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From: John Cowan <cowan@ccil.org>
Subject: Re: Influence(?) of American English and American Spanish on Each Other
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Date: Fri, 18 Oct 1996 19:02:39 GMT
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Simon Buck wrote:

> I feel either circularity or convergence coming on, but how would you
> suggest a N.American English speaker should refer to a motorway, if not
> by using the word <motorway>?

By using one of his/her native terms:  "freeway", "expressway",
"thruway",
etc.  (Note that the standard spelling "thruway" doesn't mean that we
spell
"through" as "thru" in other connections, as many Brits seem to
believe!)  "Motorway" is not American English except when referring to
an
exotic object.

> I think the term <autobahn> is well understood and widely used in
> English. It isn"t the same thing as a motorway (even ignoring location),
> as qualitatively different regulations (eg, speed limit) apply, so what
> should we call it?

When speaking to someone who doesn't know the word _Autobahn_, I would
have no problem referring to a "German expressway", since "expressway"
is the most neutral term in my dialect of A.E.

-- 
John Cowan						cowan@ccil.org
			e'osai ko sarji la lojban
