Why do we call a tribrach a tribrach?

brachium is Latin for "arm"

> "a metrical foot of three short syllables of which two belong to the thesis and one to the arsis".

Best example I could find

Probably in left field but I always equated "brach" with brac" as in bracket. Then you add the tri for the three "feet" thingy.

> Probably in left field but I always equated "brach" with brac" as in bracket. Then you add the tri for the three "feet" thingy.

I always assumed it's because the spring plate and the base plate have three arms.

> Probably in left field but I always equated "brach" with brac" as in bracket. Then you add the tri for the three "feet" thingy.

I always thought the same. The more you know!

I didn't know what an Arsis is

So I googled it.

Apparently it's this

Don

I didn't know what an Arsis is

Frequently Arsis comes teamed with Cath, as in Amorphous Catharsis.

Now you know.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/arsis

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/arsis?s=t

Because it's a Triangle Bracket

A bracket is a right angle support

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/english/bracket?q=bracket

I didn't know what an Arsis is

Are you pulling a Fleming on me, Cow?
I hate being outsmarted by livestock.:-$

Don

I have pulled many things in my life

But, so far as I know, I have never pulled a Fleming.:-P

Doesn't it "bracket" the instrument at a right angle to the tripod head?

Good answer.

How long have tribrachs been around?

While Wild had had a couple of styles, their "standard", removable tribrach has been around since the 1920's. The European style 3 screw base has been around longer than that, but I can't put a finger on a beginning. But these weren't removable.

Those examples are weird. How far should we trust an analysis by someone who is silently accepting “He and me . . . walk”? Anyway, here is Edmund Gosse, at the end of his article on “Verse” for the eleventh edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica (1910-1911). :