Add to the list: --"Pressures" is how a British rider refers to (high pressure) clinchers. Saying "clincher" will get a pause and a blank look (and not just because it's a kind of misnomer even in US english). --"Tubs" is how a British rider refers to tubulers or sew-ups. Saying "sew-ups" will get you a blank look around Hearne Hill. --"Campag" is how a British rider abbreviates Campagnolo. As an Amerincan here in Britain years ago I described a new track bike as being set up to b e "Campy." My club mates asked me if I was going to paint it pink and ride it wearing fish-net tights and heels. --and "Bonk" in Britain doesn't mean to run low on blood sugar or "hit the wall" as in the US. In Britain I've heard that called "the knock" amoung other things, whereas to "bonk" refers to having sexual intercourse. When a club-mate reported that he'd done a tough training ride to Brighton and had to stay overnight, I asked him if he'd bonked. He pause for a moment, then said, "well yes, actually." He showed some amazement at the forward questions yanks will ask.
Mitch Harris lately back in London, UK
On 11/29/05, Emanuel Lowi <lowiemanuel@yahoo.ca> wrote:
>
> Peter Kohler wrote:
>
> > Now, here's a question: the CR List has more than
> > its share of Italophiles.
> > And no one can doubt Italy's contribution to our
> > thing. But what commonly
> > used cycling words or phrases are actually Italian?
> > So much of the cycling
> > parlance is decidely French. Not to mention the
> > name of this very group.
>
> In America. In Italy, most cycling terms are in
> Italian.
>
> The real question is why in America are so many
> commonly used cycling terms French. Snobbism? In the
> USA, where French people have been rather scarce since
> the days of Lafayette, any use of the language of
> Moliere is associated with some sort of air of
> superiority.
>
> Italians, rather commonly found in the USA for about a
> century in the working class strata, are more easily
> associated with pizza and the like, hardly the stuff
> of the elitist trappings some Americans aspire
> towards.
>
> In college in New England (where I raced for
> Brandeis), my classmates and team mates loved to get
> me to say anything in French for them. As an
> Anglophone Quebecer escaping from French language
> laws, this always tickled me silly.
>
> Emanuel Lowi
> Montreal