Literary notes about hex (AI summary)
The term “hex” wears many hats in literature, functioning as both a marker of supernatural influence and a descriptor in technical or figurative contexts. In some narratives, it represents a curse or a malevolent spell—plans are doomed by a hex [1], and characters seek relief from its inescapable hold [2, 3]. In stark contrast, other texts employ it for its numerical and structural precision; for instance, it denotes a line of six poetic feet in dactylic hexameter [4, 5]. Furthermore, “hex” frequently appears in descriptions of mechanical objects—highlighting something as mundane as a hex nut or a hex wrench in detailed instructions [6, 7]—or in geographical appellations such as the Hex River, lending local color and setting to the narrative [8, 9, 10].
- "If I make plans there is a hex on them.
— from Katy Gaumer by Elsie Singmaster - Certainly a gypsy woman would be able to take off a hex.
— from Hex by Laurence M. Janifer - A witch has placed a hex upon me, and I come to you to remove it."
— from Hex by Laurence M. Janifer - hexam'eter (Gr. hex , six), a line of six poetic feet .
— from New Word-AnalysisOr, School Etymology of English Derivative Words by William Swinton - “Dactylic hexameter,” dac-tylˈic hex-ămˈe-ter.
— from The Chautauquan, Vol. 04, April 1884, No. 7 by Chautauqua Institution - # For Christmas I hang some tinsel from my handlebars and put a silver star on the big hex-nut that holds the headset to the front forks.
— from Shadow of the Mothaship by Cory Doctorow - Using wrench, tighten the large hex nut located between shaft and valve.
— from Portable Flame Thrower M2-2 by United States. War Department - Darkness found the train labouring through the mountainous defile of the Hex River.
— from Through South AfricaHis Visit to Rhodesia, the Transvaal, Cape Colony, Natal by Henry M. (Henry Morton) Stanley - Nearing Cape Town, however, I ought not to omit to mention the Hex River Pass.
— from A Winter Tour in South Africa by Frederick Young - Right in front the Hex River Mountains extend like a vast barrier across the line and seem to defy the approaching train.
— from With Methuen's Column on an Ambulance Train by Ernest Nathaniel Bennett
