3 ms·

Cycle though?

• bagacrap 7y ago
  I too thought this an original application of the term but Merriam Webster and Wikipedia both list it, although neither cites reference material. The only examples I could find in the wild were parts of legal definitions (chiefly "motor-driven cycles") and entity names ("Cycle World Magazine", "Pete's Cycles", etc). There are also a few instances of "cycle racing" refering to the human-powered version, yet I get the feeling this is a use that's most popular with journalists who are not familiar with the culture or lingo of bicycle enthusiasts. The use of noun-cycle does not seem more prevalent in other locales like GB (motor bike or moto being more prevalent across the pond). In short I would conclude that cycle as a noun has a couple very narrow use cases in modern English, and the Smithsonian needs better editing.
  • adrianmonk 7y ago
    According to wikiquote (https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_M._Pirsig https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_M._Pirsig), the book itself uses the word "cycle" in this sense. For example: > The Buddha, the Godhead, resides quite as comfortably in the circuits of a digital computer or the gears of a cycle transmission as he does at the top of a mountain or in the petals of a flower. Given that, it seems like a justifiable editing choice, even though it may be a little obscure.