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Grex > Language > #74: Language Experiment: What do you call these....? |  |
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| 25 new of 84 responses total. |
robh
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response 50 of 84:
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Jun 21 20:07 UTC 1995 |
I've always used the phrase "album" to refer to any vinyl, cassette,
CD, or whatever that contains at least 35 minutes of audio material.
Oh, and we don't have any cinder blocks or concrete blocks in
our basement, as far as I can tell. >8)
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gregc
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response 51 of 84:
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Jun 21 20:23 UTC 1995 |
"album" is still ok. It doesn't refer to some old quality that the current
product doesn't posess. An album is and album, regardless of the recording
medium. Hmmm, by that logic "record" is ok after all. It doesn't carry with
it an explicit description of medium, only a culturally assumed one.
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otterwmn
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response 52 of 84:
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Jun 21 22:41 UTC 1995 |
How about all the different terms for "bathroom"? If you go into many really
old houses, you will find a bath-room with a tub, and a water closet with a
toilet. Maybe this happened when people stopped using out houses and found
it easier to simply convert a closet, rather than trying to move the tub to
make room for a toilet? Anyway, most people I know who are over 70 refer to
the bathroom as the "w.c.", regardless of how modern their current home is.
(My personal preference for the place one goes to relieve one's self is
"necessary room".)
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scg
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response 53 of 84:
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Jun 21 22:54 UTC 1995 |
WC is standard in much of Europe, but I've never heard it in Ann Arbor, except
from Europeans. I've always said "bathroom," except for when I was living
in England, where I had to say "toilet" to avoid getting pointed to a room
with a bathtub and no toilet.
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srw
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response 54 of 84:
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Jun 22 04:11 UTC 1995 |
Cinder Blocks 50 (a bit late to do any good)
I agree with scg - WC is strictly European. It's not used locally at all.
Uh Oh. Rane has gone and struck one of my pet peeves back in 45 --
"wrecked havoc" s.b. "wreaked havoc" -- and in the lang conf, yet. :-)
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rcurl
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response 55 of 84:
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Jun 22 06:13 UTC 1995 |
Mea culpa 8^{. I looked at it after I entered it and said, "uh oh - Steve
will get me for that...."
Akin to the lumber sizing oddities - the same thing has happened to pipe
sizes. No dimension of a "one inch pipe" is one inch. In this case, I know
the reason: originally, the *inside* diameter was 1 inch, but materials
were improved, so a thinner wall would suffice for the same strength.
However the outside diameter was already standardized by pipe threads and
fittings, and therefore the inside diameter was increased (depending on
the pressure rating desired). However some pipes became needed for higher
pressures, so their inside diameters were made smaller than one inch. The
result is that a "one inch pipe" has an outside diameter of 1.315 inches,
but may have inside diameters of (the numbers in parentheses is the
*schedule*, or type, number): 0.599 (XX); 0.815 (160); 0.957 (80); 1.049
(40 - the most common); 1.097 (10); and 1.185 (5).
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davel
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response 56 of 84:
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Jun 22 10:13 UTC 1995 |
The world of hardware & construction seems to breed different names for
slightly different things, which (names) are then used interchangeably
by most people. There's a book called something like _Everything Sold
in Hardware Stores_, & it's fun reading just for this. Consider, for
example, "crowbar", "wrecking bar", "pry bar", "nail puller", & (if I
recall) maybe 5 or 6 other names. Some of these I've always seen used
interchangeably, but the book assures me there are distinct proper
denotations.
I've known cookbooks to insist that yams & sweet potatoes are distinct
(& in fact not really closely related, I think). But assuming that's
right, don't expect your local supermarket to be consistent on this.
_Caveat emptor_, I guess.
BTW: I say "concrete block" but have said "cinder block" under pressure
of talking to people who say that. I'm 43. I wonder whether there are
any regional elements to this variation.
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popcorn
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response 57 of 84:
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Jun 22 13:23 UTC 1995 |
This response has been erased.
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gregc
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response 58 of 84:
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Jun 22 14:27 UTC 1995 |
Ah, "record store", now that is a good one Valerie.
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tsty
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response 59 of 84:
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Jun 22 14:40 UTC 1995 |
Oh, yu got a new CD? Cool, pop it on the Victorola - let's listen ...
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danr
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response 60 of 84:
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Jun 22 15:30 UTC 1995 |
Aren't tapes and CDs different types of records, i.e. subsets of the set
"record?"
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rcurl
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response 61 of 84:
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Jun 22 15:32 UTC 1995 |
That was my original poin......
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remmers
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response 62 of 84:
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Jun 23 10:25 UTC 1995 |
Another example: Calling a memory image a "core dump". Core memory
hasn't been used for years.
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ajax
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response 63 of 84:
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Jun 23 14:00 UTC 1995 |
Re 60, I don't think of CDs or tapes as "records"...I mean they're
records as in "medical records," but not records in the sense of
vinyl albums. My dictionary has a separate definition for that:
"a grooved disc for playing on a phonograph."
Do pre-commercial announcers still say "don't touch that dial?"
If so, that would certainly be dated, as most TVs in this country
have digital push-button channel tuners, not dials. Or am I dated
for thinking they might still say that? :)
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remmers
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response 64 of 84:
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Jun 23 16:18 UTC 1995 |
Nowadays they say "don't touch that remote."
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gregc
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response 65 of 84:
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Jun 23 17:44 UTC 1995 |
Heh. Yeah.
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zook
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response 66 of 84:
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Jun 25 01:35 UTC 1995 |
Actually, when I said record player, I was referring to what most people
would call a stereo (tuner, amplifier, tape deck, and oh, yes, that circular
thing on the top :-). Anyways, I used to call a stereo a record player, but
I couldn't afford components in those days :-)
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jor
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response 67 of 84:
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Jun 26 02:23 UTC 1995 |
Gee. blocks. lumber. stereos. core. what a good item.
Here and I thought it was still 1 and 5/8's by 3 and 5/8's.
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rcurl
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response 68 of 84:
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Jun 26 03:39 UTC 1995 |
Have your construction projects been falling short?
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gregc
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response 69 of 84:
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Jun 26 21:15 UTC 1995 |
Or just falling?
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orinoco
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response 70 of 84:
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Apr 16 01:44 UTC 1996 |
Cinder blocks and 14, to return to a previous topic...
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popcorn
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response 71 of 84:
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Apr 16 13:15 UTC 1996 |
This response has been erased.
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arthurp
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response 72 of 84:
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Apr 16 23:41 UTC 1996 |
Re way back there, Cement blocks I'm 25.
We have some of the 1.75x3.75 2x4s in our house. It's old and build by my
Grand Da.
I say Watercloset fairly often, so it is used locally, but that's just a
manifestation of my weirdness. I say icebox sometimes just to throw people.
I wish I would have stumbled on this item long ago.
One thing people still say is that when their battery dies in the car in
midwinter, "it won't crank" Now I have several times lamented the fact that
there is no longer a hand crank you can use to start your car, but with todays
high compression engines, I prolly couldn't turn the thing, anyway.
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rcurl
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response 73 of 84:
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Apr 17 07:22 UTC 1996 |
I've "cranked" my engine by pushing it and then jumping in and engaging
the clutch while it is still rolling (I don't do this starting downhill...
or uphill, for that matter). I just looked up a Whitney catalog, and
they don't list anything called a "crank". I guess the only cranks now
are the ones behind the wheel...
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davel
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response 74 of 84:
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Apr 17 11:05 UTC 1996 |
Well, 20 years ago or so I knew some folks with a car that could be cranked.
An MG, I think.
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