Hi
Wikipedia has a nice explanation of different schemes for labelling the levels of buildings. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storey Here's the most relevant paragraph that addresses Michael's question (note it is not just Brits!): In most of Europe<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe>, the "first storey" or "first floor" is the level above ground level. This scheme is also used in many of the Commonwealth nations<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Nations> (except Singapore<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore> and most of Canada<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada>), many former British colonies<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Empire> (such as Australia), and in many Latin American<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_America> countries (including Mexico<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico> and Brazil<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil>)[citation needed<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed>]. This convention can be traced back to Medieval European usage. In countries that use this system, the floor at ground level is usually referred to by a special name, usually translating as "Ground Floor" or equivalent. For example, rez-de-chaussée ("street level") in France<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France>, Erdgeschoss ("ground floor") in Germany<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany>, pianterreno (lit. "ground floor") in Italy<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy>, begane grond ("walked-upon ground") in Dutch<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_language>, planta baja or planta baixa ("bottom floor") in Spain<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain>, andar térreo ("ground walkplace") in Brazil<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil>, "rés-do-chão" ("close to the ground") in Portugal<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portugal>, földszint ("ground level") in Hungary<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungary>, parter ("based on French par terre, which means on the ground") in Poland<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poland> and Romania<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romania>, prízemie ("by the ground") in Slovakia<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovakia>, and pritličje ("close to the ground") in Slovenia<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovenia>. In some countries that use this scheme, the higher floors may be explicitly qualified as being above the ground level — such as in Slovenian prvo nadstropje (literally "first upper floor")[citation needed<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed>]. Seems like there ought to be a psychology experiment somewhere in these differences ... perhaps akin to differences between color names across cultures. Take care Jim Jim Clark Professor & Chair of Psychology U Winnipeg Room 4L41A 204-786-9757 204-774-4134 Fax ________________________________ From: michael sylvester [[email protected]] Sent: December-10-13 7:31 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: [tips] Why the Brits refer to the second floor as the first floor and the first floor as the ground floor? michael ________________________________ [http://static.avast.com/emails/avast-mail-stamp.png] <http://www.avast.com/> This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus<http://www.avast.com/> protection is active. --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13251.645f86b5cec4da0a56ffea7a891720c9&n=T&l=tips&o=31173 (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) or send a blank email to leave-31173-13251.645f86b5cec4da0a56ffea7a89172...@fsulist.frostburg.edu<mailto:leave-31173-13251.645f86b5cec4da0a56ffea7a89172...@fsulist.frostburg.edu> --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=31203 or send a blank email to leave-31203-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
