Tilting at windmills 1988, which contained the song "Tilting at Windmills". Tilting at windmills Tilting at windmills is an English idiom that means attacking imaginary enemies. The expression is derived from the 1605 novel "Don Quixote" by Miguel de Cervantes, and the word "tilt" in this context comes from jousting. The phrase is sometimes used to describe either confrontations where adversaries are incorrectly perceived, or courses of action that are based on misinterpreted or misapplied heroic, romantic, or idealistic justifications. It may also connote an importune, unfounded, and vain effort against adversaries real or imagined for a vain goal. The phrase comes from
Tilted block faulting continental and oceanic crust. The term "tilted block faulting" is a literal description of rotational extension on planar faults, which results in a uniform rotation of faults and crust. Often a "domino-style" stacking of the fault blocks occurs, creating the basis of the terminology. During extensional time periods, large, gently-dipping normal faults, called detachment faults, can form due to relative separation of the two sides surrounding the fault. Typically, these faults can have an offset on the order of one to tens of kilometers. As the region continues to experience extensive pressures, there is an isostatic effect which moves ductile