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You have to speek the language.


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Another thread with much concern about the use of words and grammar was on the board a few days back. I got to thinking about my distaste of the term "dizzy" used for a distributor and realized it wasn't any different than others problems with other terms used here on the board.

I thought the thread did cover the topic very well in that "build" and "kit" were words/ terms used frequently here on the board, making them, pretty much colloquial ( characteristic of or appropriate to ordinary or familiar conversation rather than formal speech or writing; informal.)

Looking back through the years Hot Rod magazine writers have continually tried ( sometimes successful, sometimes not ) to introduce new words to the hobby. For what it's worth, you wont find the term Hot Rod once in any issue of the magazine Throttle ( predecessor to Hot Rod by several years). You will also be hard pressed to find the term "Gow Job" in any Hot Rod magazine before the 2000's.

My point is our language as our hobby is forever changing. Like it or not. Boy this makes me dizzy. :P

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Is this a modeling forum or a "Think Tank" ?

Seriously ... Let build something and have fun !

Steve B.

This the general section of this forum, there is no rule that says we have to talk about models on here 100% of time, and after your thread about leaving and going on about freedom of speech, you say what you just did. Ok then

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It gets old quick when others constantly feel the need to point out others spelling errors. Every one of us has been guilty of mispelling a word at one time or another, whether it be from a fat finger, common language, in a hurry or just plain are not a gifted speller. Some of us who learned to read phonetically are not gifted spellers at all. I learned to read using phonics while my brother learned to "sight read" he never has to look up any word to spell it correctly while I have to carry a dictionary in my back pocket. My wife who is a teacher tells me there have been numerous studies to back up reading methods as fact.

Now on to the topic at hand -

Dizzy, I first encountered the word dizzy used in place of distributor when I first started playing with Brittish cars. Apparently they have been using the term for some time as it is found in their technical repair manuals. The Brits use all sorts of things which are odd to us (North Americans). They say Boot instead of Trunk. A Wing is a Fender. A Spanner is a Wrench. A Cookie is a Bisquit. Sometimes it is a matter of spelling. They Spell Tire as Tyre. Colour is Color and the list goes on and on. To me it is like I learned in a Technical Writing class. One of the first rules of Technical Writing is to consider your intended audience. Common Terminology, common language, reading level, technical level, you could carry that exercise out as far as you wish to slice and dice it. In short to me what matters is "does the person you are trying to communicate with understand what you are saying, speaking or writing?" I find that I can overlook a lot of things if the person I am comunicating with is trying to communicate with me in the same terms or language that I am.

Edited by Skip
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