Motor or Engine

[twall]

Here it is:

It has been said that a MOTOR is electric powered and an ENGINE is internal combustion.

WHY do so many people call ENGINES MOTORS ??????

Why is it MOTOR Sports ????

Why is it a MOTORcycle with a Gas ENGINE ????


:wink: :confused2: :confused3: :anyone:

Are you implying that those of us that occasionally interchange the motor and engine designation are ignorant fools, and those who use them "correctly" are learned fools? :wink:

What about an engine lathe? That's powered by an electric motor! Where's the 'engine' in "engine lathe"?

FYI, an "engine" can also pull cars down a railroad track.....:wink: and they were around BEFORE internal combustion....correct? The moniker 'engine' was stolen from "STEAM engine"...:laughing:....so the word 'engine' itself is a total bastardization, because they didn't know what else to call it. So, I see no problem using another word, motor, to describe them. :biggrin:

Your teacher roots are showing, BK.....:laughing:

EDIT: "Engine lathe" probably refers to when these things came out - the geared lathe, and were powered by a steam engine and wide belt, like every piece of power equipment was during the industrial revolution. Also, although the thing that pulls cars down a track is an "engine", it is not JUST the steam engine - it is a frame, wheels, controls, etc......

In general, people who get hung up on this kinda thing annoy me (it's kinda elitist hair-splitting) - but I annoy them back by continuing to do it...:biggrin:

I gotta go start the motor on my mower now.....:tongue:

 

[BKBrown]

Not implying or inferring anything -- just asking to promote conversation (keyboarding or entering answers). :biggrin:

LIKE, I'm not DONE I'm Finished. Done is cooked, Finished is completed !

That's not the teacher, it's the student that had those things drummed into me !

 

[twall]

Not implying or inferring anything -- just asking to promote conversation (keyboarding or entering answers). :biggrin:

LIKE, I'm not DONE I'm Finished. Done is cooked, Finished is completed !

That's not the teacher, it's the student that had those things drummed into me !

Actually, 'done' is a southern US adverb.......

"I'm done finished".

"I'm done goin to the mawl........"

"I'm gonna done wreck his dumb a$$"

Etc, etc, etc,

:biggrin:

 

[BKBrown]

I done it - we done it - he done it - she done it - they done it - we all done it - Y'all !

Y'all done went n did it this time !

:laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

 

[twall]

I done it - we done it - he done it - she done it - they done it - we all done it - Y'all !

Y'all done went n did it this time !

:laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

Done, (or correctly spelled, dun) I take it is interchangeacle with it's northern cousin "fer real". Although, 'fer real' is more often used AFTER the verb, rather than before it, as in 'dun' (and is, more often than not, accompanied by 'like').

Example - Southern: I'm dun goin to the m'all, y'all"

Northern: Im going to the mall, like, fer REAL today. ("So" may be inserted before the verb for intensity's sake....aka I'm SO goin to the mall, like for REAL today)

Simply added as intensifiers to the spice we add to the English language, when we either can't find the correct word, or just need a verbal pause - so no one else can get a word in edgewise (cause we're still making noise).

 

[indypower]

So should we now refer to Detroit as "Engine City"?

 

[mystreba]

QUOTE=twall;22004]Actually, 'done' is a southern US adverb.......[/QUOTE]

Ain't no dang adverb! It's a genuine, honest-to-gawd verb - past tense of "to do". As in - "I done it". When you expand on what it is (that thing you actually done), then you get something like "I done [went and fixed that motor]".

:wink:

It's filler, 's what it is. Stuck all unparticular-like into the middle of a sentence to take up slack, as you say. Fer real. Ayuh.

 

[BKBrown]

Aayup - allus shuda bin ! :tongue:

So should we now refer to Detroit as "Engine City"?

 

[twall]

Aayup - allus shuda bin ! :tongue:

No no no.....it's "internal combustion engine city" to differentiate from "steam engine city" if you'd like to REALLY split some hairs.........

I personally think "MOTOR city" works just fine, the perfectionists be damned!

 

[BKBrown]

It's perfectly fine with me if it is called The Motor City !

I just sarted this to see if it was only me who wondered about this !

I guess I'm not the only one ! :thumbsup: