicare, literally, to unfold, from ex- + plicare to fold — more at ply

Date: 1531

1 : to give a detailed explanation of
2 : to develop the implications of : analyze logically

Rules of the Game is a great book. Profound insights, tremendous detail and great battle descriptions. I've even given away copies to friends. (Shattered Sword is the only other naval book so honored.)

It's English, o Sage Connard:

Well it ain't in the OED…so I reckon it's American

SAGE Connard…well, I may not stand corrected exactly but I do agree that it borders on bombast when one could as easily use "explain." There is however an ever so slightly different connotation. But it's a bit like writing "utilize" instead of "use," and so I will endeavor to pull my socks up and do better next time.

aercdr: Funny you should mention SHATTERED SWORD in the context of gift giving. Me too, and I intend to give THE RULES OF THE GAME to the same people…although it seems hard to come up with cheap copies here in the US. It is an astonishing book even for those familiar with the topic.

Connard Sage a dit:

Well it ain't in the OED…so I reckon it's American

It's in my copy of the Shorter Oxford. It therefore seems inevitable that it is also in the OED itself.

Of course, it may not be in the Concise, but that is not the OED.

All the best,

John.

John,
Certainly IS in the Concise -at least it is in my Fifth edition 2nd 1975 printing.
Guy