But what does it mean? As Wikipedia says:
"Panamax" ships are of the maximum dimensions that will fit through the locks of the Panama Canal. This size is determined by the dimensions of the lock chambers, and the depth of the water in the canal. An increasing number of ships are built precisely to the Panamax limit, in order to transport the maximum amount of cargo in a single vessel.
So Panamax is a portmanteau of 'Panama' and 'maximum'.
Ships larger than 'Panamax' are often known as 'post-Panamax', which I also think has a nice ring to it.
2 comments:
I like that word--it has a neat ring to it. Plus, it fills a definite need. I think the best new words are the ones that use a very few characters to convey a very lengthy--but very specific--thing.
Awhile ago at my job, we wanted to have a Word of the Day--but we didn't want to imply that we were going to update it every day, bcs what if we were too busy, or couldn't think of anything? So we considered Word of the Week--same problem. And Word of the Month was out, bcs we knew we'd get bored with the same old word way too soon.
So my solution was:
Word of the Indeterminate Time Period
Word of the Indeterminate Time Period - I like that!
I did consider whether having a 'Word of the Day' would oblige me to pick a different word every day, but then I thought: it's my blog, and I can do what I want.
And anyway, perhaps I do pick a different word every day but only blog about my choice occasionally. It's my word of the day, not the blog's, after all...
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