A Great Gulf Fixed

Hmmmm. . . this one has me stumped :-) Can you give a little more context? It sounds like a headline, and, as headlines are, missing a few words.

A young man flies across a great gulf while fixed by a bicycle?

So, a guy flew across a wide amount of space using a bike?

Really don't know :-) A little more info from the source would be helpful :-)

Indeed, the title easily leads to misunderstanding.

It actually means:

A young man flies, by bicycle, a great gulf fixed.
(This one is just what you said -- "a guy flew across a wide amount of space using a bike? ")

That is to say, "a great gulf fixed" is a phrase. Have you ever heard of this phrase?

I just saw that title there, the context is just some pics, showing the young man flying over a big gouge.

Check again.
I think you got a word wrong, or there's something missing.

Also, bear in mind that caption writers and headline writers are always trying to be cute, to catch your eye, and what they write is often garbled and difficult to understand, even for native speakers.

And, British speakers struggle with American headlines. What was that famous headline in Variety, Princess? Something about Dix Nix Hicks Pix or something similar.

Please put the phrase "a great gulf fixed" into google and check it out. There shall be many examples there. Here is some:



(1)Christ's Object Lessons - Chapter 21 - A Great Gulf Fixed... Chapter 21. A Great Gulf Fixed. ... And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed; so that they which would pass from hence to you can not; neither can they pass to us, that would come
from thence." Thus Christ represented the hopelessness of looking for a second probation. ...

(2) The Rich Man and Lazarus

The plot of the story that Jesus tells is simple. A poor man sits outside the house of a rich man, begging for crumbs. When both these men die, they are taken to different places. Being tormented with flames in hell, the rich man calls out to the poor man, who has been brought to Abraham's bosom. The rich man begs for "water" but cannot be comforted because of the "great gulf fixed" between them. Is Jesus relating the experiences of real people? Does an existence of torment await those rich in this world's goods? Are the poor automatically promised an afterlife of bliss and comfort?

In these most recent examples

and



Both are archaic usages, biblical but seldom seen and even more rarely heard.

In this context 'fixed' means placed or set in place. There is a sense that anything fixed in place is immovable, or insurmountable.

The headline writer was being a bit sly be using the biblical reference for his flying bike boy story.

A great gulf fixed means that there is a huge separation between one thing and another.

Here "gulf" is used in the sense of "any wide separation, as in position, status, or education" with a hint of "a deep hollow; chasm or abyss".

Fixed is used in the sense of put in place immoveably.

"Great" is used in the sense of very big.

It is, indeed, an archaic phrase, with biblical undertones - as in the sense of god having caused there to be a un-breachable separation between one thing and another.

Thus, the headline is saying that the young man and his bicycle have leapt a seemingly unleapable gorge (this is what I assume you meant by "gouge"?) the tone is therefore humorous and admiring in tone.

Well explained, Dlowan! Thank you.

Also thank all others.

you're welcome

Makes a little more sense now :-) And I think I know what you're talking about, McTag, but the title's not springing. . . all I can think of is a headline Dave Barry once commented on. . . "Huskey Women Subdue Ducks". . . (about those respective sports teams :-))

Totally off topic (but funny) -- Jay Leno reads funny or mistyped headlines on his show on Monday nights. Last night one read, "Cops get hard on sex-toys during crackdown"...

Yeah, I saw that one. . . love those :-) You'd think they'd have enough common sense to check, but noooooo. . .

Like the one in this topic. . . makes no sense, even if you hack through it :-) headlines are supposed to be concise, not cryptic :-)

Headline writers are pretty low on the totem pole, I've heard. Maybe they just like to slip things thru... sort of a job perk.

Hmm. . . wouldn't be such a bad perk. . . :-)

My friend who knows everything told me that the famous Variety headline I was thinking about was "Sticks Hicks Nix Pix", which being translated for Oristar, means "people living in rural areas are unenthusiastic about movies".
Sorry, Ori.

Ah thanks for translation, McTag.

I know "hicks" means "people living in rural areas ". Still, I didn't get what "sticks" means.

In addition, what does "perk" mean in the sentence "wouldn't be such a bad perk. . . "? Alcohol?

perk, sometimes spelled, perc is slang for perquisite: something added, most of the time for incentive.

The dictionary I have says "n. A payment or profit received in addition to regular salary", but in slang it could be anything from the ability to take long coffee breaks to wearing casual clothes at the office on Friday.

perk is an associated benefit

It can be associated to anything. For example, one of the perks of fame is getting into places that others don't get into.

One of the perks of this job is a company car.

Etc.

Thanks, Joe and Craven.

Who would like to explain what is "sticks", please?

"sticks" in this sense is the rural area the "hicks" live in...