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Fun linguistic quirk: Americans tend to call it a "wiring harness", whereas Brits prefer "loom"

by MengerSponge 7mo ago

Dan_- 7mo ago
So what do you call the tubing around the wire bundle? That’s what we call “loom”.
- stackghost 7mo ago
  In Canada we generally call it the sleeve, or the wrap.
  - MengerSponge 7mo ago
    I'd understand either of those, but I'd go with "tubing" https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/c/electrical/wire-cable/tubing-molded-parts/heat-shrink/i/automotive/ https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/c/electrical/wire-cable/tubing...
    - pitaj 7mo ago
      That's heat shrink tubing, but we're talking about one of these: [1]: https://www.holley.com/products/engine/engine_dress_up/hoses_and_coverings/parts/573-109 https://www.holley.com/products/engine/engine_dress_up/hoses... [2]: https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/dorman-conduct-tite/lighting---electrical/connectors---terminals/wire-conduit---looming/a5915b122640/dorman-conduct-tite-3-8-inch-black-wire-conduit/cti0/86663 https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/dorman-conduct-tite/lig...
      - MengerSponge 7mo ago
        For performance vehicles I used adhesive-lined heat shrink tubing for basically everything. [1] Braided tubing and [2] conduit, respectively.
Hackbraten 7mo ago
And, of course, Germans have a dedicated composite noun for it: Kabelbaum (literal translation: cable tree).
- thrownthatway 7mo ago
  I always like to point out that Germans don’t, in fact, have a word for everything. It’s just a phrase or sentence with spaces removed. Knowhatimsayin.
  - shaftway 7mo ago
    In German that's called Wortbildungsfähigkeit, or in English, WordStructureCapability
nandomrumber 7mo ago
As a result of this and the child comments… As an Australian. I often find myself saying things like “the wiring hardness, or loom, or cable, or whatever were calling it this week”. Exasperated by living in a state other than the one I grew up in. South Australians are often easily spotted by their pronunciation of certain words.

Fun linguistic quirk: Americans tend to call it a "wiring harness", whereas Brits prefer "loom"

Dan_- 7mo ago

So what do you call the tubing around the wire bundle? That’s what we call “loom”.

stackghost 7mo ago
In Canada we generally call it the sleeve, or the wrap.
- MengerSponge 7mo ago
  I'd understand either of those, but I'd go with "tubing" https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/c/electrical/wire-cable/tubing-molded-parts/heat-shrink/i/automotive/ https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/c/electrical/wire-cable/tubing...
  - pitaj 7mo ago
    That's heat shrink tubing, but we're talking about one of these: [1]: https://www.holley.com/products/engine/engine_dress_up/hoses_and_coverings/parts/573-109 https://www.holley.com/products/engine/engine_dress_up/hoses... [2]: https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/dorman-conduct-tite/lighting---electrical/connectors---terminals/wire-conduit---looming/a5915b122640/dorman-conduct-tite-3-8-inch-black-wire-conduit/cti0/86663 https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/dorman-conduct-tite/lig...
    - MengerSponge 7mo ago
      For performance vehicles I used adhesive-lined heat shrink tubing for basically everything. [1] Braided tubing and [2] conduit, respectively.

Hackbraten 7mo ago

And, of course, Germans have a dedicated composite noun for it: Kabelbaum (literal translation: cable tree).

thrownthatway 7mo ago
I always like to point out that Germans don’t, in fact, have a word for everything. It’s just a phrase or sentence with spaces removed. Knowhatimsayin.
- shaftway 7mo ago
  In German that's called Wortbildungsfähigkeit, or in English, WordStructureCapability

nandomrumber 7mo ago

As a result of this and the child comments… As an Australian. I often find myself saying things like “the wiring hardness, or loom, or cable, or whatever were calling it this week”. Exasperated by living in a state other than the one I grew up in. South Australians are often easily spotted by their pronunciation of certain words.