"Turbo"lifts
- Thread starter George
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They still get you where you need to go across the ship far faster than you could on foot, so the name "turbolift" would still be appropriate. Two other "in-universe" things to consider that might slow down a turbolift is maneuvering around traffic from other turbolifts in use as well as sometimes moving horizontally as well as vertically through the ship, IMO...
^ The computer calculates the estimated time it will take the occupants to finish their conversation and adjusts velocity accordingly.Turbolifts take as long to get where needed as the conversation the occupants are having last.
I think this would make an interesting thread in of itself; something like Longest or most Memorable Turbolift Moments.There's an epic turbolift scene in one episode of DS9 (forgot which one). It must last 3-4 minutes easily... on the Defiant.
I'm confused...?
Everyone's talking like turbo is another word for fast. Turbo means turbine driven or turbine powered. It's occasional use as a slang term for fast, particularly in advertising terms is unlikely to survive until the 24th century.
I just figured they were driven by a turbine system.
Everyone's talking like turbo is another word for fast. Turbo means turbine driven or turbine powered. It's occasional use as a slang term for fast, particularly in advertising terms is unlikely to survive until the 24th century.
I just figured they were driven by a turbine system.
Umm, yeah right. They fill up all the turboshafts with water so that little submarine-like cabins can go through them with turbines.
Au contraire, I would argue that turbo is rarely used as turbine driven (I never even knew that it meant that before). Oxford's Dictionary of Current English has turbo listed as a prefix for quick or rapid, without the "[slang]" tag. It is far more likely that turbo only survives with its meaning of "quick" into the 24th century because that is what it is most commonly, if not almost exclusively, used as. "Turbo" for "turbine driven" seems to be pretty antiquated already, I don't see why it should carry into the 24th century.
In TOS the turbolifts were supposed to be really fast. That's why they had to hold onto those handles.
Also, this thread is bringing up interesting points, like sometimes turbolifts take too slow, especially compared to elevators of today. A 3-4 minute turbolift ride on the Defiant shouldn't even be possible. Also, I remember a Voyager episode where they went from the bridge to sickbay (located on deck 5) and the turbolift ride took its time.
I always assumed that starship elevators were called “turbolifts” because they were turbine-powered, not because they were fast.
According to TMOST:
Of course, since the canisters in a pneumatic tube system aren't self-propelled but pushed by air pressure within the tubes, the analogy is a bit faulty. I took it that the turbolift cars were powered by some sort of impeller or air-jet system.
In any case, I don't care what that limey dictionary says. The prefix turbo means pertaining to turbine power or turbine engines. I've never heard it used as a synonym for “fast” outside of a slang or advertising context.
According to TMOST:
Of course, since the canisters in a pneumatic tube system aren't self-propelled but pushed by air pressure within the tubes, the analogy is a bit faulty. I took it that the turbolift cars were powered by some sort of impeller or air-jet system.
A jet aircraft is turbine-powered, and it doesn't travel through water.
Antiquated? I hardly think so. We still speak of turbojet and turboshaft engines, turbochargers, and turbo-electric power. Those terms are hardly obsolete.
In any case, I don't care what that limey dictionary says. The prefix turbo means pertaining to turbine power or turbine engines. I've never heard it used as a synonym for “fast” outside of a slang or advertising context.
That's what I always figured -- the handles were for passengers to steady themselves against rapid acceleration and deceleration, especially when the elevator car was moving sideways. Like the grab poles and straps on buses and subway cars.
According to TWHATNOW?
Ultimately, a lot of things are turbine-powered, but that doesn't associate well with turbine-powered, if you know what I mean. Just because something contains a turbine as a component doesn't really mean that it is turbine-powered. That kind of logic would indicate that all steam engines are bolt-powered, and all cars screw-powered.
Let's look at that list of things again. Turbojet, turboshaft engine, turbochargers and turbo-electric power. Do you think any of these will realistically still exist and be in active appliance during or after the 22nd century?
Let's face it, a lift being turbine-powered would be retarded. It would waste much less energy and generally be more beneficial (thinking in terms of air pressure adjustments etc.) if the lifts were driven magnetically, with graviton flux or the same kind of technology which powers Star Trek hovercars.
That "limey dictionary" in fact was the first dictionary ever to exist in Western society and has been setting the standard for the English language for over three centuries. Who are you to spit in its face?
The opposite here, I've never heard it used as anything but a synonym for "fast" anywhere, well, until now.
My only dog in this fight:
TMOST = The Making Of Star Trek
TMOST = The Making Of Star Trek
A vehicle that uses a turbine as its mode of propulsion IS turbine powered by definition, is it not?
Perhaps, perhaps not. But you said:
“Turbo” for “turbine driven” seems to be pretty antiquated already . . .
Already means NOW.
I agree, equipping each lift car with a small turbine engine would probably be impractical and wasteful of energy. But with regard to Trek TOS, we're talking mid-1960s concepts of future technology. Turbines were very futuristic in the ’60s. By now, all our cars should have them.
A proud Yank who talks reg’lar Englich, that's who!
I think most of us non-Brits are aware of that fact. We didn't just fall off a turnip truck, you know.
Although both “lift” and “elevator” aren't really accurate terms for a conveyance that goes down as well as up! Sideways is another matter altogether.
kkozoriz1
Fleet Captain
Essentially, "turbo" could refer to anything that features rotary movement - that's the Latin etymology of the word after all.
In the context of a vehicle, "turbo" might refer to the system that powers the vehicle (like in a car whose wheels turn by virtue of being gearbox-coupled to a turbine, or a turboprop aircraft) or to the system that moves the vehicle (like in a car that has a jet engine bolted onto it and moves by the jet blast, or a turbojet aircraft). Those are very different things in practice. (And let's ignore the use of "turbo" in "secondary" systems such as turbochargers for now.)
In terms of 1960s futurism, the former would make a lot of sense: a "thermal" turbine of the day would be a compact and advanced powerplant. It probably wouldn't be envisaged as burning gasoline. Instead, there might be a nuclear reactor or other such advanced external heat source to create the flow of fluid that runs the turbine, or then a futuristic internal heat source analogous to today's gasoline turbines.
In terms of 2000s futurism, the turbine would probably be a magnetic one, and a source of motion rather than a source of power. The ship would have an integrated power system, but the cabins might move by means of magnetic induction, involving some sort of a rotating component.
In terms of generic Star Trek futurism, though, I'd replace "magnetic" with "gravitic". We know that in 24th century (backstage) technobabble, artificial gravity generation involves rotating systems. A turbolift might be a lift that has an independent gravitic turbo installed, so that it can defy the general gravitic field of the ship's interior, and move in all directions without resistance or inertia.
As for "turbo" meaning "fast", well, doh. A dictionary is right when it faithfully reproduces the practical usage of language. It's wrong when it doesn't. Thus, e.g. "I could care less" is right and "I couldn't care less" is wrong, to an increasing degree; language changes.
However, technical jargon is often more constant and more concise. And "turbolift" is certainly technical jargon. Granted that scientists, too, can get language rather tangled up ("blood plasma" is anything but "plasma" - even though plasma was named after blood plasma!). But in practice, when a scientist or engineer says that a word has meaning X, this trumps all dictionaries, which only (should) reflect the current status of the ever-fluid spoken word. Thus, we have "turbo" as a technical term, and "turbo" as slang, and Webster's only deals in the latter by definition.
Timo Saloniemi
In the context of a vehicle, "turbo" might refer to the system that powers the vehicle (like in a car whose wheels turn by virtue of being gearbox-coupled to a turbine, or a turboprop aircraft) or to the system that moves the vehicle (like in a car that has a jet engine bolted onto it and moves by the jet blast, or a turbojet aircraft). Those are very different things in practice. (And let's ignore the use of "turbo" in "secondary" systems such as turbochargers for now.)
In terms of 1960s futurism, the former would make a lot of sense: a "thermal" turbine of the day would be a compact and advanced powerplant. It probably wouldn't be envisaged as burning gasoline. Instead, there might be a nuclear reactor or other such advanced external heat source to create the flow of fluid that runs the turbine, or then a futuristic internal heat source analogous to today's gasoline turbines.
In terms of 2000s futurism, the turbine would probably be a magnetic one, and a source of motion rather than a source of power. The ship would have an integrated power system, but the cabins might move by means of magnetic induction, involving some sort of a rotating component.
In terms of generic Star Trek futurism, though, I'd replace "magnetic" with "gravitic". We know that in 24th century (backstage) technobabble, artificial gravity generation involves rotating systems. A turbolift might be a lift that has an independent gravitic turbo installed, so that it can defy the general gravitic field of the ship's interior, and move in all directions without resistance or inertia.
As for "turbo" meaning "fast", well, doh. A dictionary is right when it faithfully reproduces the practical usage of language. It's wrong when it doesn't. Thus, e.g. "I could care less" is right and "I couldn't care less" is wrong, to an increasing degree; language changes.
However, technical jargon is often more constant and more concise. And "turbolift" is certainly technical jargon. Granted that scientists, too, can get language rather tangled up ("blood plasma" is anything but "plasma" - even though plasma was named after blood plasma!). But in practice, when a scientist or engineer says that a word has meaning X, this trumps all dictionaries, which only (should) reflect the current status of the ever-fluid spoken word. Thus, we have "turbo" as a technical term, and "turbo" as slang, and Webster's only deals in the latter by definition.
Timo Saloniemi
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