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Subject: 
Re: Autoroute!=Towing, right?
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.db.brictionary
Date: 
Tue, 10 Sep 2002 21:29:05 GMT
Viewed: 
3472 times
  
In lugnet.db.brictionary, William R. Ward writes:
"Pedro Silva" <el_gordo@netc.pt> writes:
In lugnet.db.brictionary, Larry Pieniazek writes:
While we are considering a change, I'd actually like to stump for autobahn
rather than autoroute. Although it's a German word, it's almost universally
understood to mean freeway (or interstate, or limited access dual
carriageway, or motorway, or autostrada, or whatever), no matter the
language. Thus it's potentially superior to autoroute, which I had never
heard of before, and I suspect most american speakers haven't.

I submit it's the most universal word for this concept the planet has. Even
if it isn't english.

I disagree, outside of Central Europe the word is not much known; the French
alternative is more common in the ROTW.
Besides, the French word is much more recogniseable for speakers of other
languages. "Bahn" is not at all clear outside of the German speaking
nations, it's too "unsimilar" to any other word with the same meaning. OTOH,
"route" has roughly the same meaning both in French and English, apart from
being easily understood in other languages.

I think that most Americans would know immediately what "autobahn"
means.  But I can't speak for people anywhere else.  In the US, the
autobahns are infamous for their lack of a speed limit.  That makes
most American drivers very jealous.  (Of course, many do have a speed
limit, but that's not widely known here.)

Note that "freeway" is not unversally used in the US, though I would
say it is unversally recognized.

How about a different approach - "Overpass Logo"?  Is the word
"overpass" used worldwide?  (If not, it means a bridge that carries a
road over a freeway/autoroute/autobahn/whatever).

I just ran a search on google, and it gave me a new word which I think can
be of universal understanding: Expressway!
Here's the link:
http://www.ideamerge.com/motoeuropa/roadsigns/

(Please note that the background of the sign is usually blue, not green -
AFAIK, green backgrounds are only used in some parts of Europe AND for
destination signs)

And another one (this one is from France):
http://www.ideamerge.com/motoeuropa/roadsigns/


Pedro



Message has 2 Replies:
  Re: Autoroute!=Towing, right?
 
(...) pretty widely understood all over the US. (...) In the US, they're always green. Blue is only used for indicating services available at a destination (food, gas, lodging, hospital, etc.). (Brown is used to mark recreational destinations.) (...) (22 years ago, 10-Sep-02, to lugnet.db.brictionary)
  Re: Autoroute!=Towing, right?
 
(...) I don't know about "universal in the US", but freeway is generally used in this area (Michigan). But "expressway" is more universal, since it includes limited access dual carriageways which require tolls for usage. (...) Americans (esp. (...) (22 years ago, 11-Sep-02, to lugnet.db.brictionary)

Message is in Reply To:
  Re: Autoroute!=Towing, right?
 
(...) I think that most Americans would know immediately what "autobahn" means. But I can't speak for people anywhere else. In the US, the autobahns are infamous for their lack of a speed limit. That makes most American drivers very jealous. (Of (...) (22 years ago, 10-Sep-02, to lugnet.db.brictionary)

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