Hi all, I remember reading a discussion here about what counted as a "lap" (one length versus a round trip), and there didn't seem to be a consensus. I'm interested to know the statistics. So please take the poll :)
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Former Member
A little etymology to add to the frivolity.
"Lap" is cognate to a variety of words sharing an Indo-European root, meaning to hang loosely. Thus we have words like lobe, flap, loop, lapse, lip, etc.
In English, lap meant particularly the loose part of clothing, like the hanging end of a skirt or dress or kilt. That's why we sit in someone's lap, and repose in the lap of luxury.
Since a loose end can be "lapped" back onto itself, a circular or enclosing sense has more recently been attached to lap, as in overlap. Or as in doing a few laps around the track. When a race car laps another, it has done one more revolution around the track, overtaking the other car.
So in swimming, as when someone is lapped by Sun Yang, perhaps twice in the same race.
A little etymology to add to the frivolity.
"Lap" is cognate to a variety of words sharing an Indo-European root, meaning to hang loosely. Thus we have words like lobe, flap, loop, lapse, lip, etc.
In English, lap meant particularly the loose part of clothing, like the hanging end of a skirt or dress or kilt. That's why we sit in someone's lap, and repose in the lap of luxury.
Since a loose end can be "lapped" back onto itself, a circular or enclosing sense has more recently been attached to lap, as in overlap. Or as in doing a few laps around the track. When a race car laps another, it has done one more revolution around the track, overtaking the other car.
So in swimming, as when someone is lapped by Sun Yang, perhaps twice in the same race.
