Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2019 January 16

= January 16 =

The rear rider on a tandem is a stoker?'
Good day every body. I learnt that on a tandem, the rear rider is called stoker (Tandem_bicycle). We use the same word in French. I went through dictionaries trying to understand why this word with this meaning. Is it because on a steam engine the man who had to put more coal in the fire was the stoker? Thank you for your help.--Jojodesbatignoles (talk) 11:04, 16 January 2019 (UTC)


 * Yes, the rear rider is (sometimes) called the stoker.  Yes, this is obviously a pun on a steam engine's stoker (but I have no source on that). The stoker is the one who puts energy into the system. Does this answer your question? Jahoe (talk) 11:25, 16 January 2019 (UTC)


 * The OED definition was written in 1917, and is in desperate need of updating, as it only references the fire meaning. Interestingly, despite the bicycle boom a generation before, and widespread use of tandems, "stoker" had not migrated from engineering to cycling terminology. However, you might enjoy this poem, of unknown provenance, "Shovelling Coal". Note that "fireman" in this sense is synonymous with the first meaning of "stoker", the person who keeps the fire going. Here's one verse; the "it" is the tandem bicycle.
 * It is like a locomotive, where the captain's engineer,
 * Who is always barking orders at the fireman in the rear.
 * That's the way they ran the railroads; with a bike it's not so sweet
 * For the busy, bustling body on the secondary seat...
 * ...JUST SHOVELING COAL!
 * --Carbon Caryatid (talk) 15:04, 16 January 2019 (UTC)


 * Nice find! I wonder if it's a "reliable source" in the wikipedia sense, but it does (at least somewhat) answer the OP's question. :) Jahoe (talk) 16:27, 16 January 2019 (UTC)


 * Have a good day. I'm the OP, and I thank you all for your long and rich explainations.--Jojodesbatignoles (talk) 09:21, 18 January 2019 (UTC)

Kids grow up and parents don't
What happens when children grow up and thier parents do not? 5.80.157.38 (talk) 21:54, 16 January 2019 (UTC)
 * I'm reminded of a line from Monty Python at the Hollywood Bowl, where Eric Idle says, "A typical Hollywood audience... all the kids are on drugs, and all the adults are on roller skates." ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 03:41, 17 January 2019 (UTC)
 * These might give you some interesting reading on the topic: and .  -- Jayron 32 13:37, 17 January 2019 (UTC)

The What happens when kids grow up and parents don't tagline is from Rich Kids, a film about two 12-year-olds, the products of Upper West Side broken homes, struggling to make sense of their parents lives and their own adolescent feelings. 5.80.157.38 (talk) 21:56, 18 January 2019 (UTC)
 * Was there a reason for this thread, or are you just wasting our time out of spite?DOR (HK) (talk) 18:05, 19 January 2019 (UTC)
 * Apparently the answer to the OP's question is, "They make a movie out of it." ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 06:31, 20 January 2019 (UTC)