tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post1879471878589823361..comments2024-03-16T00:21:43.240+00:00Comments on Separated by a Common Language: pavement, sidewalk, and the stuff thereoflynneguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comBlogger60125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-20925547990171624042021-02-15T23:04:46.256+00:002021-02-15T23:04:46.256+00:00Yes..I grew up in Philly and we always called it t...Yes..I grew up in Philly and we always called it the "pavement" I now live in RI, where my wife is from and the say "sidewalk" here.moontheloon8https://www.blogger.com/profile/01415647090923715035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-68879736622440378882021-02-11T19:54:42.781+00:002021-02-11T19:54:42.781+00:00I came across this blog because I am reading "...I came across this blog because I am reading "Cards on the Table" by Agatha Christie (first published in 1936)., She refers to one of her characters getting out of her car onto the "sidewalk", which made me wonder whether it was once a BrE term.Ian Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09005199913023213837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-73684476256275248562019-02-07T21:05:50.123+00:002019-02-07T21:05:50.123+00:00Re "twitten", a similar word (used in th...Re "twitten", a similar word (used in the East Midlands) is "twitchell".PHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10505462828969815943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-62001856410963533322017-05-29T20:11:27.464+01:002017-05-29T20:11:27.464+01:00Edgar Wallace in Shadow Man, Mr J. G. Reader Retur...Edgar Wallace in Shadow Man, Mr J. G. Reader Returns (published in 1932)describing the paperboy's description of a man's route while running down a London street (prior to being shot!) refers to "sidewalk" not pavement.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-75291222085491585012016-04-04T00:37:44.370+01:002016-04-04T00:37:44.370+01:00Cris
Question for the people in the UK; what are ...Cris<br /><br /><i>Question for the people in the UK; what are the pavements alongside your streets made out of?</i><br /><br />The same as your sidewalks.<br /><br />kiwianna<br /><br /><i>Incidentally, what do brits call 'sidewalk chalk'? or is drawing on the pavement in front of ones' house not something british children do?</i><br /><br />The only pavement chalking's I've ever been familiar with are squares for playing hop-scotch. I suppose we call them <i>'squares for playing hop-scotch'</i>.David Crosbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01858358459416955921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-8023785909289225582016-04-03T01:01:09.728+01:002016-04-03T01:01:09.728+01:00I was looking up the law regarding sidewalk chalk ...I was looking up the law regarding sidewalk chalk and stumbled across this post. A couple of people commented that, in Philadelphia, people use the word "pavement" rather than "sidewalk". I was born and raised in Philly and the nearby suburbs. I never used the word "pavement" for the pedestrian walkway, only "sidewalk". Some people do say "pavement", but the term is confusing because it also refers to paved road surfaces. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-72079240419885238102015-12-02T17:38:27.915+00:002015-12-02T17:38:27.915+00:00An American chiming in: I don't think anyone ...An American chiming in: I don't think anyone has accurately identified the normal US use of the word "pavement." Pavement must be a continuous sheet of either concrete or asphalt/blacktop/macadam. Anything that comes in pieces like pavers, stones, or bricks, does not make up pavement, although paver, stone, concrete, and asphalt-clad ground surfaces would all be referred to as "paved."<br /><br />Also, "street" is not the same as "pavement." All ground surfaces that are covered in a continuous sheet of concrete or asphalt whether the street, sidewalk, parking lot, yard, playground-- these are all made up of "pavement." "The pavement" would not normally be an American construction except in the sense of "I fell on the pavement." One would never bring an American to an urban setting and ask him to "point out the pavement" and expect anything but a puzzled look. "Point out some pavement" would work, however.Tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-54219508625707007122015-09-11T23:40:19.426+01:002015-09-11T23:40:19.426+01:00I am Canadian but many of the books I read are wri...I am Canadian but many of the books I read are written by authors from the USA, in the 'Stephanie Plum' series set in a small city in the state of New Jersey, I often encountered the unfamiliar term 'macaderm' which I could understand from the context to mean what I would call asphalt, and thus I assumed it was the general AmE term. Now I know better. Tarmac I have also heard for it but infrequently and wouldn't use. <br />(contrast the also unfamiliar term 'fireplug' which I had to look up as I could not understand from context what one was or what it meant for a person to built like one)<br /><br />For me paving or paved would be general terms for covering the ground in a surface layer (which blocks things growing there). And thus areas covered in <br /><br />Pavers is a term I am familiar with though I may use paving stones more readily. While I have seen paths paved with actual bricks most (when not real stone) pavers are only visually brick-like but otherwise rather different in composition, non-fired and not suitable for vertical building. I moved a literal (metric) tonne of them a few summers ago when I helped my Dad do a new driveway, patio and pathway at his house.<br /><br />Question for the people in the UK; what are the pavements alongside your streets made out of?<br /><br />Here I call them sidewalks and while I've seen almost every type of paving imaginable the vast majority are made out of concrete, which (along with being raised up) differentiates them from the street they run beside which is most commonly made out of asphalt(/bitumen/tarmacadam).crisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-10308665455268288002014-10-20T07:15:46.932+01:002014-10-20T07:15:46.932+01:00...as for Pavement vs. Sidewalk in the US, in Phil......as for Pavement vs. Sidewalk in the US, in Philadelphia, PA area they use Pavement. I went to two grades in Elementary School there and was raised in Bucks County. It is the only area of the US that uses Pavement that way...that is one way they can tell you're not a native.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342616530284122157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-6591782642300599092012-10-15T13:10:07.637+01:002012-10-15T13:10:07.637+01:00The British construction industry uses pavement to...The British construction industry uses pavement to mean the roadway, with paving machines (Blaw Knox and Barber Greene pavers were around in the 1950s in the UK, some with wheels, some tracked) laying the material. Since tarmacadam is a mixture of liquid tar and crushed stones (according to the Scotsman who laid the first gravel roads with "stones small enough to put ion your mouth") and tarmac is just a colloquialism for it, I do not see how anyone can trademark the abbreviation for a road surface that has been around for the best part of a century. <br /><br />I have heard tarmac used for airport runways, aprons and other paved surfaces for decades. <br /><br />I see no problem with Tarmac the construction company, but that is a different matter.<br /><br />As for crazy paving, there was a time when any tarred surface would break up or distort in very hot weather. Whitish lines would appear as though creating a jigsaw. Whilst crazy paving usually means randomly shaped slabs of stone, etc used as a surface in a garden, etc, it may have its origin in the way tarred surfaces behaved in hot conditions.Ericnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-11372964024689771502011-05-25T05:32:04.042+01:002011-05-25T05:32:04.042+01:00In Philadelphia, people say pavement, not sidewalk...In Philadelphia, people say pavement, not sidewalk, generally speaking.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-36651925720485372010-12-27T11:07:09.603+00:002010-12-27T11:07:09.603+00:00Its right that Many black road material is general...Its right that Many black road material is generally known as bitumen. But Most of the countries aware about with the word "paving". Generally its common word.Block paving Londonhttp://www.blockpavingplus.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-68453526761830016472010-08-09T04:11:30.759+01:002010-08-09T04:11:30.759+01:00My parents grew up in Galesburg, Illinois, and as ...My parents grew up in Galesburg, Illinois, and as such I was always familiar with the term pavers as a reference to bricks. They were used for both streets and sidewalks. Purington Pavers are everywhere in Galesburg, to this day. See this history http://www.historicalbricks.com/brick-street-pavers.html of bricks for a description of the Purington Brick Co. Home Depot sells pavers, though more products are referred to as pavestones.<br />Pavement, for me, could be an alternative to using the word sidewalk, or possibly street. Time to hit the pavement. Or, I skinned my knee on the pavement outside. I think it implies the solid, hard, formed material, whereas sidewalk implies the walking path alongside the road, and the idea of traveling somewhere.catnaphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00031329272992613813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-69720653040681397182008-11-27T13:51:00.000+00:002008-11-27T13:51:00.000+00:00Long time reader, first time commenter. Very late ...Long time reader, first time commenter. Very late comment, but no-one mentioned the U.S. road sign 'Pavement Ends,' which certainly threw me the first time I (BrE) saw one in rural America. Why would I be remotely interested in the fact that there was no more pavement (i.e. sidewalk)? I was also thinking that this was perhaps the first 'pedestrian-friendly' thing I had seen on the U.S. road network. I soon realised my mistake.cuppateahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12245901917285650119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-18964202376373219892008-10-22T05:41:00.000+01:002008-10-22T05:41:00.000+01:00Hi LynnInteresting that you said "this can be conf...Hi Lynn<BR/>Interesting that you said "this can be confusing because the road is paved". I would never call a road as paved unless it were built by Romans, a modern road is tarred. To me, paved, means covered by tightly fitted stone (or concrete) paving stones.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-63414836677382361232008-07-29T17:25:00.000+01:002008-07-29T17:25:00.000+01:00So it's looking like pavers isn't so much AmE as p...So it's looking like <I>pavers</I> isn't so much AmE as professional jargon.lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-63997964670225885672008-07-29T12:11:00.000+01:002008-07-29T12:11:00.000+01:00I'm a Brit who used to work in a (BrE?) garden cen...I'm a Brit who used to work in a (BrE?) <B>garden centre</B> (not quite equivalent to AmE/BrE <B>nursery</B>, since we didn't just grow plants and sell them and their accoutrements; we also sold garden furniture and the like). And I really wrote to say that my experience chimed with David's (below), who's American, and generally with the experiences of the architects who've commented: <B>pavers</B> are ornamental in some way, whereas <B>paving stones</B>, or <B>paving slabs</B>, are what makes up a pavement/sidewalk when it isn't just poured concrete.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-17712671586599537812008-07-25T12:28:00.000+01:002008-07-25T12:28:00.000+01:00There are several names for rural or semi-rural fo...There are several names for rural or semi-rural footpaths in the UK.<BR/>'Lane' would describe a dirt path between two fields, too narrow to drive a car or cart along, perhaps tarmacked nowadays - sometimes the name persists in a city even if the lane is now a fully-fledged street ( e.g. St Martin's Lane in London - the big church at the south end, i.e. in Trafalgar Square, is St Martin's in the Fields, and so it was in 1720!). Similar words are 'loke' in Norwich and 'loan' in Scotland.<BR/><BR/>'Close' is a good one - used by 20-thC planners to describe a cul-de-sac or short street of houses with only one entrance - in Scotland it refers to the enclosed common area of a block of flats. These are not always enclosed by doors, so that it is an extension of the street, and may go straight through to the back. Staircases lead up to the individual flats. <BR/><BR/>'Alley' has a more urban feel to it - it usually runs between two buidings or along the back of a street of houses.<BR/><BR/>A towpath runs alongside a canal and would be where the horse (or man) walked to tow along a narrow boat or barge. Many of these are now metalled, and used as cycle routes.<BR/><BR/>Then there are bridle paths, definitely rural and specific for mounted horses (and pedestrians) only. These would definitely be earth - or mud - underfoot.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-11983045625442264402008-07-24T23:25:00.000+01:002008-07-24T23:25:00.000+01:00There's also a street in London called Finsbury Pa...There's also a street in London called Finsbury Pavement.Ginger Yellowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06103410278129312943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-12273273926168491732008-07-24T20:58:00.000+01:002008-07-24T20:58:00.000+01:00Just to confuse matters a little more, there is a ...Just to confuse matters a little more, there is a street in York called 'Pavement' - and it has both English and US pavements. It does show that the US sense of pavement was known here too, once.pandophttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12499439566627693699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-45419081053597489152008-07-24T17:01:00.000+01:002008-07-24T17:01:00.000+01:00"sidewalk chalk" would probably get you an ASBO in..."sidewalk chalk" would probably get you an ASBO in the UK these days.Ginger Yellowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06103410278129312943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-31844079811890093702008-07-24T15:53:00.000+01:002008-07-24T15:53:00.000+01:00I'm from Central New Jersey, but after college I m...I'm from Central New Jersey, but after college I moved to the PA Dutch Country and started teaching pre-school. We referred to the playground as "macadam", whereas I'd have called it "blacktop", so perhaps shortening tarmacadam to "macadam" is a PA thing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-48158319415464997392008-07-24T01:07:00.000+01:002008-07-24T01:07:00.000+01:00While the children upstairs from us do write on th...While the children upstairs from us do write on the pavement with chalk, I believe they do it with chalk from school. If the equivalent of 'sidewalk chalk' is marketed here, it's not done as successfully as it is in the States. But also UK shoppers would be less apt to buy such things (and UK shops/stores less likely to stock such things) because no one has space for big tubs of chalk.lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-36317907897920531132008-07-24T00:56:00.000+01:002008-07-24T00:56:00.000+01:00My first comment linked a couple of unrelated thou...My first comment linked a couple of unrelated thoughts. Sorry. <BR/><BR/>To clarify - I am an American now living in New Zealand. <BR/><BR/>When I was growing up in the US, we would often draw on the sidewalk in front of our house. <BR/><BR/>We did this with 'sidewalk chalk', which is the same as regular chalk-board chalk, except thicker in diameter, sometimes longer, and by default available as a multi-colored pack (like crayons) instead of all white. <BR/><BR/>As I think back, I'm pretty sure that what we <I> used </I> was often bits and pieces of regular chalk that my parents filched from the University, but we always <I> called </I> it 'sidewalk chalk'<BR/><BR/>I was wondering if british children use 'pavement chalk' or if they don't have a special word for it or don't engage in the practice of drawing on the sidewalk at all.<BR/><BR/>I don't know what New Zealand Children do. I haven't seen any evidence of sidewalk drawing by the kids in our neighborhood, though.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-23113321631313737752008-07-23T22:34:00.000+01:002008-07-23T22:34:00.000+01:00@the_sybil.I was trying to think of a word for the...@the_sybil.<BR/>I was trying to think of a word for the passageways that exist between most back gardens (AmE backyards) in the UK, but apparently seldom in the US. Twitten is perfect.<BR/>Here in Florida we do not have the walls and fences of the UK in frontyards. Thus neighbors can, in a pinch, park on each others' driveways or swards, depending on who's having the party. But it's our backyards which are firmly chainlinked one against t'other, with no twitten in between.<BR/>So, how did the twitten become the standard architecture in the UK?<BR/>Could it have something to do with the legal definition of "Public Footpath"?<BR/><BR/>(Gawd alone knows who I'll be this time.)<BR/><BR/>(Never mind. This is Peter. I see juycl. I see choose an identity. After that, I leave it to the gods.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com