From: renfro@geewhiz.ssc.gov (James Renfro)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Words: American vs English (Trucks)
Keywords: Lorry, Truck, semi-
Date: 2 Oct 92 18:57:13 GMT
Distribution: usa, uk
Organization: Superconducting Super Collider Laboratory

In article <1992Oct2.145442.14354@netcom.com> sue@netcom.com (Sue Miller)  
writes:
> Daan Sandee writes:
> > Chris Malcolm writes:
> >|> Dan Carpenter writes:
> >|> 
> >|> >Truck vs. Lory
> >|> 
> >|> Ok. In English a Lory is a large Australasian parrot with a brushlike

----------------------------
If I may, I would like to split a hair or two on the subject of the truck, and  
at least try to convey just what the American name describes.

In the USA: truck = any wheeled, ground motor vehicle which carries cargo, vis.  
1. a pick-up (a light duty vehicle), with open cargo box, can be enclosed by  
installing a cover, usually called a _topper_.
2. any other vehicle similar to 1. above which, has a single chassis, a  
separate forward compartment for the driver, and a cargo box (covered or open),  
or a flat bed. 
3. a semi-trailer has wheels only at the rear end, and has open or closed cargo  
compartment(s), or a flat bed; it is towed by a 2- or 3- (or more) axled  
tractor and attached to its _5th wheel_ by a largish pin or spindle.
4. a trailer has wheels at both ends (is towed from one end by a tractor as in  
3. above) and is attached to the tractor by a _tongue_.  The foremost axle of  
the trailer is usually attached to a swivel assembly and the tongue, which  
_steers_ the front wheels such that the front wheels turn in the same direction  
as the tongue, and therefore follow the towing vehicle. 
5. a combination of 3. and 4. are commonly seen in the areas where the ground  
is flat, and in Australian movies.
6. the tractor is, of course, really not a truck, although usually it is called  
that. I has, of course, a mostly flat plate mounted to the chassis above the  
rear axle(s), called the _5th wheel_, which attaches to the mating feature of  
the semi-trailer.
7. an interesting hi-bred of 1. and 3. is common, where the (simi-)trailer has  
a high rise front end that is designed to reach into the cargo box just forward  
of the rear axle, mount to the _5th wheel_ fixed there for the purpose, and is  
called a _goose neck trailer_. This configuration allows a smallish pick-up to  
tow a heavy load with great manoeuvre ability.
8. as in the UK, a _rig_ that bends in the middle, or in more than one place,  
as it negotiates the road, is an articulated vehicle, but in the USA the word  
_articulated_, is never used in this connection.
9. a van, almost exactly as in the UK, is a van, with a top which is common to  
cargo and operator. 

Personally, I would like to know the UK equivalents of the above.  

Also, please correct me if needed:  USA             UK
                                    fender          wing
                                    trunk           boot
                                    hood            bonnet
                                    dash board      ?????
                                    ??????          near side
                                    ??????          off side
                                    tire            tyre
                                    curb            kerb

Toodle Pip
Jim
renfro@geewhiz.ssc.gov
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british