JonSidneyB
Flashlight Enthusiast
I thought I said that.
Why is a flashlight called a flashlight ?
- Thread starter abvidledUK
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CLHC
Flashaholic
Indeed you did!
ackbar
Enlightened
[size=-1]Because M12-LRV is too hard to say in conversation, son. 
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TORCH_BOY
Flashlight Enthusiast
Ineresting article
abvidledUK
Flashlight Enthusiast
JonSidneyB said:
Confirmation from two respected sources.
rabbit
Newly Enlightened
abvidledUK said:
That answered the question for 'flashlight', so why did we call it a 'torch light' again....?
I know Chinese called it a 'Electrical tube'.
abvidledUK
Flashlight Enthusiast
rabbit said:
Presumably from the old meaning of torch, ie illumination provided by means of a lit, hand carried fire, rags, fat, oil etc soiled rag.
Lit being an operative word, as it also lights the way.
My guess anyway.
Now then...Luxeon...presumably comes from Lux
So what about Lumens having a derivative..Lumenon ?
(No not Lumenol)
TooManyGizmos
Flashlight Enthusiast
I think it's Hi-time we re-name it !
Why should it still be referred to for what it once did so briefly - "flash-light". (ie: brief flashes of light)
Advancements have now made it a - "light-flasher". (ie: light flashable long time and long distances)
Why not - many other things were referred to differently after they were invented and then advanced.
The "ice-box" initially kept our foods cold but now we use a "refrigerator" due to advancement and the invention of refrigerant gas .
We don't get X-rays any more. What we get serves the same purpose but it's got a new fancy name because of advancements .
So we went from "lightning-bugs in a glass jar" to "fire on a stick" to "flaming soaked wrags on a wooden torch" to "electrons heating tungsten to flash-light" and finally to "L.E.D.'s emitting tiny nuclear explosions of light photons" ..........so now we gotta have a fancy new name to call this advancement of humanity.
It's not "just" a flashlight anymore - It's gone way beyond that. It's like something that came thru the "STARGATE" from a higher intelligence !
We just gotta re-name it for the *21st Century* generation of youngsters .
Who's got the first suggestion to start the list ?
This is a serious matter - THIMK !
...................................
Why should it still be referred to for what it once did so briefly - "flash-light". (ie: brief flashes of light)
Advancements have now made it a - "light-flasher". (ie: light flashable long time and long distances)
Why not - many other things were referred to differently after they were invented and then advanced.
The "ice-box" initially kept our foods cold but now we use a "refrigerator" due to advancement and the invention of refrigerant gas .
We don't get X-rays any more. What we get serves the same purpose but it's got a new fancy name because of advancements .
So we went from "lightning-bugs in a glass jar" to "fire on a stick" to "flaming soaked wrags on a wooden torch" to "electrons heating tungsten to flash-light" and finally to "L.E.D.'s emitting tiny nuclear explosions of light photons" ..........so now we gotta have a fancy new name to call this advancement of humanity.
It's not "just" a flashlight anymore - It's gone way beyond that. It's like something that came thru the "STARGATE" from a higher intelligence !
We just gotta re-name it for the *21st Century* generation of youngsters .
Who's got the first suggestion to start the list ?
This is a serious matter - THIMK !
...................................
JonSidneyB
Flashlight Enthusiast
and what of all the other dated terms in the American English Language and the no longer Original English of the UK.
SolarFlare
Enlightened
English is English not the language of the UK, you might annoy the celts, Wales, Scotland and Ireland have their own languages, I have no idea what they call a torch though 
zespectre
Flashlight Enthusiast
I think we should start calling them 'luminators (with a nice redneck twang).
(okay, just kidding...gonna go hide now)
(okay, just kidding...gonna go hide now)
chrisse242
Enlightened
To add some more confusion, the literal translation for "Taschenlampe", which is the word we use in germany, would be pocket-light or pocket-lamp. Thinking about it, this actually is what comes closest to what wey're talking about. Lights that are mobile, and in most cases small enough to be carried around in a pocket. They don't burn in flames (hopefully) and in most cases we don't want them to flash either. :nana:
Chrisse
Chrisse
Leef
Enlightened
Photonizer?
SolarFlare
Enlightened
It's a light
Size15's
Flashaholic
Generally if somebody asked me for a light they mean one with which they can light their deathstick/pipe/bong etc.
However, a torch in the traditional sense is stick or similar with a flame at one end (usually the opposite end to the one you hold)
So light and torch both mean flame.
I think the term "flashlight" is good because it implies you have control of the illumination device. You can switch it on or off more or less at will and repeat the switching action as required.
"Flashlight" also implies to me that it generates a beam and so is not a lamp or lantern (although lanterns can also be designed to generate a beam)
A flashlight is about control. You can shine light where you want to, when you want to. Additionally, a flashlight can be carried by you and almost always features its own internal powersource.
Flashlight may not be a term in use by everybody but it's a good term (IMHO)
However, a torch in the traditional sense is stick or similar with a flame at one end (usually the opposite end to the one you hold)
So light and torch both mean flame.
I think the term "flashlight" is good because it implies you have control of the illumination device. You can switch it on or off more or less at will and repeat the switching action as required.
"Flashlight" also implies to me that it generates a beam and so is not a lamp or lantern (although lanterns can also be designed to generate a beam)
A flashlight is about control. You can shine light where you want to, when you want to. Additionally, a flashlight can be carried by you and almost always features its own internal powersource.
Flashlight may not be a term in use by everybody but it's a good term (IMHO)
BentHeadTX
Flashlight Enthusiast
NoFair said:It is the same thing in Norway "lommelykt": lomme-pocket and lykt-lamp.
But we Europeans aren't flashers
Sverre
Preach it, Sverre!,
On the beaches there is no flashing... there are no clothes (at least in Greece)
What about a CPF specific name for the uber-cool, ultra-snazzy, titanium/HA-III/stainless steel wonder light? Call it the "divorce light", the beast that will push your spouse over the edge and into the court house.
owenbright
Newly Enlightened
My roomate from freshmen year in college grew up in UK.
I remember him asking me for a torch, and big flames and a stick is what
I remember thinking about. That was the first time I heard someone use the
word torch (for something other than a real torch lol).
I remember him asking me for a torch, and big flames and a stick is what
I remember thinking about. That was the first time I heard someone use the
word torch (for something other than a real torch lol).
JonSidneyB
Flashlight Enthusiast
Divorce Lights....I like that for the uber highend of flashlights.
Good name.
The lights that I find most interesting are Divorce Lights. I really like the highend stuff.
Good name.
The lights that I find most interesting are Divorce Lights. I really like the highend stuff.
Flashlight origin fact
This is how flashlights got its name;
Although a flashlight is a relatively simple device--a small electric bulb with a power switch--it wasn't invented until 1896 simply because it required a portable power source: the dry cell battery. Early carbon filament bulbs were inefficient and the batteries weak, mustering just enough current to keep the light on for a few seconds at a time--hence, flashlight.
This is how flashlights got its name;
Although a flashlight is a relatively simple device--a small electric bulb with a power switch--it wasn't invented until 1896 simply because it required a portable power source: the dry cell battery. Early carbon filament bulbs were inefficient and the batteries weak, mustering just enough current to keep the light on for a few seconds at a time--hence, flashlight.
