Tod, what would be definition of "drain"? Eugene
пт, 11 янв. 2019 г. в 21:10, Tod Fitch <[email protected]>: > > > On Jan 11, 2019, at 8:36 AM, ael <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > As a native speaker, I do not recognise "canal" as appropriate for > > irrigation. That is not to say that some canals may also be used > > partly for irrigation. > > > > But the phrase "irrigation ditch" is common and understood. Bear in > > mind that the UK is mainly a fairly wet place, so the need for > > substantial irrigation is not high except in some special cases. The > > unqualified word "ditch" would normally be understood as an artificial > > unlined and usually small watercourse. But also, in certain contexts, > > for a historic trench acting as a defense or fence, not necessarily > > containing water. > > > > That seems to accord with a the sub tag irrigation=yes on ditches - > > and maybe on other waterways if that is one of the uses/functions. > > > > ael > > > > +1 > > In the desert where I was raised the cotton fields were surrounded with > “irrigation ditches”, or “ditches” for short. The fields were watered from > the ditches by either syphon hoses or sluice gates. > > Later, when working on road projects, I found that the low areas on the > sides of roads (often used as “side borrow” areas during construction of > the roadway) were formally called “drainage ditches” or just “ditches” for > short. > > So to me a ditch is simply a channel dug to move water. > > But I am an American and our terms diverge somewhat from UK usage. So I > looked it up in my older paper version of the OED to find the first two > definition are “1. An excavation narrow in proportion to its length; the > trench or fosse of a fortification, etc.”. “2. Such a hollow dug out to > receive or conduct water, esp. to carry off the surface drainage of a road > or field, etc.” > > Based on the second, I can see the reason why some would conflate > “drainage ditch” with simply “ditch”. But I don’t see from this where even > in UK usage a ditch has to be for drainage. It is simply a long narrow > excavation and, in the waterway sense, dug to conduct water from one place > to another. > > > Cheers! > tf > > > _______________________________________________ > Tagging mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/tagging >
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