3 ms·

Can a sea ship be called a drone? I thought drones where air based. I thought that 'drone' came from the sound a robotic air vehicle makes.

jws 12y ago
In 1935, U.S. Adm. William H. Standley saw a British demonstration of the Royal Navy's new remote-control aircraft for target practice, the DH 82B Queen Bee. Back stateside, Standley charged Commander Delmer Fahrney with developing something similar for the Navy. "Fahrney adopted the name 'drone' to refer to these aircraft in homage to the Queen Bee," Mr. Zaloga wrote. The term fit, as a drone could only function when controlled by an operator on the ground or in a "mother" plane. A stern googling will get you the Wall Street Journal article this comes from. If I link it, they won't let you read it.
- baddox 12y ago
  Which is why, being an RC aircraft hobbyist myself, I can't stand when other RC hobbyists make the ludicrous revisionist argument that "drone" only refers to either autonomous vehicles or weaponized military vehicles. It's an extremely common argument in the RC community, and it's patently ridiculous.
aboodman 12y ago
heh, no: http://i.imgur.com/ohETHFD.png http://i.imgur.com/ohETHFD.png
- 001sky 12y ago
  According to this, the GP is essentially right. Bees are both airborne (not seaborne) and make a notable (droning) sound in flight. Old English-->Male Bee from the German --> Droning sound
  - sandstrom 12y ago
    Yes, 'drönare' is a male bee in Swedish too. Although bees aren't remote control via a computer chip, they are generally seen as being commanded by the queen :)
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
invertedohm 12y ago
Ants. This is a drone in the insect hierarchical sense. It implies independent behaviour of duties and expendability, mostly.
TheSpiceIsLife 12y ago
Notwithstanding the other replies, there are no authoritative sources for word definitions in living languages. Words mean what their users intend. A relatively recent example of this is the word 'literally' which used to, and still does, mean 'in the literally sense; exactly' but has also come to mean 'not literally true' when used for emphasis, as in: I have received literally thousands of emails). Words!

jws 12y ago

In 1935, U.S. Adm. William H. Standley saw a British demonstration of the Royal Navy's new remote-control aircraft for target practice, the DH 82B Queen Bee. Back stateside, Standley charged Commander Delmer Fahrney with developing something similar for the Navy. "Fahrney adopted the name 'drone' to refer to these aircraft in homage to the Queen Bee," Mr. Zaloga wrote. The term fit, as a drone could only function when controlled by an operator on the ground or in a "mother" plane. A stern googling will get you the Wall Street Journal article this comes from. If I link it, they won't let you read it.

baddox 12y ago
Which is why, being an RC aircraft hobbyist myself, I can't stand when other RC hobbyists make the ludicrous revisionist argument that "drone" only refers to either autonomous vehicles or weaponized military vehicles. It's an extremely common argument in the RC community, and it's patently ridiculous.

aboodman 12y ago

heh, no: http://i.imgur.com/ohETHFD.png http://i.imgur.com/ohETHFD.png

001sky 12y ago
According to this, the GP is essentially right. Bees are both airborne (not seaborne) and make a notable (droning) sound in flight. Old English-->Male Bee from the German --> Droning sound
- sandstrom 12y ago
  Yes, 'drönare' is a male bee in Swedish too. Although bees aren't remote control via a computer chip, they are generally seen as being commanded by the queen :)
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]

invertedohm 12y ago

Ants. This is a drone in the insect hierarchical sense. It implies independent behaviour of duties and expendability, mostly.

TheSpiceIsLife 12y ago

Notwithstanding the other replies, there are no authoritative sources for word definitions in living languages. Words mean what their users intend. A relatively recent example of this is the word 'literally' which used to, and still does, mean 'in the literally sense; exactly' but has also come to mean 'not literally true' when used for emphasis, as in: I have received literally thousands of emails). Words!