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Divided by a common tongue


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Yeah, people also put hash browns on one's breakfast nowadays.
Damned transatlantic interlopers. Give them a good thrashing & kick them off the plate, I say!

Harrumph!

 

Well said sir. Although most of the words you've used came from the Romans and the Greeks...:)

And personally I get them to hold the hash browns with my easy over...

 

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Shooting brake is essentially a variation of "station wagon" (similar to "estate car"). Saloon is "sedan".

Here's an Aston shooting-brake.   

Image result for aston martin shooting brake

If I recall correctly, a shooting brake is a 2-door wagon, and an estate is a 4-door wagon (though there may be something about the overall shape in there as well!)

As for the topic, Wheeler Dealers is a great source of info on the different terms that they use in the UK. One that I haven't seen yet is "back box" which refers to the rear most muffler (usually aft of the rear wheels).

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Out on the Blacktop / Tarmac...

The US "news" media has fallen in love with the term "tarmac," which apparently means "Any flat surface at an airport that doesn't have grass on it." I laughed out lout once at a reporter who was saying something about something happening "out here on the tarmac" while clearly standing on concrete.

Similarly, many ignorant Americans thinks it makes them sound smarter to say "Cordite" instead of "gunpowder." I don't think Cordite was ever loaded in the US, and it hasn't been loaded by anyone anywhere since before WWII (maybe WAY before WWII), and yet you can still hear people talking about "the smell of Cordite in the air."

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The US "news" media has fallen in love with the term "tarmac," which apparently means "Any flat surface at an airport that doesn't have grass on it."

Yeah, I know a guy who's a pilot and thinks "tarmac" sounds cool for what I call aprons or taxiways or runways...depending, of course, on what they actually are.

He also likes the phrase "out of pocket" meaning he's unavailable, and the word "penning" for writing. I think his brain may be diseased. ;)

Speaking of aprons, that used to be the predominant term in limeland for "front inner fenders", but it's made inroads over here.

I don't know if anyone's posted that yet. Sue me if they have.  

Edited by Ace-Garageguy
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The US "news" media has fallen in love with the term "tarmac," ' -  they must be right they're on the TV!

But two - lane Tarmac just doesn't sound the same...

-Don.

Edited by DonW
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The US "news" media has fallen in love with the term "tarmac," ' -  they must be right they're on the TV!

But two - lane Tarmac just doesn't sound the same...

-Don.

They only use it in relation to airports. Even though "tarmac" just the British term for asphalt or blacktop, I don't think I've ever heard it used in US media as regards a road or parking lot. Apparently the US media thinks "tarmac" means "aviation grade paving of any kind."

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They only use it in relation to airports. Even though "tarmac" just the British term for asphalt or blacktop, I don't think I've ever heard it used in US media as regards a road or parking lot. Apparently the US media thinks "tarmac" means "aviation grade paving of any kind."

Oh I get it, thanks Richard!

I'm learning a lot on this thread....

-Don.

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Out on the Blacktop / Tarmac...

"Tarmac" is but an abbreviation for "Tar Macadam".  Macadam road building began in the UK at a time when such roads that existed here in the early days of the US were lucky to be just bare dirt.  The Macadam process involved/involves putting down layers of stone and gravel to build up a road--beginning with rather large stone, on top of which were/are added several layers of succeedingly finer gravels.  

Modern asphalt paving is done in very much the same way, but with the addition of asphalt (petroleum tar) as a binding agent.  One of our local arterial streets was just completely rebuilt, with several major intersections done this way--about 16" thick of asphalt paving.

Here in the US, a common engineering and construction industry term for asphalt paving is "bituminous concrete", very much the same thing as "tarmac"--it's just that tarmac is quicker to type in, and a much cooler term!

Art

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 tarmac is quicker to type in, and a much cooler term!

Art

The same could be said for "Cordite," but these terms are clearly wrong if you're talking about concrete or modern smokeless gunpowder. And their incorrect use makes the user look stupid. B)

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I saw a UK made car program where the guy called even fenders for a car Mud Guards.

It's mud guard here in Australia,

Hood is BONNET

Trunk is BOOT

Top is ROOF

Winshield is WINDSCREEN

Vent window is QUARTERVENT

Stickshift is MANUAL

It's PETROL

BRAKE DISCS

TAIL SHAFT

ALUMINIUM

TYRES

Tractor is a TRUCK A tractor plows a field.

That is a couple of the Aussie version, looks like we have a mix of Americanism and British English  ??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The same could be said for "Cordite," but these terms are clearly wrong if you're talking about concrete or modern smokeless gunpowder. And their incorrect use makes the user look stupid. B)


Bituminous Concrete and Tarmac are exactly the same thing--just two different names.  Ask any civil engineer.

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Bituminous Concrete and Tarmac are exactly the same thing--just two different names.  Ask any civil engineer.

I looked it up and you're absolutely right. (One source said, despite the name it actually has no concrete in it.) But of course I meant poured concrete, the common use of the term.

My point was, here in America, you only ever hear "tarmac" in relation to airports. I've never heard a TV "news"person say "Drive safely on the tarmac this weekend" or "Wow, the tarmac is really slippery today, be careful!"

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This is a great learning experience to understand how these words translate. Some one mentioned Apron for a fender or wing. My wife often wears an Apron when she prepares dinner to protect her clothing. Someone else mentioned Suspenders or Braces. When was growing up I had to have Braces on my teeth to straighten then. The whole accident thing is just  another way of not taking responsibility for ones actions. If your behind the wheel its on you if it goes bad. The talking heads on the News say "the car went out of control and crashed". No it didn't, the driver was not paying attention or did something stupid and it's not an accident but "Pilot Error".   I like the terms used by others as sometimes they are a better description of the object than US English.     

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I looked it up and you're absolutely right. (One source said, despite the name it actually has no concrete in it.) But of course I meant poured concrete, the common use of the term.

My point was, here in America, you only ever hear "tarmac" in relation to airports. I've never heard a TV "news"person say "Drive safely on the tarmac this weekend" or "Wow, the tarmac is really slippery today, be careful!"

I've also heard "Tarmac" used here in the US to describe an asphalt racing surface, not only by fans, but drivers, car owners, and even the media.

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I looked it up and you're absolutely right. (One source said, despite the name it actually has no concrete in it.) But of course I meant poured concrete, the common use of the term.

My point was, here in America, you only ever hear "tarmac" in relation to airports. I've never heard a TV "news"person say "Drive safely on the tarmac this weekend" or "Wow, the tarmac is really slippery today, be careful!"

Oh, and BTW, "Bituminous Concrete" can have real "concrete" in it!   If you've seen any reinforced concrete structure demolished in recent years, more and more, rather than a wrecking ball busting up the structure into huge chunks to be carted off and buried--the new thing is to literally pulverize such into very small bits (allows for the reclamation of steel rebar, among other things), which can then be used as aggregate for either new concrete mixtures, or as aggregate for making "bituminous concrete"  (interesting, huh?)

Art

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