[Vocabulary] Rover = bicycle

Status
Not open for further replies.

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
Duct tape - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Interesting article. I've always known it as "duct tape" and assumed people who thought it was "duck" were simply mis-hearing things.

Turns out that it was originally "duck," but "duct" is the term in common use since the 1950s.

There is a brand "Duck" but they call it "Duck brand duct tape."

So I was right and wrong. That seems fair!
 

JarekSteliga

Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2011
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Polish
Home Country
Poland
Current Location
Poland
Wellington, mackintosh, macadam. The last one is in use in my country. I think all road builders know and use the word, but few if any know where it came from.
 

bhaisahab

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 12, 2008
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
Ireland
Returning to the first post, I believe in Ireland, or in a part of Ireland, or in the imagination of Flann O'Brien, there was a brand of bicycle that was used generically. It's a while since I read The Third Policeman so I forget what the name was.

b

PS Incidentally, that book examines the possibility of the transformation that Rover feared (a man turning into a bicycle);-)

I think it was in the imagination of Brian O'Nolan. (as was Flann O'Brien and Myles Na Gopaleen);-) I love "The Third Policeman".
 

probus

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jan 7, 2011
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
Canada
Current Location
Canada
Do people in the UK still use mackintosh for raincoat?
 

BobK

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 29, 2006
Location
Spencers Wood, near Reading, UK
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
A few do. More than a few use 'mac'. This allows for one of my favourite jokes:

'Have you got a light, Mac?'
'No, but I've got a dark green overcoat.'

b
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
I would use mac, raincoat or anorak, but I don't think I've ever actually said mackintosh.
 

BobK

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 29, 2006
Location
Spencers Wood, near Reading, UK
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
I think, possibly, the word 'makintosh' - on those rare occasions when it's used - usually refers specifically to a garment made of that particular rubberized fabric. Otherwise it's just one of your options.

BNC had hundreds of instances of Mackintosh, but I soon realized that they were almost all using it as a surname. When I narrowed it down by putting 'rain' in the context, I found only one instance. It was in a piece of fiction, and I didn't delve far enough to determine when it was set or written: 'Best take yer cap and mackintosh. Looks like rain.'

b
 

BobK

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 29, 2006
Location
Spencers Wood, near Reading, UK
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
I think, possibly, the word 'mackintosh' - on those rare occasions when it's used - usually refers specifically to a garment made of that particular rubberized fabric. Otherwise it's just one of your options.

BNC had hundreds of instances of Mackintosh, but I soon realized that they were almost all using it as a surname. When I narrowed it down by putting 'rain' in the context, I found only one instance. It was in a piece of fiction, and I didn't delve far enough to determine when it was set or written: 'Best take yer cap and mackintosh. Looks like rain.'

b

PS Couldn't resist - I did check. It was from Goodnight Mister Tom, so written in second half of the 20th century but set in wartime Britain - probably 1941, as it dealt with an evacuee from London during the Blitz. The author was emphasizing the 'rusticness', and 'old-fashioned-ness' of the speaker.
 
Last edited:

Grumpy

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2009
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
"Scotch" is very rarely used in the UK to describe the nationality of people. "Scottish" is the most common word.

Despite my great age and (thin) veneer of civilisation, I remain tempted to punch anyone who describes me as "Scotch", as opposed to "Scottish" or "Scots" See you, Jimmie!!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top