I read in !emc-pstc that Price, Ed <ed.pr...@cubic.com> wrote (in <b78135310217d511907c0090273f5190d0b...@curly.ds.cubic.com>) about 'Definition ?' on Thu, 24 Oct 2002: >There seems to be more than a few instances of odd differences in British >and American technical terms. One that I especially like is the name for >that little butterfly valve in a carburetor; we call it a "choke", but the >British call it a "strangler."
No, we don't. I thought 'strangler' was US! > >The odd thing is that the American preference for words like hood and choke >implies a preference for Old English or Germanic roots. The British >preference for bonnet and strangler implies a preference for Middle French >and Latin. I wonder if they means anything? Yes, probably. US English has tended to keep older words and forms (probably due to being more rural: it also applies to rural areas in Britain), while 'standard' British English has accepted more Romance influence since, say, 1600. British English terms for cars were strongly influenced by French - consider even 'garage' and 'chauffeur'. -- Regards, John Woodgate, OOO - Own Opinions Only. http://www.jmwa.demon.co.uk Interested in professional sound reinforcement and distribution? Then go to http://www.isce.org.uk PLEASE do NOT copy news posts to me by E-MAIL! ------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE EMC Society Product Safety Technical Committee emc-pstc discussion list. Visit our web site at: http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/emcs/pstc/ To cancel your subscription, send mail to: majord...@ieee.org with the single line: unsubscribe emc-pstc For help, send mail to the list administrators: Ron Pickard: emc-p...@hypercom.com Dave Heald: davehe...@attbi.com For policy questions, send mail to: Richard Nute: ri...@ieee.org Jim Bacher: j.bac...@ieee.org All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://ieeepstc.mindcruiser.com/ Click on "browse" and then "emc-pstc mailing list"
