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English words used in different places

Old 04-02-21, 08:02 PM
  #26  
Shay Howe 
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Originally Posted by Barry2
UK - USA
Spanner - Wrench
Seatpin - Seatpost
Boot - Trunk
Bonnet - Hood
Tyre - Tire
Tickover - Idle Speed
Bayonet Gauge - Dipstick
Windscreen - Windshield
Silencer - Muffler

Owning dad's old 750 Triumph Tiger,, I'm also familiar with Lucas, Prince of Darkness.

Of course in Kentucky, we're all kinds of fun. There's a city in Greece and another in Georgia in the US called Athens (ATH-enz) while in Kentucky we've got one called Athens (AY-thinz). Then in France there's a place called Versailles (vair-SIGH) while we've got Versailles in Kentucky (vur-SALEZ). Mispronouncing either will quickly get you the side-eye and stock question "Yew ain't frum around here, are yuh?"
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Old 04-02-21, 09:59 PM
  #27  
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OMG.... try being from Canada where we blend ALL OF THIS.... and in no rational manner....we are the absolute bastartization of Metric/Imperial/British/American ...temperature... celsius...unless you're cooking, then Fahrenheit ... weight... meat, people are in pounds, fish, everything else, grams/kilograms... distance...inches on lumber, feet on height... if you're driving, it's km or HOURS (seriously, it's a big place, it matters),

I think I finally came to grips with all of it when I was doing a LBS ride in Australia as a guest and we were doing hill repeats down into a traffic circle for the turn around and one of the riders asked me if we actually did these in the opposite direction and commented on how terrifying doing a "roundabout" in reverse would feel to them...
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Old 04-03-21, 09:01 AM
  #28  
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Originally Posted by kylecycler
AFAIK most Americans call a saddle a seat, whereas in the UK it's invariably a saddle (we'll find out when they wake up!). .
In my cycling experience (mostly CT and other parts of New England) recreational riders say "seat" and ex-racers/serious cyclists say "saddle."
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Old 04-03-21, 09:33 AM
  #29  
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And what one word describes the words to, too, two if explained to a non-English speaker? Only a wanker would ask that.
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Old 04-03-21, 10:03 AM
  #30  
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Are we going to talk about war chester shire sauce?
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Old 04-05-21, 01:10 PM
  #31  
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Originally Posted by Litespud
other way round - they’re called “roundabouts” in the UK - I never heard “rotary” until I moved to the US. Also your “skeletal” pronunciation is backward.
We have both rotaries and roundabouts in the US, rotaries are larger and negotiated at higher speed, roundabouts are a more recent import from the UK, smaller,, low speed.
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Old 04-05-21, 01:53 PM
  #32  
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Originally Posted by bruce19
In my cycling experience (mostly CT and other parts of New England) recreational riders say "seat" and ex-racers/serious cyclists say "saddle."
That’s the common thing in the Philly area.
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Old 04-05-21, 02:04 PM
  #33  
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Originally Posted by alo
In America, it seems a lot of people say saddle. Where I have lived in Australia, many people say seat. Not necessarily everybody, but many.

In America, it seems a lot of people say fender. In Australia, many people say mudguard.

Then there is liter - litre, meter - metre, Kilometer - kilometre.

Americans say aluminum. Australians say aluminium.

Americans say tire, Australians pronounce it the same, but spell it tyre.

Americans and Australians write tube, but pronounce it differently.

In America they have sidewalks. In Australia they have footpaths.

What words can you think of that may be different in your part of the world?
In America, I have not heard anyone call a "seat" called a "saddle". In America, we say "parking lot" and other parts of the world , its "car park."
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Old 04-05-21, 02:20 PM
  #34  
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Originally Posted by drsmoooth
In America, I have not heard anyone call a "seat" called a "saddle". In America, we say "parking lot" and other parts of the world , its "car park."
I'm sure in the US if we heard "car park" we;d try to figure it out based on "dog park" and "skateboard park" then end up extremely confused.
(Or looking for one to go do what skateboarders do but in our cars instead!)
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Old 04-05-21, 03:06 PM
  #35  
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I made the mistake of asking a young Irish lass that was working here in the US for the summer at my workplace about her "fanny pack". In the UK and Ireland, maybe Australia too that would be a "waist pack". Fanny is a perfectly non-offensive term for the bum here but is a vulgar term for female genitalia there. She turned bright red. I guess I was lucky I didn't get a slap in the face.
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Old 04-05-21, 03:15 PM
  #36  
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is it pronounced "Ant" or "Aunt"
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Old 04-05-21, 04:17 PM
  #37  
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The saddle vs. seat is truly a unique term in the US.

As stated before casual/recreational/new riders will use the term seat. Years ago it was a bike seat. When I was a kid we called it a bike seat. Stingrays came with a banana seat, not a banana saddle.

I think the term saddle came into vogue with European influenced racing bikes and 700c wheels. It was no longer just a seat, it was now elevated to being a saddle. Maybe kid’s bikes had seats, but sophisticated performance machines sported saddles. And those that rode them used that term.

I know I’ve changed my terminology to saddle since I had grown up with bike seat.

John
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Old 04-05-21, 04:33 PM
  #38  
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Originally Posted by 70sSanO
The saddle vs. seat is truly a unique term in the US.

As stated before casual/recreational/new riders will use the term seat. Years ago it was a bike seat. When I was a kid we called it a bike seat. Stingrays came with a banana seat, not a banana saddle.

I think the term saddle came into vogue with European influenced racing bikes and 700c wheels. It was no longer just a seat, it was now elevated to being a saddle. Maybe kid’s bikes had seats, but sophisticated performance machines sported saddles. And those that rode them used that term.

I know I’ve changed my terminology to saddle since I had grown up with bike seat.

John
That is interesting. I have been around two wheels all my life and have not heard the term saddle until 6 months ago. Even going into loads of bike shops, everyone always said seat. Is it elevated or different ;o)

Another word is derailleur; I hear US people pronounce it derailer more often than derailleur.

Even in the US, Western part of the country says half rack, Eastern side says 12 pack.
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Old 04-06-21, 04:26 AM
  #39  
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Originally Posted by drsmoooth
In America, I have not heard anyone call a "seat" called a "saddle". In America, we say "parking lot" and other parts of the world , its "car park."
In western Canada, a multi-floor parking lot, whether above ground or under ground, is called a 'parkade'.
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Old 04-06-21, 05:53 AM
  #40  
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English words are popular here in Japan. You can actually communicate pretty well with English so long as you pronounce it "correctly" so Japanese people can understand it. If you go to McDonald's for lunch, you can order a double cheeseburger set with a chocolate milkshake. But if you want your order to be understood, you'll have to say "dahburu cheezu-bahgah set-to, to chokoretto miruku shay-koo. I always have to add kechupu to mahsutaado nashi (no ketchup or mustard). Cola is "co-rah" and french fries are po-tay-to (a la Sam Gamgee).
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Old 04-06-21, 06:43 AM
  #41  
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In America, you would say, I crashed and hit the "ground", in Europe, they say, I crashed and hit the "floor". In America, floor is inside while ground is outside.

America West coast, Pony, Stallion, Elephant while East coast, small keg, keg and large keg.
Soda vs Pop
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