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#88941 12/09/02 09:40 PM
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mjw Offline
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> Thinking about it I reckon I would say:
>
> "I need some petrol, I'm off to the garage."

Good point. We would also use the term "garage" here for a petrol station.

> On a Motorway I would refer to the Motorway Services or perhaps Motorway Service Station. They are
> rest stops with eating facilities, shops etc as well as petrol.

We would call them "truck stops" or "road houses".

> We have absorbed so much Australian and American phraseology, some appealing some not.

What Australian phraseology have you absorbed over there? And how could any of it not be appealing?!

> The word station, I think, we reserve pretty much for train and bus stations and until relatively recently
> it would have been only trains. Buses would be found at the bus depot.

Agreed, in part. We would refer to the place where a train stops as a "train station". However, a bus stops at a bus stop. A bus depot is where the buses stop overnight, sometimes called a terminus as well.

Mark Waddington


Mark Waddington
#88942 12/10/02 10:16 AM
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dxb Offline
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What Australian phraseology have you absorbed over there? And how could any of it not be appealing?!

Some examples:

Aggro; Amber fluid; back of beyond; barbie; booze; chook; deli; cream (the other team); dog (Woman viewed as unattractive); dag; knocked back (refused); plonk; prezzie; rellie; stickybeak (I’ve only heard this once or twice, but like it very much for its imagery, intend to encourage it).

Some of these have been around so long they are most probably thought of as English English. The level of appeal is subjective and up to the individual to decide for himself.

a bus stops at a bus stop. A bus depot is where the buses stop overnight, sometimes called a terminus as well.

Well, yeah, agreed a bus stops at a bus stop, lives at a depot, and we do use terminus. In the UK if the word station is used on its own, “I’m off to the station now”, then the train station is meant. I don’t think we often use the two words together, we would, however, speak of the railway station.



#88943 12/10/02 11:21 AM
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Carpal Tunnel
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Ooooh-eeeee-ooooh! I just used "back of beyond" in another post.


#88944 12/10/02 01:13 PM
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I saw that! The synchronicity Zeitgeist is alive!


#88945 12/10/02 02:50 PM
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dxb's analysis holds for the northern counties of England as well, so far as I'm aware. (although Yorkshire people probably say something else, just to be different )

"Bus Stop" is the place along the route where you flag a bus down; "Bus Station" is the main place where you find buses in large numbers (well - that's the theory rather than the fact ) and where you can change easily (??) from one route to another.

Where I live now, we rarely use "station" by itself, because the trains and the buses are stationed fairly near to each other, and confusion might occur if we didn't specify which.
However, if someone were to say just "station", I, and I think most of my fellow citizens, would assume "train" rather than "bus".

And we usually say "garage" round here, to indicate the place where petrol and diesel may be purchased (usually alongside a full range of confectionary, cut flowers, coal, barbecue charcoal, books, CDs and take-away foods. Not to mention Looto tickets!) [I meant Lotto, but the typo is so serendipitous that I can't bear to alter it!]


#88946 12/10/02 02:57 PM
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Carpal Tunnel
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Looto tickets

You are the king of serendipitous typos. Sometimes I wonder if you don't unconsciously generate them. I was imagining y'all purchasing tickets giving you some set number of trips to the loo. It's £1 50p for a single trip but for £10 you can get a ten trip ticket or for £20 you can get a 25 trip ticket.


#88947 12/10/02 03:14 PM
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This would not be an attractive prize for men, over here. Trips to the loo are usually free for men (increasingly, for women also - because of sex discrimination laws here!)


king of serendipitous typos you should see the ones that I spot and alter!


#88948 12/10/02 07:17 PM
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mjw Offline
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> "Bus Stop" is the place along the route where you flag a bus down; "Bus Station" is the main place where
> you find buses in large numbers (well - that's the theory rather than the fact ) and where you can change
> easily (??) from one route to another.

Not being a regular user of public transport, I'm not sure what we would call that. Probably an "interchange".

> However, if someone were to say just "station", I, and I think most of my fellow citizens, would assume
> "train" rather than "bus".

They could mean "police station" :)

Mark Waddington


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#88949 12/10/02 07:20 PM
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mjw Offline
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> Aggro; Amber fluid; back of beyond; barbie; booze; chook; deli; cream (the other team); dog (Woman
> viewed as unattractive); dag; knocked back (refused); plonk; prezzie; rellie; stickybeak (I’ve only heard
> this once or twice, but like it very much for its imagery, intend to encourage it).

Interesting, though I'm not convinced all of them are Australian in origin. F'rinstance, don't you call pubs "boozers"? I'm sure that pre-dates any Australian influence.

Mark Waddington


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#88950 12/11/02 12:05 PM
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>> station = police ... <<

If the context was right, yes, but usually that would be "the nick", "the cop-shop", or some similar friendly diminutive.

>> boozer << I think you are correct, Mark - I have seen references to "boozer" dating right back to mid C19 London.

However, there is one definitely Oz phrase which is firmly entrenched over here, now - "Go walk-about"



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