the.com/fan
a machine that fights summer by stirring the heat into circles
means a device with rotating blades that moves air to cool a person or space, or—in its other life—a devoted admirer of something or someone.
from The air-moving 'fan' comes from Latin 'vannus,' a basket used to winnow grain by tossing it so the wind carried off the chaff—so a fan was once a tool for catching breeze, not making it. The 'enthusiast' fan is a separate, much later branch: a late-19th-century American shortening of 'fanatic' (from Latin 'fanaticus,' 'inspired by a temple,' from 'fanum,' a sacred place), first stuck to baseball devotees. Two unrelated words that happened to land on the same three letters.
- korea fear
- closed-room fans blamed for death by superstition there
- no cooling
- a fan doesn't lower temperature, just moves air
- ancient flex
- hand fans signaled status in Chinese and Japanese courts
- engine guts
- jet engines are giant fans hauling tons of air
- sweat trick
- works only by speeding your sweat's evaporation
beatlemania — thousands of screaming fans mobbed the beatles at every concert in the 1960s, causing near-riots
deadheads — grateful dead fans followed the band on tour for decades, with some attending 500+ shows
trekkies — star trek fans have sustained the franchise since 1966, creating the modern fan convention culture
directioners — one direction fans generated $1 billion in merchandise sales and dominated social media in the 2010s