# Is there a difference between a slingshot and a catapult?



## surfnturf

If so what is the diffrence?


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## keeco

same thing


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## harpersgrace

A catapult is a medieval weapon used for bombarding castles and fortifications, but in this context they are different names for the same thing.


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## crazyslingshot

American catapult is slingshot.
England slingshot is catapult.


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## ZDP-189

Autumn vs fall. Elevator vs lift. Crisps vs Crisps. Same difference.


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## sohy3010

british people sometimes call slingshots catapults, creating confusion between the siege weapon and the slingshot (no offence to english people since i am british too ;P). Brits sometimes also call slingshots a katty or a flingy! hope this helps,
sohy


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## surfnturf

Thanks, that is what I thought but I am a newbie and did not want to be missing something. many more questions to come!


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## dgui

Catipulting is a misnomer that was adopted by those who like to call a boot a trunk. Dont we know that a boot is what you put on your foot and not the ass end of a vehicle.


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## yeeharr

dgui said:


> Catipulting is a misnomer that was adopted by those who like to call a boot a trunk. Dont we know that a boot is what you put on your foot and not the ass end of a vehicle.


I suppose inventing the language gives the British the right to call things and spell things how they like. Trunk is an old English term for the trunks that were carried on the backs of carriages. American is a collection of misnomers adopted by those who like to call an arse an ass. Don't we know that an ass is what you put a saddle on and not the arse end of a person! LOL!! (I'm only "joshing"!!!! I'm Irish anyway!)


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## dgui

Its all about the green man the green. I have seen video of the British pounding the Irish without mercy. Very sad.


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## Foolonthehill

OK, I admit right up front that I am English, but there is some logic, sense and reason to this language issue. I recently found a friend who owns a faire booth selling what I would call "catapults" and the basket they were in was labeled "slingshots". Funny thing is that the devices they were selling looked like the one on this site's logo. When I was a kid in England my Dad taught me to make a catapult out of a "Y" shaped stick and rubber tubing. A catapult accelerates a projectile IN A STRAIGHT LINE and upon release the projectile continues on that course, subject to gravity. Also, when I was a kid, I learned in Sunday school that David killed Goliath using a "slingshot". This is a device with cords and a pocket for the projectile. The ends of the cords are held in the hand and the projectile swung in a circle around that central pivot point, accelerating in circles. When one end of the cord is released the projectile flies off in a straight line subject to gravity, powered by the centrifugal force built up by the constrained circling. This "whirling" aspect ,and acceleration through constrained centrifugal force is ESSENTIAL to the term "sling" as used with the term "shot". Hence we see mud SLINGING from a spinning tire. The term SLINGSHOT used to describe space vehicles being captured by the gravity of a planet, accelerated, and then released in a straight line to a far destination. When kids form a line on roller skates the kid on the outside end experiences a SLINGSHOT EFFECT.


When an object continues on a straight path having been accelerated in a straight line it has been CATAPULTED. Hence, when a car rear ends another the occupants are CATAPULTED through the windshield (not slung). Roman siege engines were indeed catapults. A sports car might catapult its occupants from 0 to 60 in a few seconds, but when it corners at speed they might be SLUNG against the doors.

Sorry, No matter what your nationality, a sling is a sling and a catapult is a catapult. Maybe this site needs a new logo, or keep the logo and change the name to "Catapult Forum".


I found this site and this discussion by searching "sling V catapult" as a result of my friend's booth and our ensuing disagreement. I wanted to know if my understanding was correct, or whether this is just a misuse of language. There certainly seems to be confusion even amongst catapult enthusiasts, so I joined the site to put in my two cents worth. I hope that it helps.


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## slingshot_sniper

My wife and I have always called them slingshots,I guess were not English


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## e~shot

slingshot_sniper said:


> My wife and I have always called them slingshots,I guess were not English


I think so


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## slingshot_sniper

e~shot said:


> My wife and I have always called them slingshots,I guess were not English


I think so








[/quote]

But...but my blood is red


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## PandaMan

I'm English, but I call them slingshots because a catapult is a siege weapon in my opinion


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## Chugosh

Okay, I really dug the post about the difference between the sling and the catapult.

I'll happily muddy things just a touch by discussing the trebuchet, a medieval siege weapon that used a sling to hurl great boulders, but would be called a catapult by anyone who didn't spend their grade school lunches reading about them.

A slingshot is simply a cattapult that someone over here in america has. It may be of interest to know when exactly the catapult made for me by Brooklyn became a slingshot on its journey to me by Royal Post and US Postal Service. I'm not going to lose sleep over it.

I have made several slings as well, and the primary diference between them and the catapult/slingshot is how much worse a shot I am with them. I can hit my four foot wide (1.25 meter) catchbox with my slingshots on a fairly consistant basis, while with the slings I am quite lucky to get my shots within five degrees of the compass direction I am shooting in.


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## slingshot_sniper

PandaMan said:


> I'm English, but I call them slingshots because a catapult is a siege weapon in my opinion


I think the further north you go they call them katty's cause its easier to say


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## whipcrackdeadbunny

Flingy?


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## Tex-Shooter

Oh my bloody arse, what is going here? Hey I think that the batteries are run down in my torch! Ops, the fact is I have never been to the Isles. Cheers Lads, Mates, Gent's and Chaps. Hey it's a flip here! Y'all come to Texas yeu-hear. -- Tex-Shooter


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## bbshooter

I think the 'shot' in slingshot comes from the "shot" used in everything from the Brown Bess Musket (in service with the British military from 1722 to 1838) to the modern Shotgun.


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## Tex-Shooter

Hmmm, I thought it refered to the shot in the glaee at the pub! -- Tex-Shooter


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## Tex-Shooter

While at the Air Force base, I ran around with a Cockney Gent for awhile, and we became pretty good friends. -- Tex


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## slingshot_sniper

TBH I'm taking it all light hearted I really don't care what this and that is called,from now on I'm calling it my shooter


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## lightgeoduck

Doesn't matter what you call it, as long as you shoot it.

LGD


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## Tex-Shooter

It was all intended as light hearted. Just Practice, Practice, Practice and become the best! – Tex-Shooter


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## PandaMan

Chugosh said:


> I'll happily muddy things just a touch by discussing the trebuchet, a medieval siege weapon that used a sling to hurl great boulders, but would be called a catapult by anyone who didn't spend their grade school lunches reading about them.


This is not true. A catapult and a trebuchet are different. A trebuchet uses a counterweight to pull an arm with a rope and 'pouch' attached to it, but a catapult uses a counterweight to move an arm with a kind of cupped shape on the end.







Quite different.

EDIT: No, I'm wrong. Catapult is a general term for most types of siege weaponry. My bad


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## slingshot_sniper

I think a trebuchet is a kind of catapult IIRC









[edit] sorry panda I missed your edit


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## bbshooter

Does this look familiar in some way?

From Wikipedia.....Trebuchet

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trebuchet

View attachment 8672


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## PandaMan

bbshooter said:


> Does this look familiar in some way?
> 
> From Wikipedia.....Trebuchet
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trebuchet
> 
> View attachment 8672


LOL you read me like a book


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## Formidonis Noctu

A Trebuchet uses gravity and a catapult uses stored energy in much the same way as the ballista and springald .
as to the difference of meaning in regards to the original topic of the thread, their the same thing and probably have many other names besides across the world.


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## mckee

i call it different things in different covesations i usually just say catty


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## marblemadness

"What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;"

Juliet hit the nail on the head way back when. To apply directly to our purposes, though:

Would a flip by any other name kick more a**? I think not


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## NightKnight

Tex-Shooter said:


> It was all intended as light hearted. Just Practice, Practice, Practice and become the best! - Tex-Shooter


Pretty funny! I had some guys in London that worked for my at my last job. Very good impression of them!


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## slingshot_sniper

AaronC said:


> It was all intended as light hearted. Just Practice, Practice, Practice and become the best! - Tex-Shooter


Pretty funny! I had some guys in London that worked for my at my last job. Very good impression of them!
[/quote]

At least they have a sense of humor lol


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## NightKnight

BTW, a Ballista was far closer to a modern slingshot than a Catapult was due to its being powered by elastic energy.


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## slingshot_sniper

AaronC said:


> BTW, a Ballista was far closer to a modern slingshot than a Catapult was due to its being powered by elastic energy.










cocky so and so


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## Foolonthehill

I say chaps, great chat ..... what? This was a purely academic / language/ interesting thing for me. The main thing is to seek joy, and I hope you all find loads of it shooting whatever you call those thingys that you are passionate about. Out. Foolonthehill


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## Formidonis Noctu

AaronC said:


> BTW, a Ballista was far closer to a modern slingshot than a Catapult was due to its being powered by elastic energy.


Same principle


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## NightKnight

slingshot_sniper said:


> BTW, a Ballista was far closer to a modern slingshot than a Catapult was due to its being powered by elastic energy.










cocky so and so








[/quote]


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## Olderandwiser

I had never heard of a slingshot until I came to North America, and I have come across people who didn't know what a catapult is. I would also observe that I have never heard the word slingshot used for aircraft carrier take-offs, whereas the word catapult is invariably used. And I have never heard of a 'catipult'' :huh:


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## Jolly Roger

https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=catapault&fr=yhs-mozilla-002&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=Google search for catapult.

Shows images of what a catapult actually is. No images of a slingshot since a slingshot is not a catapult nor is a slingshot a catapult.


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## Ukprelude

Well I'm sure slingshot is what it says "sling and shot" this comes from the original sling and shot ie the shepherd's sling (David and goliath) and it evolved over the years to be used with elastic instead of rope, and a compact frame to fire from. What jolly Roger posted is a catapult, used in battle to propel huge rocks, basically our new catty's are still catapults just different designs, frame, fork arms, pouch and instead of using a counterbalance weight to catapult the ammo from our little frames we use rubber. In my eyes they are the exact same thing just different names 

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk


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## Ukprelude

Wow just realised this thread is 6 and a half years old haha

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## markziff

dgui said:


> Catipulting is a misnomer that was adopted by those who like to call a boot a trunk. Dont we know that a boot is what you put on your foot and not the ass end of a vehicle.


What about a steering boot?


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## S.S. sLinGeR

Nope same dang thang! Slingshot sounds more menacing though! 🤣


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## wolfboi823

slingshot_sniper said:


> My wife and I have always called them slingshots,I guess were not English


I think it's regional, perhaps? My sister dated a dude from Liverpool a little over two years, moved out there for one, and he called them slingshots. 

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## ukj

Words have sometimes have very specific
definitions, others generally accepted.
Wikipedia and dictionaries are good for understanding.
The word slingshot is being used both
for a kiteboard company and 3 wheel 
Mototcycle, car vehicule.
Slingshot is handheld, or hand formed,
frame supporting latex, elastic, rubber , ect, usually with a pouch to project 
a usually lower mass < 100 grams.
A catapult is mechanical, normally with
Rigid moving structural parts used to
project sometimes large mass objects using gravity or potenially stored energy.
At least for me there is no question of the difference in definitions.
Never growing up was catapult
used to describe a slingshot or vise versa.
What is this forum named?
Read carefully the definitions of both words.
Will some still choose to call a slingshot a catapult, yes
Will some choose to call a trebuchet,
Ballista, mangonel, or onager a slingshot?
ukj


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## Adam-R

surfnturf said:


> If so what is the diffrence?


Tom-A-to, Tom-R-to


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## ukj

Adam-R said:


> Tom-A-to, Tom-R-to


Strange no?
Googled , wiki tomrto nothing?
Whats up with that?
Never seen a R in that word.
ukj


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## orion25




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## 43844

surfnturf said:


> If so what is the diffrence?


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## Adam-R

ukj said:


> Strange no?
> Googled , wiki tomrto nothing?
> Whats up with that?
> Never seen a R in that word.
> ukj


UK vs US English pronunciation differences


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## Booral121

Both words are used for the same thing .just depends on country and or county🎯👍 oh and in Fife, Scotland we call it a gutty 🤣🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎯👊👌👍


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## THWACK!

surfnturf said:


> If so what is the diffrence?


Ca-ta-pult 3 syllables
Sling-shot 2 syllables

THAT is the difference!!

THWACK!


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