Yard

The yard (abbreviation: yd) is an English unit of length, in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement, that comprises 3 feet or 36 inches. It is by international agreement in 1959 standardized as exactly 0.9144 meters. A metal yardstick originally formed the physical standard from which all other units of length were officially derived in both English systems.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, increasingly powerful microscopes and scientific measurement detected variation in these prototype yards which became significant as technology improved. In 1959, the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa agreed to adopt the Canadian compromise value of 0.9144 meters per yard.

The term yard is also sometimes used for translating related lengths in other systems.

Name

The name derives from the Old English gerd, gyrd, &c., which was used for branches, staves, and measuring rods. It is first attested in the late-7th century laws of Ine of Wessex, where the "yard of land" mentioned is the yardland, an old English unit of tax assessment equal to ¹⁄₄ hide. Around the same time, the Lindisfarne Gospel's account of the messengers from John the Baptist in the Book of Matthew used it for a branch swayed by the wind. In addition to the yardland, Old and Middle English both used their forms of "yard" to denote the surveying lengths of 15 or 16 ¹⁄₂ ft used in computing acres, a distance now usually known as the "rod".

Yard (land)

A yard is an area of land immediately adjacent to a building or a group of buildings. It may be either enclosed or open. The word comes from the same linguistic root as the word garden and has many of the same meanings.

A number of derived words exist, usually tied to a particular usage or building type. Some may be archaic or in lesser use now. Examples of such words are: courtyard, barnyard, hopyard, graveyard, churchyard, brickyard, prison yard, railyard, junkyard and stableyard.

Word origin

The word "yard" came from the Anglo-Saxon geard, compare "garden" (German Garten), Old Norse garðr, Russian gorod = "town" (originally as an "enclosed fortified area"), Latin hortus = "garden" (hence horticulture and orchard), from Greek χορτος (hortos) = "farm-yard", "feeding-place", "fodder", (from which "hay" originally as grown in an enclosed field). "Girdle," and "court" are other related words from the same root.

In areas where farming is an important part of life, a yard is also a piece of enclosed land for farm animals or other agricultural purpose, often referred to as a cattleyard, sheepyard, stockyard, etc. In Australia portable or mobile yards are sets of transportable steel panels used to build temporary stockyards.

Rail yard

A rail yard, railway yard or railroad yard is the US term for a complex series of railroad tracks for storing, sorting, or loading/unloading, railroad cars and/or locomotives. Railroad yards have many tracks in parallel for keeping rolling stock stored off the mainline, so that they do not obstruct the flow of traffic. Railroad cars are moved around by specially designed yard switchers, a type of locomotive. Cars in a railroad yard may be sorted by numerous categories, including railroad company, loaded or unloaded, destination, car type, or whether they need repairs. Railroad yards are normally built where there is a need to store cars while they are not being loaded or unloaded, or are waiting to be assembled into trains. Large yards may have a tower to control operations.

Many railway yards are located at strategic points on a main line. Main line yards are often composed of an Up yard and a Down yard, linked to the associated railroad direction. There are different types of yards, and different parts within a yard, depending on how they are built.

Ham

Ham is pork that has been preserved through salting, smoking, or wet curing. It was traditionally made only from the hind leg of swine, and referred to that specific cut of pork. Ham is made around the world, including a number of highly coveted regional specialties, such as Westphalian ham and Jamón serrano. Technically a processed meat, "ham" may refer to a product which has been through mechanical re-forming.

The precise nature of meat termed "ham" is controlled in a number of areas, often by statute, including the United States and European Union. In addition, numerous ham products have specific geographical naming protection, such as Prosciutto di Parma and Prosciutto Toscano PDO in Europe, and Smithfield ham in the US.

Definition

The preserving of pork leg as ham has a long history, with Cato the Elder writing about the "salting of hams" in his De Agri Cultura tome around 160 BC.

There are claims that the Chinese were the first people to mention the production of cured ham, whilst Larousse Gastronomique claims an origin from Gaul, but it was certainly well established by the Roman period, including an import trade from Gaul mentioned by Marcus Terentius Varro in his writings.

HAM (band)

HAM is an Icelandic rock band which was active in the years 1988 to 1994. They are often listed as a heavy metal band but have never categorized themselves as such. They did not attain significant popularity while active, but have gradually come to be acknowledged as an important part of Icelandic rock history. Today they command a cult following among many Icelandic rock enthusiasts.

History

HAM's first album was Hold, a controversial record which received no radio airtime. The band's attempt to get into the big league began when they warmed up for The Sugarcubes in five concerts in 1988. The following year they released the album Buffalo Virgin with One Little Indian records and held several concerts in New York. The album Pleasing the Pirahna was recorded in 1990 but was never released—supposedly another album by the name Pimpmobile was also recorded but remains unreleased.

In 1991-1992, the band participated in the making of the film Sódóma Reykjavík, with singer and guitarist Sigurjón Kjartansson writing most of the soundtrack. HAM's participation in the making of this cult Icelandic classic played a significant part in the band's later notoriety.

Ham (son of Noah)

Ham (Hebrew: חָם, Modern H̱am, Tiberian Ḥām; Greek Χαμ, Kham; Arabic: حام, Ḥām, "hot" or "burnt"), according to the Table of Nations in the Book of Genesis, was a son of Noah and the father of Cush, Mizraim, Phut and Canaan.

Etymology

According to the Hebrew Bible, Ham was one of the sons of Noah and the father of Cush, Mizraim, Phut and Canaan, who are interpreted as having populated Africa and adjoining parts of Asia. The Bible refers to Egypt as "the land of Ham" in Psalms 78:51; 105:23,27; 106:22; 1Ch 4:40. Since the 17th century a number of suggestions have been made that relate the name Ham to a Hebrew word for burnt, black or hot, to an Egyptian word for servant or the Egyptian word Kmt for Egypt. A review of David Goldenberg's The Curse of Ham: Race and Slavery in Early Judaism, Christianity and Islam states that Goldenberg "argues persuasively that the biblical name Ham bears no relationship at all to the notion of blackness and as of now is of unknown etymology."