> > Bruce Pyle wrote:
> > >                                                                      
> > > Why is DR used for mist in Wx?  Is there a word that it stands for? 
> >                                                                      
> > It's actually "BR" and it's based on a French word - something like
> > "brouillet"
>             
> Actually, it's "brouillard"
>                                                                              
> or some such thing.  Smoke ("FU" for "fum?") is another example.
>                                
> "fum?e". There are lots words that originate in French. Did you know
> that "mayday" actually was "m'aidez", which is French for "help me"?
                                                
                                       
Wasn't aileron coined by some French guy who remarked it looked like a
'little wing'?
                     
And rudder is from the French "ruddre vouz", an interjection used in soccer
games, loosely meaning "Get to the ball, you", but a direct translation of
'ruddre' is "Step on the ball".  Sometimes it was used excessively if the
team was slipping behind in the score and the crowd was YAWning.       
               
I'll stop now.