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I was watching David Letterman interviewing Denzel Washington. Mr Washington said that one reason he was in such good physical shape was that he drinks a lot of water, to which Mr Letterman replied with something like "line up at the tap, everybody". This surprised me, as I had never previously heard any speaker of US English use the word "tap" in that way. Prior to this, I had only ever heard US English speakers say "faucet". Is it some regional quirk that brings Mr Letterman's usage nearer that of British (and related) English?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I speck he was trying to connect it with beer.
But, yes, you will hear 'tap water' from time to time.
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Thank you Faldage. wwh sent me a private message saying much the same thing. The reason for my question was that he did not use the phrase "tap water", he actually said "the tap", rather than "the faucet". I was trying to find out if this was a common usage in some part of the US, as it is here in NZ.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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while tap a keg, is, i think more common that tap water is what we in NYC drink--the tap is about even with faucet--and easily out wins spigot--(an outdoor tap is a spigot)
taps drip, too.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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tap is also pretty common in the upper midwest, like when you're in a rush: turn off that tap 'fore you flood the kitchen!
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In reply to:
Upper Midwest.
Thanks, tsuwm. Could that region be stretched to include Indiana, Mr Letterman's home state?
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Carpal Tunnel
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The concept has been around for millenia; a solid gold threaded tap or faucet was found in King Tut's tomb. In fact, I knew a guy who devoted his college career to studying these things. He was a pharaoh faucet major.
TEd
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stranger
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stranger
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I was raised in Detroit, Michigan, during the 1980s; we drank water from the tap.
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I can't stand all this tap, tap, tapping!! Can't someone faucet to stop!!?
We call it a tap, too, usually.
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