Comments on: Name that 10-foot pole!

Question: Name that 10-foot pole!

Benjamin Nushmutt — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 08:17:22 -0800

CircusFilter: What is the name of the pole used to balance on a tightrope?

My band mate wrote a 15 minute song with a lot of changes and complicated passages. Appropriately, he wants to name it after the long, flexible balancing pole that tightrope (particularly highwire) walkers occasionally use. Despite trying various combinations of words, my google skills just aren't what they used to be. I would appreciate any knowledge, research, or speculation the hive mind has to offer. Thanks!

Bonus points if it's poetic, archaic, and/or Portuguese.

By: JanetLand

JanetLand — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 08:24:46 -0800

I think it's just called a balance pole. Perhaps it could be translated.

By: antifuse

antifuse — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 08:26:14 -0800

I always just thought it was called a balance pole. The Wikipedia entry on tightrope walking doesn't have a specific term either.

By: methylsalicylate

methylsalicylate — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 08:26:24 -0800

When I was in the Flying High circus, we called them balance poles. To my recollection they're heavy and have a bend in the middle and are not all that flexible.

By: Benjamin Nushmutt

Benjamin Nushmutt — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 08:48:14 -0800

Thank you for the answers so far--I have checked those links already, and "balance pole" is a correct term, but it's rather clunky as a song title. (Would you listen to a song called Balance Pole? Yeah, me neither.)

Oh, and 1: zing!

By: weapons-grade pandemonium

weapons-grade pandemonium — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 08:49:15 -0800

"Balance" is a bit of a misnomer. They are long and heavy to place the center of gravity low, near the wire, so the walker is much less likely to fall off.

By: allelopath

allelopath — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 08:50:55 -0800

Maybe you could find the word for it in another more poetic language, e.g. French.

By: Ohdemah

Ohdemah — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 08:53:46 -0800

Well, Wikipedia says that tightrope walking is also known as funambulism, so I'm sure you could cook up something with that. Funambustick? Funambushaft?

By: ormondsacker

ormondsacker — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 08:54:44 -0800

How about a balancier?

Definition 3a: [The long pole used by tumblers and tightrope walkers to keep their equilibirium]

By: cabingirl

cabingirl — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 10:08:49 -0800

When you translate balancier from French to Portuguese you get balanceiro...but I don't know if that word really works. Further translations seem to say that it means pendulum, which isn't exactly the thing you describe.

By: ormondsacker

ormondsacker — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 10:21:48 -0800

I tried that too, cabingirl, and got the same "pendulum". A Portugese tightrope walker is a funâmbulo, but darned if I can find any reference to the pole he uses. (In particular 'balanciero + funâmbulo' doesn't come up with any useful results.) Note to Portugese-speaking netizens - fewer tightrope-walking metaphors, more tightrope-walking data.

By: Rumple

Rumple — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 11:09:59 -0800

It's not the right word, but the principle is similar to "counterweight", which has some evocative possibilities, especially in music.

By: Abiezer

Abiezer — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 11:12:07 -0800

I know no Portuguese, but a title including the words "rope-dancer's balance preserver" would alliterate nicely.

By: Rumple

Rumple — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 11:13:34 -0800

Another word with similar meaning is "outrigger"

By: Benjamin Nushmutt

Benjamin Nushmutt — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 14:05:38 -0800

The help is very much appreciated--thank you all for taking time to respond.