Hello everyone!
Incorporating the responses of PC2 and Andergassen, here are the terms meaning “sling bullets” in 9 languages:
Lithuanian:
svaidyklės kulkos
Hungarian:
parittya lövedéket
Finnish:
lingon ammuksia
Danish:
slyngekugler
Dutch:
slingerkogels
German:
Schleudergeschosse
– including
Schleuderbleie (literally “sling leads”, i.e. lead sling bullets)
Portuguese:
balas de funda
Spanish:
balas de honda ; also
proyectiles de honda
Italian:
proiettili da fionda
– including
ghiande missili (literally “acorn missiles”, due to their supposed acorn shape, though they're really shaped more like almonds or footballs of North America)
The
ghianda missile is often described as a type of
proiettile da fionda (“sling bullet”). Not all sling bullets are considered to have been
ghiande missili during Roman times, as these bullets were not originally shaped like elongated acorns.
Fionda, according to its encyclopedia entry at
http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/fio ... Italiana)/ , can mean “slingshot” as well as “sling”. So the term
proiettili da fionda can mean “slingshot projectiles” as well as “sling bullets”.
Recently the term
proiettili di frombola, which can only mean “sling bullets”, has come into use. In 2010, the historical novel “Centurion” by Simon Scarrow was translated into Italian. Here is one passage:
Uno dei legionari lanciò un giavellotto attraverso la fessura sempre più ampia e subito dopo l'aria si riempì in un frenetico scambio di tiri: altri giavellotti, frecce, pietre e
proiettili di frombola.
Translated back into English:
One of the legionaries hurled a javelin through the widening gap and right after that, the air was filled with a frenzied exchange of shots: other javelins, arrows, stones and
sling bullets.
In its original English:
One of the legionaries hurled a javelin through the growing gap and then the air was filled with an exchange of missiles: more javelins, arrows,
sling shot and rocks. (
Sling shot means “sling bullets” here, not “slingshot” or “slingshot projectiles”.)
– Italian passage from
http://books.google.com/books?id=M3WUAj ... CDAQ6AEwAA
And in 2011 archaeologist Federica Guidi wrote in her book titled “Il Mestiere Delle Armi: Le fortze armata dell'antica Roma” (The Profession of Arms: The Army Forces of Ancient Rome):
Un
proiettile di frombola ben lanciato non ha nulla da invidiare per traiettoria e impatto a una freccia: trapassa il cuoio delle protezioni, può perforare le carni e può causare lesioni interne. Con la
funda si possono lanciare pietre di forma tondeggiante, più o meno grandi, o le cosiddette “ghiande missili” veri e propri proiettili di piombo, pietra o terracotta, di forma ovale o biconica, lunghi di media attorno ai 4 centrimetri e larghi 1,5.
In English:
A well launched
sling bullet has nothing to envy about the trajectory and impact of an arrow: it pierces the leather protectors and can perforate the flesh enough to cause internal injuries. With the
funda (“sling” in Latin), a person can hurl stones round in shape, large or small, or the so-called “acorn missiles” that are in fact bullets of lead, stone or baked clay, oval or biconical, on average around 4 cm long and 1.5 cm wide.
– Italian passage from
http://books.google.com/books?id=LMSeqD ... CDAQ6AEwAA
Sisyphe, thanks for asking a fun question that really grabbed my interest!
Happy June to all!
Mathea