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It is worth stating (because the word bylaw is not always understood) that a bylaw (by- is the Scandinavian word for "city", "town" or "village" depending on wh
by memsom 3y ago
It is worth stating (because the word bylaw is not always understood) that a bylaw (by- is the Scandinavian word for "city", "town" or "village" depending on which modern Scandinavian language you use as your source) is basically a local law. It is not universal. It exists in a single place, and although they can be similar in many locations, they are strictly only applicable in the specific municipality that has them on the "books". They are usually boring things like "dogs must not foul in the streets" and "cyclists may not ride on the pavement (sidewalk in US usage)"... but some are really weird.
I guess the US does use bylaw, but it seems to always be rules and regulations that companies make. This is very much an actual law that will see you fined and potentially in court if you break them.
- efitz 3y ago> I guess the US does use bylaw, but it seems to always be rules and regulations that companies make. In the USA we call local laws “ordinances”. In US English, “by-law” relates to a set of rules associated with a contractually-created body, like a homeowners association.
- werdnapk 3y agoIn Canada, it's bylaws and not ordinances made by local government.
- kalupa 3y agoand they're called by-laws when set by a condo or strata, too! (in Canada)
- colanderman 3y agoThe US (New England) town I live in calls them bylaws.
- red-iron-pine 3y agothe state and local level can call them whatever they want, which is why a lot of older, eastern states in the US have definitions for things like hamlets. the Dillon Rule lets the states define that however they want, and the FedGov ain't setting local HOA rules.
- 1234letshaveatw 3y agoThe FedGov is if you take into account stuff like satellite dishes
- jkaplowitz 3y agoAnd in NYC, local laws are quite literally called local laws. These bits of terminology vary widely across the US.
- rich_sasha 3y agoAh, that's cool, I didn't realise the etymology. UK east coast has a lot of place names ending in '-by', supposedly from Danish invasions around 10th century (for example Grimsby), it's nice to see there's a link.
- BoxOfRain 3y agoPresumably 'by-election' comes from the same place too.
- jack_riminton 3y agoGood point!
- rsynnott 3y agoThough to confuse the issue... https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/railway-byelaws https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/railway-byelaws (These are actually a part of national law, but scoped to railway travel.)