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stranger
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stranger
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I am puzzled as to why it is we use the word 'stair/s' for inside a building and 'step/s' for outside a building.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2006
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Thank you, I never knew that there ìs a difference. Welcome.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Sep 2010
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I've never had that pointed out to me..but of course, you are right.
I think of steps as being 'small number' of steps but then there are steps to a cathedral that can be 20 or more. Stairs are usually a 'bigger number'.
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addict
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addict
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 677 |
Stairs also tend to have a banister or hand rail whereas steps are free standing without these...steps occur outside buildings or leading up to them...
----The next sentence is true. The previous sentence is false----
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
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here, new construction of outside 'steps' must now have a railing, by city ordinance.
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Joined: Jun 2008
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2008
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WELCOME, LONNY
Interesting distinction you make, I wonder how universal
it is.
Last edited by LukeJavan8; 03/07/11 04:12 PM.
----please, draw me a sheep----
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Joined: Jun 2008
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 9,944 Likes: 3 |
I am puzzled as to why it is we use the word 'stair/s' for inside a building and 'step/s' for outside a building. A news commentator reporting on government demonstrations in the capital city of some state, probably Wisconsin, this morning, said "on the stairs of the capital". She was outside. So......
----please, draw me a sheep----
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2006
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WELCOME, LONNY
I wonder how universal it is. Anyway, it's stairway to heaven, (very much outside everything) not steps. 
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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And there was the movie "Up the Down Staircase".
----please, draw me a sheep----
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Sep 2010
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Anyway, it's stairway to heaven, (very much outside everything) not steps. I love that song. I once started a collection, trying to find it by as as many artist as I could...I wonder what happened to it  I was talking to a pilot friend and happen to think about this step/stair Q, so I asked what were the steps called that get people into the plane. Its an AIRSTAIR. It may be fixed to an aircraft and lowered or raised to allow passengers to board or disembark from an aircraft, though most larger airlines use a mobile staircase or walkway. A safety device called a Cooper Vain was fitted to prevent the airstair be used while a plane is flying after a hijacker used this as escape route in 1971.
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