Diary (September 25, 2020)

Online diary of Karl Jones for Friday September 25, 2020.

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Diary

Thagomizer

A thagomizer (/ˈθæɡəmaɪzər/) is the distinctive arrangement of four to ten spikes on the tails of stegosaurid dinosaurs. These spikes are believed to have been a defensive measure against predators.[1]

The arrangement of spikes originally had no distinct name; the term thagomizer was coined in 1982 by cartoonist Gary Larson in his comic The Far Side, and thereafter became gradually adopted as an informal term within scientific circles, research, and education.

• Thagomizer @ Wikipedia
• Thagomizer (nonfiction)

A man cannot stab his enemy twice

"A man cannot stab his enemy twice. The second stab, he is not the same man, and his enemy is not the same enemy."

—Widely attributed to Fell Swoop.

Fiction cross-reference

• Gnomon algorithm
• Gnomon Chronicles