Is "within walking distance" the same as "within shouting distance"?

[moonlike]

Is "within walking distance" the same as "within shouting distance"?

Hi
I found it in an accommodation advertisement. I wonder if both terms are the same?
The house is within walking distance of the station.
Thanks a lot.

 

[Rover_KE]

Re: Is "within walking distance" the same as "within shouting distance"?

No.

I walk a mile to my local station. I can't shout to somebody that far away.

Rover

 

[emsr2d2]

Re: Is "within walking distance" the same as "within shouting distance"?

Only if you have a really loud voice (or no legs).

 

[moonlike]

Re: Is "within walking distance" the same as "within shouting distance"?

No.

I walk a mile to my local station. I can't shout to somebody that far away.

Rover

Thanks. That's really interesting because I really didn't know the term "within shouting distance" has something to do with "shout" and it means close as far as you can hear someone shouting (a kind of measurement for distance). How about "within walking distance of the station"? Does it mean you can walk to the station because it's close? So if it means so, can't we use "within shouting distance" here?
Thanks a lot.

 

[SoothingDave]

Re: Is "within walking distance" the same as "within shouting distance"?

Thanks. That's really interesting because I really didn't know the term "within shouting distance" has something to do with "shout" and it means close as far as you can hear someone shouting (a kind of measurement for distance). How about "within walking distance of the station"? Does it mean you can walk to the station because it's close? So if it means so, can't we use "within shouting distance" here?
Thanks a lot.

Just curious, what did you think it meant?

Usually people speak of something being within walking distance if they have some intention of walking there. Saying it's within shouting distance doesn't really express the same idea.

Another expression for a short distance is a "stone's throw."

stone's throw - Idioms - by the Free Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

 

[5jj]

Re: Is "within walking distance" the same as "within shouting distance"?

Thanks. That's really interesting because I really didn't know the term "within shouting distance" has something to do with "shout" and it means close as far as you can hear someone shouting (a kind of measurement for distance). How about "within walking distance of the station"? Does it mean you can walk to the station because it's close? So if it means so, can't we use "within shouting distance" here?

As Rover and ems suggested, 'walking distance' is greater than 'shouting distance'. If a railway station were within shouting distance of a flat, the advertiser would be more likely to say 'Only 30 metres from railway station'. 'Walking distance' is rather vague - for some people it could be two miles or more away.

It also depends on what you are talking about. My local metro station is about seven minutes' walk away from my flat. I would say that the station was within walking distance of my flat. If it were 30 minutes' walk away, I would not say that. However, Wenceslas Square is 30 minutes from my flat, and I do say that that is within walking distance, because the need to get there is not so pressing as it is to get to a metro station.

 

[BobK]

Re: Is "within walking distance" the same as "within shouting distance"?

Thanks. That's really interesting because I really didn't know the term "within shouting distance" has something to do with "shout" and it means close as far as you can hear someone shouting (a kind of measurement for distance). How about "within walking distance of the station"? Does it mean you can walk to the station because it's close*? So if it means so, can't we use "within shouting distance" here?
Thanks a lot.

*Close enough to walk in an insignificant time - just a few minutes. (I had a teacher who claimed that when he was a boy he walked 5 miles to school every day. I didn't believe him, but anyway that's not 'within walking distance'. 'Within walking distance' can mean different things to different people; holiday brochures, for example, use it frequently!)

But 'within shouting distance' is nearer - I'd say not much more than about 50m. And you can only use it when there's someone to hear you. If the gap is a bit longer - say about 100m - you could say 'within hailing distance'. Hailing is like shouting, but with less informational content.

b

 

[moonlike]

Re: Is "within walking distance" the same as "within shouting distance"?

Just curious, what did you think it meant?

Usually people speak of something being within walking distance if they have some intention of walking there. Saying it's within shouting distance doesn't really express the same idea.

Another expression for a short distance is a "stone's throw."


stone's throw - Idioms - by the Free Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

Thank you all. I just checked "within shouting distance" in my dictionary and found "very close" just! I was surprised!and puzzled!:-? What has it got to do with shouting I just accepted that and didn't challenge the idea. Now I got that "within walking distance" doesn't necessarily mean very close.:up:
Thanks a lot.

 

[SoothingDave]

Re: Is "within walking distance" the same as "within shouting distance"?

For many Americans, the distance that we can shout is longer than the distance that we like to walk. ;-)

 

[emsr2d2]

Re: Is "within walking distance" the same as "within shouting distance"?

BobK, my dad walked seven miles to and from school every day for several years, in the mid-1940s I guess. He walked from his village, across fields, through two more villages and then on to the small town nearby with the only school. Every morning on the way through the family garden, he would pull up a handful of carrots to eat on the way to school (his parents grew all their own vegetables). Once, my grandmother (his mother) took him to the doctor because his skin had taken on an orange tint! He had overdosed on beta-carotene from eating about ten carrots a day for weeks on end.

That is all rather irrelevant, I admit. Back to the point, I certainly wouldn't consider seven miles to be "within walking distance" but I suppose once upon a time it was. To my mind, "within walking distance" would probably be anywhere I could walk to within about twenty minutes. "Within shouting distance" would be very close. A small shop/convenience store has just opened right across the street from me. It is literally about 10 steps from my front door. That is definitely within shouting distance.

Apologies if someone already mentioned this, though I couldn't see it, but in BrE, we also call that "within spitting distance".

 

[Barb_D]

Re: Is "within walking distance" the same as "within shouting distance"?

I'm not sure a metro station within shouting distance is a good thing. It would be very noisy!

"Walking distance" is indeed quite vague. When I lived in a little town, the store was walking distance if I needed one bag of groceries. However, when I needed three or four, it wasn't walking distance any longer. The distance didn't change, of course, but my ability to cary four bags of groceries that distance and still feel my fingers afterwards was gone. I think it was about a 15-minute walk.

 

[BobK]

Re: Is "within walking distance" the same as "within shouting distance"?

...
Apologies if someone already mentioned this, though I couldn't see it, but in BrE, we also call that "within spitting distance".

:up: No - this is the first mention. There's another saliva-related idiom, which - unlike 'spitting distance' - is insulting: 'I wouldn't trust him further than I could spit' [='I don't think he's at all trustworthy'].

b