# "becoming boats" - WTH does this mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 26, 2013, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-boats-wth-does-this-mean/651436 "2013-02-26T16:27:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2013, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-boats-wth-does-this-mean/651436/41 "2013-02-27T00:11:46Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > What OS and/or browser are you using? > [@tellyworth](#): > > Safari on Mountain Lion. It uses the built-in dictionary. There’s a separate item to search Google. Same options for IE 9 on Windows 7, btw. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2013, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-boats-wth-does-this-mean/651436/42 "2013-02-27T00:34:26Z")
> [@bup](#): > > _Mourning Becomes Electra_ was the most confusing title I ever encountered as a kid. I don’t remember when I finally parsed it right, but I was much older than I should have been. Mine was “The Crying of Lot 49.” ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-boats-wth-does-this-mean/651436/43 "2013-02-28T17:35:20Z")
More argument over the types of boats later. Some tug manufacturer arguing his boats would be the most efficient for moving people. Olmsted sending a strongly worded letter to Burnham arguing that the efficiency of moving people was never the point, the point was the beauty of having pretty boats moving around, and that he’d rather have NO boats than unbecoming ones. So yes, it is “pretty boats”. And what does “The Crying of Lot 49” mean? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-boats-wth-does-this-mean/651436/44 "2013-02-28T17:40:54Z")
Auction speak. Lots are items up for bid and the auctioneer is crying a lot when he’s taking bids on it. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-boats-wth-does-this-mean/651436/45 "2013-02-28T23:14:26Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Now that that’s been answered - Ho.ly. Cow. what a book, right? > > Dang, I read it at least a decade ago and I still shudder just thinking about it. Read it just a month or two ago. Yikes! I admire the subtlety, the abstract distance, with which the author describes the deaths. Very chilling! But it was also a cool book, for the history of the fair. I had no idea of the sheer scale of the place! Holy wow! Wish I could go and visit! (Has anyone made a virtual 3-D tour yet?) ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-boats-wth-does-this-mean/651436/46 "2013-03-01T00:13:29Z")
So I was all set to put this book on my reading list but after reading about the subject matter… no. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-boats-wth-does-this-mean/651436/47 "2013-03-01T01:33:20Z")
But it’s awesome! OK, I understand architecture isn’t to everyone’s taste, but really, Larson makes it interesting! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-boats-wth-does-this-mean/651436/48 "2013-03-01T15:52:37Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > So I was all set to put this book on my reading list but after reading about the subject matter… no. there are a couple of fairly gruesome forensic analyses of how the victims must have died. So if that’s going to haunt you, I’d advise not. Actually, what I’d relaly advise is to have someone go through and put sticky notes to block off those few scenes for you, because the book as a whole is incredibly good. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-boats-wth-does-this-mean/651436/49 "2013-03-01T16:08:42Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > How the hell was I to know that? I tried googling the phrase. I was trying to figure out what kind of boat a “becoming boat” is. So it didn’t occur to you to try googling “definition becoming”? > [@](#): > > be·com·ing > /biˈkəmiNG/ > Adjective > (esp. of clothing) Flattering a person’s appearance. > Noun > The process of coming to be something or of passing into a state. > Synonyms > proper - suitable - seemly - fit - appropriate - fitting ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-boats-wth-does-this-mean/651436/50 "2013-03-01T16:15:24Z")
Is this thread really that onerous for you? If it gets even one more person to read Devil In the White City, I think it will have been worth it. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-boats-wth-does-this-mean/651436/51 "2013-03-01T16:15:53Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > So it didn’t occur to you to try googling “definition becoming”? I’m sure Irishman knows what \*becoming \*means. It’s just sometimes when your brain has decided an instance of a word has a particular meaning in some context, it shuts out the other meanings. It would never occur to me to look up \*becoming \*if I kept reading the phrase with \*becoming \*meaning “in the act of transforming into.” Right? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-boats-wth-does-this-mean/651436/52 "2013-03-01T16:28:55Z")
I’m right there with you, bup. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-boats-wth-does-this-mean/651436/53 "2013-03-01T17:33:28Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > It really was a great book. I find myself trying to imagine what the White City must have looked like to people at the time. The Museum of Science and Industry and the Art Institute are the most significant still-remaining structures from the fair. Yeah, there are some grand fountains that were built for the fair still standing (though in disrepair) in the swampy park areas south of the MSI. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-boats-wth-does-this-mean/651436/54 "2013-03-01T17:57:28Z")
> [@BlueMit11](#): > > Attractive boats. You know, the kind that attract huge ships. Like the PT-109, you mean? Too soon? ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2013, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-boats-wth-does-this-mean/651436/55 "2013-03-02T05:04:42Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > So it didn’t occur to you to try googling “definition becoming”? No, it didn’t. Like **bup** said, my brain had already put it in a category. ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2013, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-boats-wth-does-this-mean/651436/56 "2013-03-02T05:08:07Z")
I figured it was a reference to one of those transformer toys. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2013, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-boats-wth-does-this-mean/651436/57 "2013-03-02T06:41:47Z")
On the subject of the White City, the Chicago Architecturel Foundation has a Devil in the White City tour that gives you a good sense of what it must have looked like. [http://www.architecture.org/](http://www.architecture.org/) ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2013, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-boats-wth-does-this-mean/651436/58 "2013-03-02T23:32:03Z")
Can you give a better link than just the main page? I can’t find that tour. ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-boats-wth-does-this-mean/651436/59 "2013-03-03T00:15:22Z")
I found [this](https://tickets.architecture.org/public/show.asp?shcode=246) by entering Devil In The White City in the search boxes… ---
**Author:** ![luv2draw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@luv2draw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/luv2draw)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-boats-wth-does-this-mean/651436/60 "2013-03-03T01:07:52Z")
Thank you, Irishman. This book sounds like it’s right up my alley. Going to read it! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-boats-wth-does-this-mean/651436.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/becoming-boats-wth-does-this-mean/651436.md?page=4)