6 ms·

Maybe 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 hav

by gmac 9y ago

Maybe 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 9y ago
I'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 9y ago
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dTal 9y ago
I 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 9y ago
  I've heard "motor" used quite frequently for "car", but only ever hear it from my 70yo father now (UK English).
- mijoharas 9y ago
  I'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 9y ago
    Motor is the only word used for engine in Swedish, I believe it's the same in other nordic languages.
- Boothroid 9y ago
  Nah, 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 9y ago
    Well 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 9y ago
I 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 9y 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 9y ago
I 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 9y ago
Much more likely to say "motor".

by gmac 9y ago

Maybe 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 9y ago

I'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 9y ago

[deleted]

dTal 9y ago

I 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 9y ago
I've heard "motor" used quite frequently for "car", but only ever hear it from my 70yo father now (UK English).
mijoharas 9y ago
I'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 9y ago
  Motor is the only word used for engine in Swedish, I believe it's the same in other nordic languages.
Boothroid 9y ago
Nah, 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 9y ago
  Well 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 9y ago

I 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 9y 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 9y ago

I 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 9y ago

Much more likely to say "motor".