pc39

Good morning Hogs. Here is my two penn'orth:
All of us Brits have agreed that the stuff we put into our cars (US = automobiles) we shall call petrol. It is derived from petroleum which from the Latin means oil from stone. My schoolboy Latin of 60 years ago is no longer good enough to quote the etymological details. Paraffin also is derived from the Latin: para affinis - loosely translated as little reactivity. Paraffins are a group of chemicals called hydrocarbons which chemically are unreactive, such as methane, propane, butane, pentane etc. etc. If you get them hot enough, they will, of course, react with the oxygen in the air to form water and carbon dioxide - i.e. burn.

On some of our service station forecourts (US = gasoline shops or stores?) we do have a gas which we call LPG - Liquefied Petroleum Gas. What do our American brethren call this? I'm sure that, in any emergency, any Fire Brigade would like to be forewarned as to whether they are dealing with petrol or LPG - so how does America differentiate between the two? By quoting UN Numbers?

Diesel fuel aka DERV (diesel engine road vehicle) presumably is named for Dr Rudolf Diesel, who was said to be inventor of the internal combustion engine. Why his name should be applied to this particular fraction of hydrocarbons I do not Know. Can anyone oblige?

Finally: In spite of all temptations to belong to other nations, I remain an Englishman! For I myself have said it, and it's greatly to my credit.................

pc39

viscountdriver Loc: East Kent UK

As usual,a perfectly sensible start to the forum has resulted in insults being traded.It could be argued that since you use a foreign countries language you should accept the rules.Before I am insulted let me say I don't believe that.Language evolves,for instance some Yiddish words have entered and used.the US often uses sensible spelling a Z instead of a S and so on.
Read Shakespeare to see ow the language has changed.even in our own country things are different.A Londener may have a problem with someone from Newcastle or Glasgow and a cockney uses words not understood by others.hh

Shakey Loc: Traveling again to Norway and other places.

Thanks for the final words in your post, rmorrison. I did not state that you considered America as the home of the English language. I do not insinuate. I try to be objective. The words I used were, "America is not the home of the English language as many think." This is a common misconception, which was not directed at you personally. I understand your feelings of injustice but on this occasion perhaps you misunderstood my intention. In which case I apologize for failing to make my intention clear. Have a wonderful day.