Ciao Bimba

I think of myself as a bimbo – one who specializes in bimrocks (block-in-matrix rocks). For several years I proudly wore the PhD Graduation T-shirt that Jim Falls, CEG gave me in 1994, emblazoned with his word “bimbeau“, a more elegant alternative to my bimbo. I suppose  if I were a French woman researcher, I would be a bimbelle.

Yes, I do have fun with bimwords. So much so that I collect them.

While en route between Bergamot and Brescia in Northern Italy two weeks ago, our train stopped at the village of Cologne. On the wall of the platform was this sign. Someone in Italy loves someone who loves bimrocks: “Hullo/Goodbye Bimba, I love you”. Indeed, some of the original geotechnical engineering research was performed in Italy on olistostromes (complex mixtures of shales and sandstones, jumbled together by submarine landslides).

The origin of bimba and bimbo is Italian. They are affectionate diminutives of bambina and bambino (little girl and little boy). (Thanks to Laura V~ of Geosyntec for entertaining me with that tidbit!).

There is then a charming connection between bimbo, bimrocks and myself, given I am still a young man at heart…