1. hughesj

    hughesj New Member

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    American word for boot?

    Discussion in 'Word Mechanics' started by hughesj, Jul 28, 2013.

    i am looking for the word that Americans use for 'boot' or the back of a car where you can store stuff? I believe it may be trunk?
     
  2. jazzabel

    jazzabel Agent Provocateur Contributor

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  3. jazzabel

    jazzabel Agent Provocateur Contributor

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    (accidental double post)
     
  4. hughesj

    hughesj New Member

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  5. Steve Day

    Steve Day Member

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    It is indeed a 'trunk'. Right above your 'Big End'. Unless it is front wheel drive, then the big end is below the bonnet.:)
     
  6. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Not in America. ;) In the U.S., it would then by below the hood.
     
  7. Steve Day

    Steve Day Member

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    No Big Ends in the U.S. They are called 'differentials'.
    Come to think of it, I have often been stuck behind 'big ends' in the supermarket queue, er line.
     
  8. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    We have "big ends", we just don't have bonnets, we have hoods. The only kind of bonnets we have are worn by ladies on Easter. ;)
     
  9. JetBlackGT

    JetBlackGT Senior Member

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    And in America we call "tarmac" asphalt and for some idiotic reason, refer to runways as tarmac. A material out of which runways and ramps are NEVER made because it is far too soft to support a jet. :(

    Tar + macadam (gravel) = tarmac.
     
  10. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Tarmac is occasionally used in America for an asphalt and gravel highway surface, although more commonly for the same material on runways. A more common term for it, on highways, private drives, and parking lots is blacktop.
     
  11. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    This thread kinda' belongs in Word Mechanics....
     
  12. JetBlackGT

    JetBlackGT Senior Member

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    What I mean is, it is never used on runways. They are uniformly constructed of concrete. I heard there is one made of asphalt in Wick, Scotland but I have not made any attempt to Google map it to verify.

    And don't get me started on how concrete and cement are not the same thing. Cement is the powdered stuff you mix with water and sand/gravel to make concrete. :) I don't even know why it bothers me so much :(
     
  13. Thom

    Thom Active Member

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    Reffering to the 'boot' as the 'trunk,' comes from when cars didn't have boots, but a rack on the back, upon which was secured the travel trunk.
     
  14. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    A least one medium sized airport my former brother-in-law flew out of had tarmac runways. Concrete has its own problems in some climates because of thermal expansion/contraction. It's not much of a problem with larger aircraft, but can be bone jarring in smaller planes.
    I don't know either. My grandfather worked for a company that quarried and mixed highway materials, so I'm well aware of the differences. :)
     
  15. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    It s a pet peeve. They don't have to answer to reason or logic. ;) I work as an interpreter. The words Interpretation and Translation have very different meanings in my world. The former is spoke, the latter is written. When I hear the court secretary ask for the translator's information for the record, I have to hold my tongue. I'm the interpreter in that setting. I'm speaking, not writing. *shrug*
     
  16. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Don't they look at you funny when you do that?
     
  17. JetBlackGT

    JetBlackGT Senior Member

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    Great.

    Now I've got another pet peeve.

    [like the cartoon] My pet peeve just sits around chewing with its mouth open.

    I effing hate it.
     

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