Telegraph.co.uk's top 10 most annoying Americanisms - we can do better.

Sorry, you got it two thirds right:

hood.jpg
 
And in the US...

http://img91.imageshack.**/img91/4033/uscarwb6.jpg
 
With hood vs bonnet, neither makes much more sense than the other, but I hafta say that "hood" does seem to edge out bonnet.

Hood: Fabric head covering, attached to some of the rest of the "body's" other covering.
Bonnet: Fabric head covering, not attached to the rest of the "body's" covering.

Since the engine's...umm...cover door...is attached to the rest of the car's "outfit" I think "hood" makes more sense...to me, anyways.
 
Bonnet, wing, boot. and...no idea that the big black hat is about...
 
hood. though that term actually makes sense, unlike boot.
 
You've still yet to give 1 reason why "boot" makes more sense, that original picture shows why "trunk" makes sense.

The word "trunk" does, admittedly, make more sense at first glance.

A quick google suggests two theories to the word "boot" meaning "the bit at the back of the car".

One suggests that boot is, in fact, an old Americanism (!); and short for "boot locker", which is the same thing as the trunk.

The Oxford English Dictionary says that it seems to come from the time of coaches :

Part of a coach. a. The fixed external step of a coach (cf. Fr. botte 5 in Littr?); b. An uncovered space on or by the steps on each side, where attendants sat, facing sideways; later, a low outside compartment before or behind the body of the vehicle. Obs.
c. The receptacle for luggage or parcels under the seats of the guard and coachman. (This appears to have been the fore and hind boot of sense b, covered in as a box, ? about the middle of the 18th c.) Now the ordinary name for the luggage compartment usu. at the rear of a motor vehicle. Also attrib.
Earliest use seems to be around the early 1600's

Explanation one means that 'trunk' predates 'boot' by a few years, explanation two says that 'boot' predates 'trunk' by a lot.

Either way 'trunk' appears to make more logical sense...but "car trunk sale" doesn't sound right!
 
And car boot sale sounds right? :rofl: You selling the boot of your car? Do you cut it or do I have to? I'll come down and get a jag boot so I can fit golf "bats" in my Jetta with ease.


Nobody says "car trunk sale" here either, you may have an argument if it were a saying here but you're just talking a weird British saying and putting in the American word and saying it doesn't sound right because you aren't use to the word trunk. :rolleyes:


And where did you get your quote? Because searching google.co.uk I couldn't find 1 credible source to back that up. Oxford English Dictionary didn't have anything, the best was some psudo-news article with no source. We've seen the connection between trunk but so far boot only has a "boot locker means trunk" with not much to back it up and a quote that is from an unreliable source.
 
And car boot sale sounds right? :rofl: You selling the boot of your car? Do you cut it or do I have to? I'll come down and get a jag boot so I can fit golf "bats" in my Jetta with ease.

Car boot sale makes about as much sense as "yard sale" or "garage sale" - you're not selling the yard or the garage, after all.

And good thing, too. You'd not get a lot of money for 0.9144 metres! :p


And where did you get your quote? Because searching google.co.uk I couldn't find 1 credible source to back that up. Oxford English Dictionary didn't have anything, the best was some psudo-news article with no source. We've seen the connection between trunk but so far boot only has a "boot locker means trunk" with not much to back it up and a quote that is from an unreliable source.

Boot from boot locker - link

OED - bottom of page. Afaik the Oxford website only lets you search the concise OED, you'd presumably have to look up the mega one to get 'boot' in its entirety. Which I will next time I'm in the uni library (it's a good way to avoid work!).
 
This thread has me wondering, do you UK guys say "torques" like clarkson does? Like "The new GTR has 434 torques" or is it just Clarkson doing things wrong?


And yes yard sale and garage sale are kind of odd, "pointless crap only cheap people buy sale"
 
Exactly, "American" means of the continent, not the country alone. There was an episode of QI, where they delved with the question of what a person from the USA is called and there really isn't a universal name for it. :/

I'm happy with Texan ;-)

Fine you Brits win. Next time at one of ya'lls :)) ) house's there, I will just inquire, "wheres the shitter?" :lol:
 
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And I have an addition!
fyes.jpg
 
Either way 'trunk' appears to make more logical sense...but "car trunk sale" doesn't sound right!

Honestly, how often to the English go shopping from the back of peoples' cars? It this such a common occurrence that the phrase "car boot sale" was created? I the US we don't have a special name for it. "I just bought this outta that guy's truck."

How much is a "spot" of tea? A cup? does "spot" refer to such a small amount that, if spilled, would only leave a "spot"?
 
So this is what happens when English speakers have too much time on their hands. You guys already understand what is being communicated, which is the whole point of any language. The rest is just nitpicking. 'Math/maths' who the hell gives a flying rats ass? I grew up bilingual, so all this petty 'My way is better only for the sole reason that I was raised this way' is just nonsense to me. If everyone spoke English the exact same way, the English speaking world would be worse off.
 
800px-1931_Ford_Model_A_roadster_rear.JPG
 
So this is what happens when English speakers have too much time on their hands. You guys already understand what is being communicated, which is the whole point of any language. The rest is just nitpicking. 'Math/maths' who the hell gives a flying rats ass? I grew up bilingual, so all this petty 'My way is better only for the sole reason that I was raised this way' is just nonsense to me. If everyone spoke English the exact same way, the English speaking world would be worse off.

everyone should talk 'stralylian mate :p
 
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