Huffing/puffing

I half-knew what he meant, and half-knew I should say no, but I didn t. He slid my trousers off, and what I chiefly remember about the next few minutes is that one of my legs kept sliding off the sofa, and he was huffing and puffing in my ear, and it hurt, quite a lot, and then he shouted, and it seemed to be over, and I realized he hadn t come out. 

Your daily routine probably doesn t give you all the exercise you need to maintain cardiovascular fitness. When you are in good shape, you can walk up a hill and climb stairs without huffing and puffing, and you can keep up with your grandchildren. 

The door burst open and in came the maid with the tea tray resting on her bosom. The room was so small that her skirts flurried the flames in the hearth and the candle almost blew out. She stooped down with a lot of huffing and puffing, poured us both a cup, and then disappeared, somewhat reluctantly. The quiet came back, and I thought, I must sort this out quickly before I lose control of my voice. Did he not mention me at all before he died ... 

An uninflated air mattress doesn t make a comfortable bed because comfort depends upon the pressure of the air inside it. So, you inflate it by huffing and puffing or by using the exhaust feature of a vacuum cleaner. Recall that when more air is added to the mattress, the pressure of the air inside increases. When the mattress is filled and its air valve is closed, it is far more comfortable. The air inside supports the walls of the mattress and pushes against the force exerted by atmospheric pressure on the outside surface of the mattress. As you add your weight to the mattress, do you know how the air inside is now acting upon the mattress walls, against the force of the atmosphere on its surface, and on you ... 

Water is also involved with the final shield, which happens when H O (water) and COj (carbon dioxide) mash together into HjO-CO (carbonic acid). I tried to use this reaction in a lecture demo once. 1 put a chemical that would turn blue in acid in some non-acidic water. When 1 blew on the water, the carbon dioxide in my breath made carbonic acid and turned the solution a deep inky blue. At least, it did when 1 practiced it beforehand. In class, I couldn t get it to work, despite a few minutes of huffing and puffing. Demos always work great until the class is watching. 

Thus the nursery rhymes, riddles, and fairy tales of childhood introduce us to engineering. From lullabyes that comfort us even as they sing of structural failure to fairy tales that teach us that we can build our structures so strong that they can withstand even the huffing and puffing of a Big Bad Wolf, we learn the rudiments and the humanness of engineering. 

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