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Re:Help us invent CSS Grid Level 3, a.k.a. "Masonry" layout by georgesimon on Tuesday April 23, 2024 @07:37AM (#40130712)
I think, in structural engineering terms, it refers to old natural stone wall [0] construction methods. Some bridges around me are made like this, and they're over a thousand years old.

But I agree that it's not a good adjective because I had the exact same first thought. Both "natural" and "stonewall" would be better, and they're not great names either.

[0]https://duckduckgo.com/?q=natural%20stone%20walls&ko=-1&iax=...

Re:Help us invent CSS Grid Level 3, a.k.a. "Masonry" layout by rezonant on Tuesday April 23, 2024 @07:48AM (#40130800)
There's no gravity here, so the comparison makes no sense. In walls masonry construction produces sheer lines horizontally, an axis gravity is not bearing upon. This feels like taking the metaphor just a tad too literally.
Re:Help us invent CSS Grid Level 3, a.k.a. "Masonry" layout by georgesimon on Tuesday April 23, 2024 @12:08PM (#40133579)
I didn't think so, of you look at old stone walls, there's an absence of continuous horizontal or vertical patterns. (However the discussion was a fork, about wall building, so it was quite literal)
Re:Help us invent CSS Grid Level 3, a.k.a. "Masonry" layout by HPsquared on Tuesday April 23, 2024 @07:39AM (#40130728)
Surely they would not build like this. You want to avoid vertical shear planes.
Re:Help us invent CSS Grid Level 3, a.k.a. "Masonry" layout by mewpmewp2 on Tuesday April 23, 2024 @10:12AM (#40132233)
I associate masonry with the old ages, since this is one of the technologies you research in Civ games and back then I think people did have stones in non-standardized shapes and were just trying to fit things together. I'm not native English speaker, so I first heard this term from the games.
Re:Help us invent CSS Grid Level 3, a.k.a. "Masonry" layout by georgesimon on Tuesday April 23, 2024 @12:10PM (#40133600)
Yes, it has that association in English.
Re:Help us invent CSS Grid Level 3, a.k.a. "Masonry" layout by treflop on Tuesday April 23, 2024 @11:33AM (#40133101)
Masonry just refers to working with bricks. It's old as time but we still make stuff out of bricks and you can still be a mason today.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masonry

Re:Help us invent CSS Grid Level 3, a.k.a. "Masonry" layout by georgesimon on Tuesday April 23, 2024 @12:02PM (#40133506)
It seems your are saying it is only relates to bricks? But it's not, it's any stone, cut or formed.
Re:Help us invent CSS Grid Level 3, a.k.a. "Masonry" layout by treflop on Tuesday April 23, 2024 @12:49PM (#40134049)
I suppose I’m using brick by its informal definition as just a construction block.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brick

But yes, historically brick meant just one type and style of material.

Re:Help us invent CSS Grid Level 3, a.k.a. "Masonry" layout by ryanblakeley on Tuesday April 23, 2024 @03:34PM (#40136222)
"Dry stack" is another term for that, a stone wall without mortar.

In my opinion, thinking of this as a grid is misguided. It's barely different than flex columns. I would want to be able to have some objects take up more width than one column, or not have clean columns at all. Like "space filling" and "mosaic".

Re:Help us invent CSS Grid Level 3, a.k.a. "Masonry" layout by georgesimon on Wednesday April 24, 2024 @06:39AM (#40142729)
I don't think of dry stone walls as masonry myself. I actually think that's the distinction between masonry and not-masonry!

But anyway, I think the second last section on the link, the part that addresses the wrongness of the name, would align with your opinion.