Well,
now it's more than ten years later and the name fits true as ever.
We
decided to perform a little etymological research on our name, just
for fun.
There
are several definitions of the word “talus” in the dictionary. The
first two listed below we were aware of, but the last two were new to
us.
1.
The
primary definition in a dictionary is:
a slope formed by the accumulation of rock debris at
the base of a cliff.
2.
The
second definition in any common dictionary is of Latin origin and has
an anatomical orientation:
the astragalus: the human tarsal bone that bears the
weight of the body and that together with the tibia and fibula forms
the ankle joint.
Or simply,
the ankle.
3.
An
esoteric medical definition for the word “talus” (also a
definition we aren’t to fond of), is:
a variety of clubfoot formally known as Talipes
Calcaneus; a condition in which the sole faces forward and the patient
walks upon the heel.
4.
Another
geological usage for the word is as a subcategory for sea caves:
Talus caves form between boulders piled up on a
mountain slope (thus drawing from the primary definition in a
dictionary), from waves eroding the foundation of the boulder pile
and/or even the bedrock of the mountain that the boulders are piled up
against. These caves are normally only as big as an average room.
Occasionally however, some talus caves do have extensive
interconnected passages. Some of the largest are located along the
granite shoreline of New York and New England. Here integrated systems
of passages between boulders have been mapped to lengths of several
miles.
We
like this definition as well. At The Talus Group we like to think of
ourselves as we first did many years ago: as a company that offers practical
solutions with valuable rewards, but also like to think of ourselves
akin to the granite bedrock of the north Atlantic: as a solid
foundation that provides integrated systems.