Random Language Question
Random Language Question
(OP)
Why is the surface of an airport referred to as tarmac when is most cases is it either concrete or asphalt pavement?
I thought it was a runway, taxiway or parking area.
Just curious.
I thought it was a runway, taxiway or parking area.
Just curious.





RE: Random Language Question
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tarmac
I believe asphalt is generally cheaper than concrete for roads or the like so back before A/C got so heavy may have been a more common choice.
"On the Tarmac" is emphasizing the fact it's on the ground (be it runway, taxiway or ramp) rather than in its natural environment - the air.
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?
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Why do some people refer to vacuum cleaners as "Hoovers" or to "Hoovering"?
I'd guess there are a lot of specifics that have become generics.
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
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the old joke after a hard landing was "that wasn't the pilot's fault, and it wasn't the control tower's fault, it was the asphalt."
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Macadam was a method of road construction using an aggregate and binder. It was invented by a guy named Macadam.
Tarmac is a shortening of "Tar-Macadam" which was macadam road construction using tar as the binder.
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Why do people refer to "sewerage" when they mean "sewage" (and vice versa)?
Why do people refer to "iron" when they mean "steel"?
There are many, many technical terms with specific meanings which are abused and / or mangled by the general public. Get used to it!
(But I am less forgiving when it is an engineer who uses the wrong term - I dream that one day I will have educated all mechanical and electrical engineers as to the difference between "cement" and concrete"!)
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Similarly, we can still call it an 'iron' even though it's made of plastic and aluminium, or we can call it a 'glass' even if it's made of plastic.
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JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
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- Steve
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http://
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drawn to design, designed to draw
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Any you are worried about "tarmac"??
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If we learn from our mistakes I'm getting a great education!
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As another noted, Tarmac is used to denote asphalt pavement. Most airfields, aprons, and staging areas on airfields are concrete...nothing to do with Tarmac...yet the news people insist on mis-using the term.
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Tarmac IS an alternative word for runway, apron etc. You have nailed the engineering definition, but English word usage isn't so easy to confine.
(Do you want to argue against the use of 'apron' because it's not made of fabric?)
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Ron, your first sentence hits right on the mark. I hear newscasters referring to vibratory rollers as 'steam' rollers and any kind of digging equipment as 'steam' shovels. Even my SO who should know better recently referred to a cutting torch as a blow torch. I made the mistake of correcting him..........
"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance!"
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But "high tension" power transmission lines are called that because for for some inexplicable reason "tension" meant voltage when discussing electricity back in the day.
Maybe because people were still nervous about working around electricity and as the voltage increased they got more tense?
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A jackhammer is a drill.
or Bulldozers when they are looking at a front end loader / TLB (known in the UK at least as a JCB (after the inventor)
Stephen Argles
Land & Marine
www.landandmarine.com
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Pronunciation: \ˈjak-ˌha-mər\
Function: noun
Date: 1916
1 : a pneumatically operated percussive rock-drilling tool usually held in the hands
2 : a device in which a tool (as a chisel for breaking up pavements) is driven percussively by compressed air
I think we are starting to split hairs here.
"Good to know you got shoes to wear when you find the floor." - Robert Hunter
RE: Random Language Question
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?
RE: Random Language Question
"Good to know you got shoes to wear when you find the floor." - Robert Hunter
RE: Random Language Question
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?
RE: Random Language Question
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?
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- Steve
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did they disenfranchise Alessandro Volta? is there a French scientist's name they use instead?