Yes, the “figure” in “figure skating” comes from the compulsory figures, a.k.a. school figures, that skaters used to have to do in competition, drawing figures on the ice that the judges would then closely inspect. These showed the athlete’s skating skills and body control, but they weren’t very audience friendly, and so gradually faded in importance until they eventually disappeared.
Back when I was in college, I worked part-time at a fast food chain named for a famous actor/country singer. Usually the sound system played instrumental versions of country classics, which was fine. But at Christmas we had to stick to just one tape playing badly “country-styled” versions of Christmas carols. Fake Southern accents, too much vibrato, steel guitars all over the place. On a ninety minute loop. For six weeks. I got REALLY good at tuning it out. And that means I can tune out background music basically anywhere now. Feels like a superpower.
See how he’s hugging the pillow? I think he’s not entirely OK with it.But he has loving people around him, and a more stable home than he had with his parents. He’ll get through this.
In “The Great Gatsby”, one of Gatsby’s guests remarks to the narrator that Gatsby took this a step further and actually bought the real books. But anyone who cared to look closely could see he’d never read any of them, as the ends of the pages were still uncut.
Joan! Tell Holly about how the Industrial Revolution made clothing cheaper, and was the first step in making fashion affordable for ordinary people! That might actually interest her in a way the development of the steam engine won’t.
(OK, so Joan can’t hear me because she’s a comic strip character. This is for parents and teachers who might be struggling with a Holly of their own.)
Yes, the “figure” in “figure skating” comes from the compulsory figures, a.k.a. school figures, that skaters used to have to do in competition, drawing figures on the ice that the judges would then closely inspect. These showed the athlete’s skating skills and body control, but they weren’t very audience friendly, and so gradually faded in importance until they eventually disappeared.