Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2024 January 6

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January 6

What is a gange?

The Ordnance Survey claims Frankley Waterworks has an inlet gange. I can't find this in any dictionary. That could be a typo but for what? 'Gauge' seems unlikely. From the road I see a walled structure and hear the sound of swirling water, maybe to oxygenate it on its way (south) from one reservoir to the other. Shantavira|^{feed me} 17:20, 6 January 2024 (UTC)

Purely speculation on my part, but to me it sounds like a misspelling (possibly based on a mishearing) of gauge. Apologies, I need to read more before I comment. GalacticShoe (talk) 17:23, 6 January 2024 (UTC)

Of note is that if you search for gange in the benchmarks website, you also get two other results mentioning a "ganger's hut." Ganger is a known word here (see wikt:ganger) but I highly doubt that this is the intended meaning. GalacticShoe (talk) 17:40, 6 January 2024 (UTC)

Possible choices other than gauge and ganger include grange (which appears in a few placenames in the survey) and range, which I could definitely imagine someone mistyping. GalacticShoe (talk) 17:45, 6 January 2024 (UTC)

@Shantavira: I also think it should be "inlet gauge". But what makes you think this is an Ordnance Survey error? Bazza (talk) 17:43, 6 January 2024 (UTC)

Not shown on the OS 1:25,000 map anyway. [1] Alansplodge (talk) 17:56, 6 January 2024 (UTC)

I wonder if it is a variant or misspelling of Wikt:gang: 11. (now chiefly dialectal)... a course, path, track.? In other words, the course of an inlet? Alansplodge (talk) 17:50, 6 January 2024 (UTC)

That seems likely to me, the sense known from gangway, gangplank and similar. There's also gangue, but that's obviously not it, although that derives from the Greek gang meaning mineral vein. Mikenorton (talk) 12:33, 7 January 2024 (UTC)

It seems to me that anyone can register for an account with the Bench Mark Database to log their finds.^[2] Is there a formalized relation with the Ordnance Survey? As I try to parse the entry, it appears that a surveyor has made a benchmark on a rivet, and a user has spotted it and logged it in the database. Near a reservoir one expects to find one or more inlets, and it is maybe not strange if these are equipped with a gauge.  --Lambiam 23:30, 6 January 2024 (UTC)

The benchmark data comes from the OS benchmark database but i is not unknown for them to make mistakes. Shantavira|^{feed me} 09:07, 7 January 2024 (UTC)

@Shantavira: "gange" does appear in the database file you linked above. "gauge" still seems to be the likely intended word. Bazza (talk) 10:23, 7 January 2024 (UTC)

I find the word 'GANGE' once in the complete benchmark archive linked to on the OS page, on line 285837 as the field value NBM RIVET INLET GANGE S SIDE RD NE ANG. The word 'GAUGE' occurs 39 times, 10 of which are in some entry with NBM RIVET. The occurrences of 'GAUGE' are in the combinations 'TIDE GAUGE' or 'TIDAL GAUGE' (33 times), 'DEPTH GAUGE' (twice), and 'FLOOD GAUGE', 'HEIGHT GAUGE', 'WATER GAUGE' and unqualified 'GAUGE' each once.  --Lambiam 21:51, 7 January 2024 (UTC)

'Rivet' may very well be a typo too. A river gauge is a common enough thing, and the location makes this seem plausible. AndyTheGrump (talk) 22:11, 7 January 2024 (UTC)

The database contains 6 occurrences of NBM RIVER versus 43,503 occurrences of NBM RIVET. Surely, these are not 43,503 typos.  --Lambiam 10:29, 8 January 2024 (UTC)

NBM is the abbreviation for "New bench mark" according to the Bench Mark Database and rivet benchmarks appear in google image searches and are listed in this blog about the types of benchmarks used. Modocc (talk) 22:50, 7 January 2024 (UTC)

That makes sense, though it isn't obvious how a surveying rivet could be used to gauge anything. AndyTheGrump (talk) 22:58, 7 January 2024 (UTC)

The location indicated is Frankley Waterworks' pumping station. Perhaps the rivet benchmark is used to establish its elevation and maintain an accurate water-level gauge of an inlet there. Modocc (talk) 00:00, 8 January 2024 (UTC)

Although benchmarks were historically often carved into masonry the ordnance survey also used rivets driven into cracks in masonry - see here for an example. Mikenorton (talk) 10:43, 8 January 2024 (UTC)

It's similar to a genge, but plays better on the wing. Martinevans123 (talk) 11:37, 7 January 2024 (UTC)

So the complete string is: "RIVET: NBM RIVET INLET GANGE S SIDE RD NE ANG (ODN 186.373m, AGL 0.0m)." So quite likely to be an (odd) abbreviation for something? Although I have no idea what. Martinevans123 (talk) 16:25, 7 January 2024 (UTC)

The problem is the similarity of the letters "n" and "u" [3]. At school, the Latin teacher gave us ten words to translate into Latin, with a reward for everyone who got all ten answers right. Everyone fell down on one question - "pass" - writing augustiae. "But that's what's in the book!" they exclaimed. So the teacher opened the book, and there it was - angustiae. 2A02:C7B:228:3400:5558:2319:26C2:7300 (talk) 12:30, 7 January 2024 (UTC)

The 1:2500 map of 1905 has Inlet Valve Chamber (along with a corresponding outlet valve chamber nearby). Hassocks5489 (Floreat Hova!) 16:32, 7 January 2024 (UTC)

Thanks all. I've made the appropriate correction. Shantavira|^{feed me} 09:51, 8 January 2024 (UTC)

Whatever it is, I hear there's a whole bunch of them in India. —Tamfang (talk) 00:55, 11 January 2024 (UTC)