The Jerk and the Jounce

I am one of 600,000 people world wide who subscribe to A.Word.A.Day; it is a good feeling to belong to a group. I hear it is good for your health as well, especially if you are in a crowd cheering on a sport. As long as I don't do that I am glad that I am one of something.

Once a week readers have their say over the words used the previous week. A couple of folks wrote in about 'jounce.' "Jounce is also a technical term in engineering, although perhaps not in the widest standing. Some fairground ride designers make use of it." This fellow goes on to say that "human animals really, really enjoy jounce, so long as it's kept to a healthy level."

Jounce is defined as the change in acceleration over time.

Another fellow writes: "It turns out, after much graphing of results, that the excitement you feel on a ride is not so much to do with the speed of the ride as the acceleration - how fast the speed is changing. And it's not so much even that, more how fast the acceleration is changing -- the 'jerk'. And, lo and behold, it's even more to do with how fast the jerk is changing -- the 'jounce'.

Words are certainly enjoyable and I like being a part of a group of 600,000; I can't see that it is improving my health, however.