Why is the Brazilian flag at half-mast today?

[F.Pu-du-he-pa-as]

I walked by the Brazilian embassy today, and the flag was flying at half mast. Why is this?

[Duckster]

Oscar Niemeyer.

[Saint_Cad]

@F.Pu-du-he-pa-as

I walked by the Brazilian embassy today, and the flag was flying at half mast.

Wait? The Brazilian embassy is on a ship?

[Pitchmeister]

@Saint_Cad

Wait? The Brazilian embassy is on a ship?

Does it need to be to fly a flag?

[Saint_Cad]

@Pitchmeister

Does it need to be to fly a flag?

A flag at half-mast? Yes.

[Dewey_Finn]

A lot of countries and people don’t make the distinction between “mast” and “staff” for the pole on which one flies a flag.

[Yorikke]

@Saint_Cad

A flag at half-mast? Yes.

Fucking pedants, pedants everywhere.

[Saint_Cad]

@hrhomer

Fucking pedants, pedants everywhere.

And all the boards did shrink.

@hrhomer

Fucking pedants, pedants everywhere.

Nor any drop to drink.

[Oakminster]

@Saint_Cad

And all the boards did shrink.

Nor any drop to drink.

And all averred I’d killed a word,
which caused this thread to flow.

[Saint_Cad]

Instead of the cross, the pedant
About my neck was hung

[Colibri]

@Saint_Cad

A flag at half-mast? Yes.

Incorrect. While the typical term used in the US is “half staff,” it is still correct to use “half-mast” even if the flag is not on a ship.

From Dictionary.com:

half-mast (hfmst, häfmäst) n.
The position about halfway up a mast or pole at which a flag is flown as a symbol of mourning for the dead or as a signal of distress. Also called half-staff.
tr.v. half-mast·ed, half-mast·ing, half-masts
To place (a flag) halfway up a mast or pole.

From Wiki:

In the US, the term “half-mast” is commonly used colloquially to refer to half-staff, although US law and military tradition indicate that “half-mast” is generally reserved to usage aboard a ship, where flags are typically flown from masts.[3][4] Not all English-speaking nations observe this distinction.[5]

The Flag of Australia is flown half-mast in Australia:

The term half-mast is used in place of half-staff in Canada[6] and is not distinguished within the country’s flag code.

Australian War Memorial: flags at half mast

[Saint_Cad]

@Colibri

Incorrect. While the typical term used in the US is “half staff,” it is still correct to use “half-mast” even if the flag is not on a ship.

I refuse to acknowledge this unless done in the style of Coleridge. Rime, Kubla Kahn or Christabel are all acceptable.

[moriah]

@Saint_Cad

I refuse to acknowledge this unless done in the style of Coleridge. Rime, Kubla Kahn or Christabel are all acceptable.

From Brasilia, their embassy
did fly a flag at half the mast.
But “Ack!” a pendant made a scree:
“It’s staffs by land and masts by the sea!”
A law that grammar lambastes.