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I think this usage is dying out in British English in much the same way as the word "auto" for car. People still speak of "mobile networks" and "auto dealership
by dTal 10y ago
I think this usage is dying out in British English in much the same way as the word "auto" for car. People still speak of "mobile networks" and "auto dealerships", but they buy "phones" and "cars".
- gmac 10y agoMaybe this is a regional thing, but I'm British and I'm not sure I've ever heard a first language British English speaker use the word "auto" for a car. I'd have said that was purely an Americanism.
- eslaught 10y agoI'm a native speaker of American English (California dialect) and I have never heard another native speaker use "auto" for a car except in the context of "auto dealership".
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- dTal 10y agoI think you're right. I am dual nationality US/UK so sometimes I tend to cross my metaphors. Perhaps a better, British example would be the word "motor" instead of "auto". Used in words like "motorway", but I've never heard anyone actually use it to mean "car" outside of 80s cockney rap. (Which is apparently a thing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/'Ullo_John!_Gotta_New_Motor%3F https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/'Ullo_John!_Gotta_New_Motor%3F)
- pbhjpbhj 10y agoI've heard "motor" used quite frequently for "car", but only ever hear it from my 70yo father now (UK English).
- mijoharas 10y agoI've most commonly heard motor as referring to an engine (UK english). I'd say a good example might be from french, with the formal and correct "voiture" not commonly being used, with the less formal "bagnole" being much more common.
- hultner 10y agoMotor is the only word used for engine in Swedish, I believe it's the same in other nordic languages.
- Boothroid 10y agoNah, still pretty widely used in certain circles - even to the extent that you can have a car sales site called motors and it be obvious: http://www.motors.co.uk/ http://www.motors.co.uk/
- dTal 10y agoWell that's certainly an interesting example - that website uses the word "car" in every instance except the domain name. I think as a usage it's regarded as vaguely old fashioned and twee. For comparison here's https://www.mobiles.co.uk/ https://www.mobiles.co.uk/ - again, in every instance the noun is either "phone" or the fully qualified "mobile phone".
- kbenson 10y agoI think you misinterpreted the point. As I read it, "car" and "phone" are the terms Americans (and others) use, and that the British sometimes used "auto" and "mobile" but that usage is dying out (which doesn't conflict with you not having heard it). As an American, "car" and "phone" are definitely the norm. The only time I've ever heard "mobile" is as a prefix to phone, so "mobile phone". It's sometimes used on forms to distinguish between home, work and mobile numbers (like I just did).
- gerdesj 10y ago"Auto" maybe but "mobile" and "phone" are definitely equally used synonyms along with "mobe" in all the areas of the UK that I have been to (most). "Landline" is seeing a resurgence as general parlance for the thing gathering dust, which used to be simply _the_ phone.
- gerdesj 10y agoI concur - native en_GB speaker here. Auto(mobile) is probably avoided as a general synonym for car because we use "automatic" to differentiate from the default "manual" AKA "stick-shift". Having said that, this is probably only modern usage. The AA (Automobile Association) and RAC (Royal Automobile Club) both feature "automobile" in their names and are both well over 100 years old. I suppose (without doing any research) car is probably short for carriage.
- angry_octet 10y agoMuch more likely to say "motor".