The October 2012 Giveaway of the Month

[Gare]

Hi Cliodna—

You're welcome to introduce yourself—as you just have—on the Xara Xone area, however the Xone is only a small part of TalkGraphics, and there are lots of other Xara artists hanging out in other areas. You might want to post a similar introduction on the >>>TG Off-Topic Chat Area<<<



Although I began the TalkGraphics thread on the Xara Xone, Gary Priester, not I, began the Xone over 15 years ago. So when you say you've learned everything from the Xara xone tutorials, credit must go to Monsieur Gary Priester, and not moi. I have taken over custodial duties since Mr.Priester's retirement at the end of 2011.

The Xara Group chose me because my name is "Gary" also, so they didn't have to change the name plate on the office in the cellar.

Why we Americans (and Canadians) can the unique tracing device a French curve probably cannot be answered with 100% accuracy. It probably should be called a German curve, because the math describing hyperbolic curves is generally credited to Ludwig Burmester.

•In a few Spanish-speaking countries, such as Argentina, this device is called a pistolete—which is a French word.

• In Germany, it's called a Kurvenlineal.

• If we can place the invention of the French curve around the time of Ludwig Burmester (1880), commoners didn't travel a lot. You typically were born and died in the same village, so a foreign country was thought of as quite refined, exotic, and sophisticated. So the prefix "French" might have the same relevance to the device as we Yanks call chips "French fries". Americans are big on ethic and class irrelevance when we describe something. an "Indian Giver" (the Native American) is someone who goes back on a deal. A "Dutch treat" is a date where the two people pay their own expenses.

There is also a ship-building connotation for the French curve, but I can't find what the term is. But one end of a flexible piece of wood was anchored, and the end was bent to describe a curve. Today in vector graphics, we usually use Bezier curves as a replacement for French curves, except when Frances has gifted us with here recreations!

The term might also have been arrived at from comes from "frenching", a technique used to put curves into metalwork. The term relates to "French cuffs" on men's shirt sleeves.

That's probably more than anyone wants to know about the origin of the term "French curve"!

My Best,

Gary

[Cliodna]

Thank you very much for all these explanations, Gary , and to take all this time to answer me . Now , I understand better the french curve strange " etymology "