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Comment by tobib | Hacker News Reader

It's a neat idea but I wouldn't say "three mirrors, each measuring 17 sq m" is particularly "giant".

Depends on how you think about it, relative to the mirrors that were there before they are collosal. I do take humbrence with the author's use of the word, "deflecting". Sounds like they're trying to divert the Sun's wonderous glory away from their town. Reflecting is the word, praise the Sun.

Deflect is to change direction. It's why you can deflect a puck in hockey into the net. Don't know why people keep reading it as a negative.

Deflect most often is used in a sense of deflecting something away from something else. e.g. to deflect a bullet. That would mean away from its target, not into a target.

In English there isn't a general word for altering a trajectory into an object. In this case however, reflect is precisely suited to what mirrors do to light and doesn't have the confusing inverse connotation of away. You reflect away from something or onto something equally well in English.

> In English there isn't a general word for altering a trajectory into an object.

Divert.

Also: Reflect (you know since it is a mirror). Bounce. Redirect. Bank. Alley oop. Ricochet.

You aren't the hero we need, but you're the hero we deserve. I'm changing my vote from, "reflect" to, "Alley oop".

although it’s not as common, “inflect” denotes changing direction toward a target.

yay for the elegance of latin-based prefixes! =)

I don't mean to be a grammar Nazi, but by "humbrence with" do you mean "umbrage at?"

In a neat coincidence "umbrage" and "umbrella" apparently share a common origin in Latin "umbra" (shade).

Please don't downvote this guy. As a non-native speaker, I learned one nice word and a bit of trivia about it. It certainly adds to the discussion, as without the explanation I wouldn't know what the GP wanted to say.

Thanks for your comment. I was disheartened to see the downvotes. I'm glad it was of some use to somebody!

I took the initiative to divert the conversation into semantic territory, and invited the Spelling-Stasi into my home. So as far as I'm concerned you can have a cup of tea while you're at it. And I'm glad you pointed out the serendipity of the mistake, so I can attempt to claim it as as my own clever play on words.

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