Canadian fireball

[ChrisEdu]

Anyone see the news coverage of the meteorite over Canada? It looked really spectacular and they are now out trying to find the remains.

Incidently, anyone know if the word 'news' really comes from north, east, west, south (N.E.W.S)?

[Tim]

Nah, it stands for

Never Eat Shredded Wheat

[Psychobilly]

He NESW you nows...

[Psychobilly]

If you draw lines Between the Compass Points N-E-W-S you get a flash...

[kev 102 42]

whats the bit of sky straight up called?

[Psychobilly]

The Zenith...?

[kev 102 42]

cheers billy thought it was would be a dream to see a fireball like that, has any one seen one on here seen one like that.....kev

[ChrisEdu]

I've seen a couple, but nothing quite like that.

With reference to the word 'news,' I heard it came into being as it reports on stories from all around the world and hence all points of the compass, so someone decided to take the initials for the cardinal points and came up with NEWS.

[Psychobilly]

According to the OED...

What is the origin of the word 'news'?

The original sense of news was 'new things'; this is long obsolete. Since the 15th century it has been used to mean 'tidings, the report of recent events, new occurrences as a subject or report or talk.'

The adjective new goes back to Old English.

[ChrisEdu]

That makes sense and is what I'd have thought, anyway. I can't remember where I heard the other story.