| Author |
Message |
Areff
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 12:58 am
Post subject: Re: Pronouncing "semi" |
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Eric Schwartz wrote:
| Quote: | "nemo" <nemo@naughtylass.wet> writes:
Don A. Gilmore <eromlignodNOSPM@kc.rr.com> wrote:
"nemo" <nemo@naughtylass.wet> wrote:
See-My is the US pronunciation...
No it isn't.
Yes it is - in the same vein as Hee-Low as the abbreviated form of
helicopter.
Searching MWCD11 shows that pronunciation, but I can't say I've ever
heard anyone actually use it. When I've read it, I've always mentally
pronounced it /hEloU/.
|
There was an episode of _The Flintstones_ where a character said "Hey dad,
let's get the heliocopter!", pronouncing the last word /hilioUkAptR/.
--
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Roland Hutchinson
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 1:10 am
Post subject: Re: Pronouncing "semi" |
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In article <u0wamt5l.fsf@hpl.hp.com> on Wednesday 14 July 2004 12:48, Evan
Kirshenbaum wrote:
| Quote: | Personally, I have no clue what [hemi] means other than that it probably
means that some component is hemispherical rather than some other
shape.
|
The cylinder head, innit?
| Quote: | I also have no idea under what conditions this would be a
desirable or undesirable feature.
|
Search me.
(Better yet, search Google, and behold: there's a pretty clear explanation
here:
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/hemi2.htm )
--
Roland Hutchinson Will play viola da gamba for food.
NB mail to my.spamtrap [at] verizon.net is heavily filtered to
remove spam. If your message looks like spam I may not see it. |
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Molly Mockford
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 1:37 am
Post subject: Re: Lost/displaced Briticisms |
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|
At 19:56:53 on Wed, 14 Jul 2004, Peter Duncanson
<mail@peterduncanson.net> wrote in
<frvaf0ldqqsjqfbi1qvpos7fbnstg6b7br@4ax.com>:
| Quote: | On Wed, 14 Jul 2004 11:25:12 -0700, John Ings <nodamned@spam.org> wrote:
Now that there is more snow in the winters in Blighty,
|
In fact, there seems to be considerably less than there used to be.
| Quote: | is road salt a problem?
Much less of a problem than it was three decades ago.
I think it was in the 1970s that there was a change in the thickness of the
sheet steel used in the construction of cars. The thinner metal rusted
through much more quickly than the thicker that was previously used.
|
And many local authorities tend to spread sand, sometimes mixed with
grit, instead of salt. I suppose it's cheaper. It makes a mess of
everything, and there's probably just enough salt in the mixture to make
sure that it adheres to the underside of cars. It certainly seems to
adhere everywhere else.
--
Molly Mockford
I think I've been too long on my own, but the little green goblin that
lives under the sink says I'm OK - and he's never wrong, so I must be!
(My Reply-To address *is* valid, though may not remain so for ever.)
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Christopher Green
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 1:43 am
Post subject: Re: Pronouncing "semi" |
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rrhersh@acme.com (Richard R. Hershberger) wrote in message news:<82401463.0407140636.1696e776@posting.google.com>...
[snip]
| Quote: | Is this a reversion to older technology? I had assumed that they were
making them all along, but the marketing department only recently
latched onto it. In any case I am amused at how they carefully don't
actually say what a hemi is, merely that they have it and, we are
assured, it is a Very Good Thing for any Manly Man.
Richard R. Hershberger
|
Yes, it is a retro, Manly Man design aimed squarely at gearheads and
wannabe gearheads. Mopar in particular did a lot of work with
hemispherical combustion chambers, and the Mopar 426-cid (7.0-liter
for obligate-metric readers) Hemi is a classic "muscle car" engine.
Its biggest advantage is that combustion chamber surface area (thus
heat lost on the power stroke) is minimized for a given chamber
volume. It didn't burn very cleanly, though, and was exterminated by
air pollution considerations. Nowadays hemis are generally surpassed
by 4-valve-per-cylinder designs, but Mopar has gone far to clean up
the pollution problem with its new 2-plug per cylinder 5.7-liter.
--
Chris Green |
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Molly Mockford
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 1:58 am
Post subject: Re: Pronouncing "semi" |
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At 12:43:42 on Wed, 14 Jul 2004, Christopher Green
<cj.green@worldnet.att.net> wrote in
<c31fa7b1.0407141143.f325700@posting.google.com>:
| Quote: | Yes, it is a retro, Manly Man design aimed squarely at gearheads and
wannabe gearheads. Mopar in particular did a lot of work with
hemispherical combustion chambers, and the Mopar 426-cid (7.0-liter
for obligate-metric readers) Hemi is a classic "muscle car" engine.
Its biggest advantage is that combustion chamber surface area (thus
heat lost on the power stroke) is minimized for a given chamber
volume. It didn't burn very cleanly, though, and was exterminated by
air pollution considerations. Nowadays hemis are generally surpassed
by 4-valve-per-cylinder designs, but Mopar has gone far to clean up
the pollution problem with its new 2-plug per cylinder 5.7-liter.
|
Yes.
Now, considering where we are, can you say that again in English,
please?
--
Molly Mockford
I think I've been too long on my own, but the little green goblin that
lives under the sink says I'm OK - and he's never wrong, so I must be!
(My Reply-To address *is* valid, though may not remain so for ever.) |
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raymond o'hara
Guest
|
| Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 2:22 am
Post subject: Re: Pronouncing "semi" |
|
|
"Molly Mockford" <nospamnobody@mollymockford.me.uk> wrote in message
news:kRbRMwNaBZ9AFwnR@molly.mockford...
| Quote: | At 12:43:42 on Wed, 14 Jul 2004, Christopher Green
cj.green@worldnet.att.net> wrote in
c31fa7b1.0407141143.f325700@posting.google.com>:
Yes, it is a retro, Manly Man design aimed squarely at gearheads and
wannabe gearheads. Mopar in particular did a lot of work with
hemispherical combustion chambers, and the Mopar 426-cid (7.0-liter
for obligate-metric readers) Hemi is a classic "muscle car" engine.
Its biggest advantage is that combustion chamber surface area (thus
heat lost on the power stroke) is minimized for a given chamber
volume. It didn't burn very cleanly, though, and was exterminated by
air pollution considerations. Nowadays hemis are generally surpassed
by 4-valve-per-cylinder designs, but Mopar has gone far to clean up
the pollution problem with its new 2-plug per cylinder 5.7-liter.
Yes.
Now, considering where we are, can you say that again in English,
please?
--
Molly Mockford
I think I've been too long on my own, but the little green goblin that
lives under the sink says I'm OK - and he's never wrong, so I must be!
(My Reply-To address *is* valid, though may not remain so for ever.)
|
Mopar is the Chrysler Motor Corp motor parts division.
Muscle cars were a type of American cars in the late 60's and 70's that had
big powerful engines and were sold to kids so they could drag race on the
highways , some muscle car types would be the Pontiac GTO, the Chevy Chevell
SS, Plymouth Road Runner{the unofficial Massachusetts state bird} and the
Oldsmobile 442, cars designed to decisively exceed the speed limit . What a
sound they made too , none of the sports car whine but a good earth shakin
V8 rumble.,
Hemis didn't meet air quality standards and almost died out , Mopar figured
out how to get them to run clean and now they are back .Hemis make good
horsepower and lots of low end torque excellent for quick acceleration or
towing trailers. |
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Mike Stevens
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 3:01 am
Post subject: Re: Lost/displaced Briticisms |
|
|
"John Ings" <nodamned@spam.org> wrote in message
news:mgtaf0hragvfb730k8oaq7nk26pjjf4far@4ax.com
| Quote: | 4 light: coupe
Never;
Probably a pre WW2 nomenclature. e.g.
http://www.minor.org.uk/Details/Cowley_1932.htm
moreover, we don't have coupes
Both my XKs were Drop head Coupes. It said so right in the owner's
manual.
(some manufacturers' models have
been designated as coupés, but the name never seems to catch on with
the British Public). Neither do we have sedans.
|
There was, in the 20s and 30s a form of car knows as a "coupe de ville".
This had the back seat enclosed in bodywork (possibly a convertible),
leaving the chauffeur in front exposed to the elements.
--
Mike Stevens
narrowboat Felis Catus II
Web site www.mike-stevens.co.uk
No man is an island. So is Man. |
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Molly Mockford
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 3:32 am
Post subject: Re: Pronouncing "semi" |
|
|
At 20:22:04 on Wed, 14 Jul 2004, raymond o'hara <reoh@comcast.net> wrote
in <MBgJc.74342$JR4.38630@attbi_s54>:
| Quote: | "Molly Mockford" <nospamnobody@mollymockford.me.uk> wrote in message
news:kRbRMwNaBZ9AFwnR@molly.mockford...
Now, considering where we are, can you say that again in English,
please?
Mopar is the Chrysler Motor Corp motor parts division.
Muscle cars were a type of American cars in the late 60's and 70's that had
big powerful engines and were sold to kids so they could drag race on the
highways , some muscle car types would be the Pontiac GTO, the Chevy Chevell
SS, Plymouth Road Runner{the unofficial Massachusetts state bird} and the
Oldsmobile 442, cars designed to decisively exceed the speed limit . What a
sound they made too , none of the sports car whine but a good earth shakin
V8 rumble.,
Hemis didn't meet air quality standards and almost died out , Mopar figured
out how to get them to run clean and now they are back .Hemis make good
horsepower and lots of low end torque excellent for quick acceleration or
towing trailers.
|
Thanks!
That makes a good deal of sense, whereas the first version meant
absolutely nothing to me despite my reading it through three times.
--
Molly Mockford
I think I've been too long on my own, but the little green goblin that
lives under the sink says I'm OK - and he's never wrong, so I must be!
(My Reply-To address *is* valid, though may not remain so for ever.) |
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Michael West
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 4:32 am
Post subject: Re: Pronouncing "semi" (was Re: Lost/displaced Briticisms) |
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nemo wrote:
| Quote: | Don A. Gilmore <eromlignodNOSPM@kc.rr.com> wrote in message
news:2lio55Fd271qU1@uni-berlin.de...
"nemo" <nemo@naughtylass.wet> wrote in message
news:lOVIc.42281$I%1.38110@fe1.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
Semi is pronounced "Sem" to rhyme with them, and "mi" to rhyme with me.
See-My is the US pronunciation...
No it isn't.
Yes it is - in the same vein as Hee-Low as the abbreviated form of
helicopter. I have *never* heard anyone in the UK use See-My - not even on
the BBC.
|
No, it is *not* "the US pronunciation".
I lived in the US for fifty years, including
four years in the military, and never heard
either 'see-my' or 'hee-low'.
I did hear, very rarely, "hee-licopter",
but I associate that with child's speech
or rustic speech.
--
Michael West
Melbourne, Australia |
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Robert Bannister
Guest
|
| Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 7:13 am
Post subject: Re: Lost/displaced Briticisms |
|
|
Matthew Huntbach wrote:
| Quote: | In uk.culture.language.english Raymond S. Wise <mplsrayNOSPAM@gbronline.com> wrote:
Here in the US you can drop off old clothes at a Goodwill box, Goodwill
Industries being a non-profit charitable organization. In the last few
years, however, something else has appeared on the scene: A clothes drop-off
box that, you are informed if you read the text on the box, belongs to a
for-profit corporation.
Similar in Britain. Most old clothes that are collected by charities are
sold in bulk to dealers who export them to poor countries where they are in
turn parcelled out and sold to smaller operators who sell them on the streets.
Only the first sale involves raising money for charity. The charities have
high street shops in Britain which sell old clothes, but only a small
portion of the clothes donated reach these rather than the bulk sales
operators. Since this business of collecting old clotehs and selling them on
to exporters is a profitable one, commercial operators have got into it, I
assume by law they have to declare they are not charities, but they seem to
operate in a way as similar as possible to the charities so that people
donating old clothes don't realise.
|
I wonder. One of the main shops here in Australia is St Vincent de
Paul's. I know a lot of very well-off people - well, women actually -
who buy clothes there, and yet Vincent de P would definitely be a charity.
--
Rob Bannister |
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Robert Bannister
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 7:16 am
Post subject: Re: Lost/displaced Briticisms |
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|
Dr Robin Bignall wrote:
| Quote: | On Wed, 14 Jul 2004 11:49:33 +0100, Phil C. <nobody@nowhere.com> wrote:
On Tue, 13 Jul 2004 22:46:08 +0100, Dr Robin Bignall
docrobin@ntlworld.com> wrote:
That width of garage door does not seem to have changed over the years. If
you go back to the days of the A30 or Triumph Herald, you could only fit
two adults comfortably in the rear seat, maybe with a small child between
them. Most family saloons these days will seat three adults across. I am
always struck by how narrow these older cars look when I'm driving behind
them. I've seen double garages built with two standard-sized openings
separated by about six inches, rather than one wide up-and-over door, so
it's still difficult to get cars through the doors, and with two cars
inside it's still impossible to open the car doors more than a foot or so.
Strangely, the number of persons per car has declined as the width has
increased. Perhaps the growing obesity problem is the explanation.
It's partially due to increasing affluence. Up to about ten years ago, the
wife and kids used the family car and the husband commuted to the office by
train.
But, prior to that, the man drove the car to work and the stay-at-home |
wife had to use bus or bike. Nowadays, I see a number of young women
driving expensive, 2-seater cars.
--
Rob Bannister |
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Michael DeBusk
Guest
|
| Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 10:30 am
Post subject: Re: Lost/displaced Briticisms |
|
|
On Wed, 14 Jul 2004 20:37:47 +0100, Molly Mockford
<nospamnobody@mollymockford.me.uk> wrote:
| Quote: | And many local authorities tend to spread sand, sometimes mixed
with grit, instead of salt. I suppose it's cheaper.
|
It costs about one-third as much per ton as salt, but about three times
as much has to be applied to be effective. Considering that it
therefore takes three times the manpower and three times as many
trucks, or three times as many trips back to the base to refill, sand
can actually cost more to use.
Sand is most useful when it's too cold for salt to work.
--
Michael DeBusk, Co-Conspirator to Make the World a Better Place
Did he update http://home.earthlink.net/~debu4335/ yet? |
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Michael DeBusk
Guest
|
| Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 10:34 am
Post subject: Re: Pronouncing "semi" |
|
|
On Wed, 14 Jul 2004 12:35:19 -0600, Eric Schwartz <emschwar@pobox.com> wrote:
| Quote: | When I've read it, I've always mentally pronounced it /hEloU/.
|
Just a SWAG, but I believe the military pronounce it "hee-low" to
prevent someone from mistaking the word for the greeting, "hello".
Especially on the radio or in noisy areas, it's advantageous to avoid
accidental phonological ambiguity.
--
Michael DeBusk, Co-Conspirator to Make the World a Better Place
Did he update http://home.earthlink.net/~debu4335/ yet? |
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John Hall
Guest
|
| Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 1:35 pm
Post subject: Re: Lost/displaced Briticisms |
|
|
In article <2i6af0t2u4rvr5n18cha0ablfoon3qv73e@4ax.com>,
Dr Robin Bignall <docrobin@ntlworld.com> writes:
| Quote: | Up to about ten years ago, the
wife and kids used the family car and the husband commuted to the office by
train.
|
Husband drives to station, with wife in passenger seat. Husband kisses
wife goodbye and departs. Wife switches to driver's seat and drives car
home. I used to see this a lot, and was amused that it was obviously
unthinkable that the wife should drive her husband.
--
John Hall
"Home is heaven and orgies are vile,
But you *need* an orgy, once in a while."
Ogden Nash (1902-1971) |
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Matthew Huntbach
Guest
|
| Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 3:08 pm
Post subject: Re: Lost/displaced Briticisms |
|
|
In uk.culture.language.english Robert Bannister <robban@it.net.au> wrote:
| Quote: | Matthew Huntbach wrote:
In uk.culture.language.english Raymond S. Wise <mplsrayNOSPAM@gbronline.com> wrote:
Here in the US you can drop off old clothes at a Goodwill box, Goodwill
Industries being a non-profit charitable organization. In the last few
years, however, something else has appeared on the scene: A clothes drop-off
box that, you are informed if you read the text on the box, belongs to a
for-profit corporation.
Since this business of collecting old clotehs and selling them on
to exporters is a profitable one, commercial operators have got into it, I
assume by law they have to declare they are not charities, but they seem to
operate in a way as similar as possible to the charities so that people
donating old clothes don't realise.
I wonder. One of the main shops here in Australia is St Vincent de
Paul's. I know a lot of very well-off people - well, women actually -
who buy clothes there, and yet Vincent de P would definitely be a charity.
|
Presumably the SVP shops use any money raised beyond the overheads in
running the thing for charity, while those engaged in collecting clothes
who declare they belong to a "for-profit corporation" put it in their
bank accounts to use for themselves.
Matthew Huntbach |
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