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derigible

English translation: lighter-than-air aircraft

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:(derigible: typo for) dirigible
Selected answer:lighter-than-air aircraft
Entered by: Tony M

19:27 Nov 10, 2013
English language (monolingual) [Non-PRO]
Cinema, Film, TV, Drama
English term or phrase: derigible
HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" season 2, episode 3: a man is picking up an envelope of a characters cut of the profits from a casino. The man handing the envelope says it was a slow night, the envelope is a little light. The other guy says:
"Light? It's a f***ing derigible!"
"You're gettin' a lot of use out of that line, I bet."

I was unable to find a correct meaning for derigible.
Could anybody help me? Thank you!
Bill Balla
Hungary
Local time: 08:53
lighter-than-air aircraft
Explanation:
I feel sure this is a typo; it's a very common mistake for 'dirigible' (= able to be steered), which people mistakenly assume refers to an airship (only) — the point being that airships, ballons, etc. are lighter-than-air craft.

Hence he's saying, with typical hyperbole, that the envelope is a light as a balloon.
Selected response from:

Tony M
France
Local time: 08:53
Grading comment
Thank you!



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
3 +5lighter-than-air aircraft
Tony M
4 +1dirigible (originallly a type of airship)
Jack Doughty


Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +5
derigible > dirigible
lighter-than-air aircraft


Explanation:
I feel sure this is a typo; it's a very common mistake for 'dirigible' (= able to be steered), which people mistakenly assume refers to an airship (only) — the point being that airships, ballons, etc. are lighter-than-air craft.

Hence he's saying, with typical hyperbole, that the envelope is a light as a balloon.

Tony M
France
Local time: 08:53
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 79
Grading comment
Thank you!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Charles Davis
2 mins
  -> Thanks, Charles!
agree  David Moore (X)
12 hrs
  -> Thanks, David!
agree  Ashutosh Mitra
17 hrs
  -> Thanks, Ashutosh!
agree  Thayenga: Spot on, Tony. Hope all is well. :)
18 hrs
  -> Thanks, Thayenga! Yes great, thanks — you too? :-)
agree  jccantrell: How I would see it, and I grew up an hour's drive from AC!
19 hrs
  -> Thanks, J-C! my father used to be an aero engineer, in the era of the airships (R101, Hindenberg, etc.)
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
dirigible (originallly a type of airship)


Explanation:
Airships are of two kinds, rigid and non-rigid. The non-rigid are known as dirigibles. Both are obviously lighter than air, but the dirigible is lighter, because it does not have a rigid metal frame round the gas balloon that gives the airship its lift. I have never seen it in this meaning of "super-lightweight", but this must be what is meant here.

Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:53
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 40

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Tony M: Yes, with qualification: 'dirigible' has nothing to do with rigidity, it refers to whether it can be steered or not.
25 mins
  -> Thank you. Yes, I should have recognised it as being from the French verb.
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