Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2003 19:02:28 GMT From: Paul Halliday <pjghnopsamyonder.co.uk> Subject: Re: 1985 2 door turbo aero silver
in article ood68vsfrmo1s9k8tiuau9jln22irom411nopsamcom, Malcolm at arpicnopsammail.com wrote on 27/03/2003 18:15: > On Wed, 26 Mar 2003 14:23:04 GMT, Paul Halliday > <pjghnopsamyonder.co.uk> wrote: > >> in article b5scen$2bmmlb$1nopsam52899.news.dfncis.de, Grunff at >> grunffnopsam.com wrote on 26/03/2003 14:09: > > > > Paul expounds: > >> What do they call "gas" (as in the gas, rather than petrol) over that side >> of the pond, anyway? Hmmm, it's as confusing as "fries" and "chips". > > Don't you mean "crisps" versus "chips"?????? Erm, yes? US fries = UK chips (as in "chipped potatoes" - fried potatoes could be any number of things, but chips makes sense). US chips = UK crisps (as in "crispy potato slices"). Okay, they're fried as well, but this method and shape is much more akin to UK fried/sauted potatoes. > "Gas" oir gasoline is possibly a more sensible term. One might > consider it, etymolgically, to me a volatile fraction or derivative, > even a dimitnutive Whereas "petrol" is simply a contraction of > petroleum which is "something produced from rocks". Traditional science teaching in the UK categorises compounds as solid, liquid or gas, so calling a liquid (like petroleum spirit) "gas" doesn't really work for us. So what do you guys in the US call gas, as in not liquid or solid? > While on this subject, can you explain :"boot", "bonnet" or "wing"? > "Trunk", "hood" and "fender" are more easily seen to derive from the > parts function. Just national terms. "Boot" is the back of the car (even you guys use it to refer to a person's back end), "bonnet" is a middle-English extraction of a metal cover/guard (usually for a fireplace, so a plate fitting over a hot thing sounds like a fairly apt term), and "wing" is probably from military terminology referring to the flanking units. "Trunk" is the thing on the front of an elephant or a large lockable box for travelling (on really old cars, ones trunk would be mounted on the back of the car, so I can understand this one), "hood" is something that goes over your head (so we use it to refer to the top of the car, particularly on convertables) and a "fender" is an Americanism for "wing" :) Interestingly enough, also a metal plate used to protect against the heat of a fire - see "bonnet"; now we're confused. It's down to association or word with object, which is largely learned from parent and peer passed down from generation to generation. > And, ,why do Brits, and some others, insist on "labour" when the latin > from which it directly translates is "LABOR" as in:" labor omnia > vincit" , a really dubious attitude. Or, in spelling "center" (which > is an older English form) "centre". Is this a French pretension? Nah, it's to distinguish ourselves from you guys and get on our high horses when you lot spell it wrong :) > How can one take a nation seriously when they eat their food out of > yesterday's newspaper. We reserve that for garbage or trash. Take your > pick. We're not actually allowed to anymore, due to some European law. It's something to do with the war, my friend, as in the second World one :) We didn't do so well economically after that one as you guys and everything was used and re-used. I still remember in my youth, before paper recycling became popular, taking old newspaper down to the local "Chippy" (this is of course before the massive popularisation of the supermarket, when we had more of a village culture). It would turn some chips green (yummy) and in some cases pink! As kids, we also used to get 10p back on empty litre bottle of pop ("soda") and it was quite usual to have little scamps knocking on your door asking for old pop bottles. Alas, those days are gone. Paul
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