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Topic: "Concourse" vs. "Concours"

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Leeedy

Re: "Concourse" vs. "Concours"

#11

Home away from home

Quote:

Ozstatman wrote:
Or Hood or Bonnet

Or Trunk or Boot

Or Fender or Mudguard or Wing

Or Wrench or Spanner

Or .........

Or .........

Where will it end?

Ahhh... now we're getting into mistaken automotive terms and then automotive terms as they exist in North America versus other parts of the world. This is a whole different territory from "concourse" versus "Concours" or "concours." Americans using the term "concourse" are just plain mistaken and really mean "Concours" or "concours"... period. Just like some people in the USA are now calling a race with Indy cars a "Grand Prix"... which ought to make traditional fans of Formula One cringe. But the territorial and national automotive terminologies are quite another thing.

Having worked nearly twenty years for a famous Japanese car maker-and then two years more for another famous Japanese car maker, I can clarify a lot of this issue. At one point I served (among my other various capacities) as Senior Technical Writer for North America. I can tell you that the Japanese I worked with were continually perplexed and confused by terminologies in English-speaking countries. They were laboring under the notion that English is English. But automotive terms in the English language are not universal in English-speaking parts of the world.

Americans say one thing, British may use a completely different term. Canadians might spell or pronounce some things one way, people in the USA another way. And things got more confusing when the Japanese were struggling to comprehend Australian terms and pronunciations. At one point, things were in such a stir that I was placed in charge of new model training for Australia in addition to North America. I finally took it upon myself to write a complete glossary of terms as they exist in all these areas. I drew up columns and under each, I listed automotive terms, what they meant and where they were used. For instance, a "boot" in the U.K. and much of the rest of the world is what those in the USA would call a "trunk." Whereas, in American automotive terminology, a "boot" is actually the cover for a lowered convertible top! And on and on.

More on this later...

Posted on: 2020/1/2 22:29

Leeedy

Re: "Concourse" vs. "Concours"

#12

Home away from home

Quote:

JoeSantana wrote:
I think you mean Gran Prix, not Grand Prix, Leon; but, whatever, this is neither the time nor the place for such musings.

As American sophisticates, we pronounce French words in French.

The British are less sacrosanct pronouncing many French words phonetically, such as 'fillet,' pronounced as at the petrol station: Fill it.

They do pronounce Packard as if it were French, PacKARD, so give them one for that.

I don't think you read what I wrote. I meant exactly what I said and exactly what I wrote. No one is in position to correct me on this-or to change or spin what I meant to say. Dare I also say I lived in Canada part of my life and have Canadian relatives?

I wrote: "Just like some people in the USA are now calling a race with Indy cars a "Grand Prix"... which ought to make traditional fans of Formula One cringe." I have been to several of these races over the years IN the USA and people were calling them "Grand Prix" and the signs and print matter did likewise. I'm not hallucinating. So it is pointless to single me out and correct ME on this. I'm not mistaken, nor am I the one saying this or printing up the signs and tickets.

Of course none of this has anything directly to do with Packard. But I didn't start the thread and out of all of those commenting, why is MY comment out of place and others aren't??? Whether this is the time or place to "muse" about anything ought to be up to the guy who runs the site.

OR... if what I say on here is unwelcome, then I can just stop commenting, period. Your slips are showing, Joe.

Posted on: 2020/1/4 5:31

Guscha

Re: "Concourse" vs. "Concours"

#13

Home away from home

Michael (JoeSantana), how could you do that? Honestly! No one is in position to correct him on this. Be so kind to align your thoughts and actions with the principles of Ingsoc* by making "all other modes of thought impossible." [Nineteen Eighty-Four, novel by George Orwell]

*Ingsoc: for when Stalin is too libertarian for you

Posted on: 2020/1/4 8:55

The story of ZIS-110, ZIS-115, ZIL-111 & Chaika GAZ-13 on www.guscha.de

Tim Cole

Re: "Concourse" vs. "Concours"

#14

Home away from home

An unfortunate term that first entered the dictionary in 1950. I hate it. As I do all French terms used by people who think usage thereof makes them sound sophisticated.

Posted on: 2020/1/4 9:42

BigKev

Re: "Concourse" vs. "Concours"

#15

Webmaster

Language changes and morphs all the time. Just look at any books written 100, 200 or 300 years ago. Cultural changes, slang, influences from other languages all shape and will continue to shape how we speak.

The word I always found interesting was Deluxe. Which if you look less than a 100 years even in the automotive industry was "De Luxe", which is French "of Luxury", but rather quickly morphed into the single word "Deluxe".

Posted on: 2020/1/4 10:04

-BigKev

1954 Packard Clipper Deluxe Touring Sedan -> Registry | Project Blog

1937 Packard 115-C Convertible Coupe -> Registry | Project Blog

Leeedy

Re: "Concourse" vs. "Concours"

#16

Home away from home

Quote:

Guscha wrote:
Michael (JoeSantana), how could you do that? Honestly! No one is in position to correct him on this. Be so kind to align your thoughts and actions with the principles of Ingsoc* by making "all other modes of thought impossible." [Nineteen Eighty-Four, novel by George Orwell]

*Ingsoc: for when Stalin is too libertarian for you

Hello there under the bridge. There is more than just one slip showing on this site. But I assure you, if your slip is showing, I have nothing to do with it. And this selectivity isn't the Twilight Zone or George Orwell (the notion of which works two ways-unless you are operating under a bias and otherwise handicapped)-or Stalin and his ZIS. I know exactly what you're all about... some of which definitely isn't Packards-and we both know this. You can fool some of the people some of the time (and perhaps do it well)... but you can't fool all of the people-all of the time.

Posted on: 2020/1/4 10:56

Packard Newbie

Re: "Concourse" vs. "Concours"

#17

Home away from home

Quote:

OR... if what I say on here is unwelcome, then I can just stop commenting, period.

Leeedy, (Leon) I always read your posts with interest and I respect your point of view. One of the reasons P.I. IS such a great site is that we can, and do, sometimes 'colour outside the lines' in our threads and posts and DO get a bit off specific Packard topic. The only issue with this is that it sometimes gets heated and incensed. This thread seemed particularly 'fragile' in that regard, and it seems to have gone 'over the waterfall'. The written word is so different from oral exchanges in that a) it is indelible and permanent and b) it lacks emotion and inflection compared to spoken exchanges. I would hope we can all get 'sorted' here and back to some semblance of civility. I am not familiar with the 'your slip is showing' expression, and truly hope mine isn't as well (whatever it means) but I will say that a collective deep breath might be in order here so things don't go any more sideways. And please, don't stop commenting Leeedy! Chris

Posted on: 2020/1/4 13:20

'If you think you can, or you think you can't - you're right!' Henry Ford.
1939 Packard Six, Model 1700

Steve

Re: "Concourse" vs. "Concours"

#18

Home away from home

Who or what is a "slip"? Put into context please.

Posted on: 2020/1/4 23:01

Steve
Old cars are my passion

1951 Packard 200
1953 Packard Clipper Custom Touring Sedan
1955 Dodge Custom Royal Lancer Tri-tone
1966 Rambler Classic 770 Convertible

Joe Santana

Re: "Concourse" vs. "Concours"

#19

Home away from home

So as not to usurp the etymological, historical and cultural derivation that may be coming, a slip is a women's secondary undergarment. If its straps can be seen at the top or the hem can be seen at the bottom because it is longer than the skirt or dress being worn, the slip is said to be showing.

Saying a slip (always singular) is showing is saying that an error in conduct or some moral transgression has been made.

Posted on: 2020/1/5 14:14