My Dilemma - American and British terms Thread poster: Michelangela
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Michelangela
United States
Local time: 09:47
German to English
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As American English speaker, where should I address questions such as: what is the every-day British term for
"gas station"?
Is it petrol station /gasoline station / service station / filling station?
Back to my dilemma, this is for me a pro L10n question. But every British native speaker knows the answer. So, how can I get around pro / non-pro problematic, that I'm sure would trigger immediate re-classification actions by some individuals.
[Edited at 2013... See more As American English speaker, where should I address questions such as: what is the every-day British term for
"gas station"?
Is it petrol station /gasoline station / service station / filling station?
Back to my dilemma, this is for me a pro L10n question. But every British native speaker knows the answer. So, how can I get around pro / non-pro problematic, that I'm sure would trigger immediate re-classification actions by some individuals.
[Edited at 2013-04-21 19:21 GMT]
[Edited at 2013-04-21 19:22 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | | | Do you actually want an answer to that question? | Apr 21, 2013 |
Just in case, and to save time:
Gasoline station: NO, not in the UK, although we do understand the term!
Service station: on the motorway, but this means that not only can you fill you car, you can also get a coffee, etc
Petrol station: slight misnomer, since it does sell diesel too, but very common, as is
Filling station: standard use
This link, for instance, shows both petrol and filling station used virtually "in the same bre... See more Just in case, and to save time:
Gasoline station: NO, not in the UK, although we do understand the term!
Service station: on the motorway, but this means that not only can you fill you car, you can also get a coffee, etc
Petrol station: slight misnomer, since it does sell diesel too, but very common, as is
Filling station: standard use
This link, for instance, shows both petrol and filling station used virtually "in the same breath". http://www.whatprice.co.uk/petrol-prices/filling-stations.html
Plus, "garage" which is what we have always called it in my family! ("Without getting all nostalgic or anything like that, the first time I went to the garage to get petrol for the car it was 73 pence per gallon." www.businessbanter.co.uk/news/2013/feb13/taxing-the-traveller.htm) But the term is ambiguous, because it can also mean "repair shop", ie where you get your car fixed.
Personally I'd go with "filling station".
If you do post as a KudoZ, I can always paste this there. ▲ Collapse
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I second Noni's take on the matter.
In speech I would say 'petrol station' (as a BR English speaker) if I needed to fill up my car (as in "I need to find a petrol station soon"), and 'garage' if I wanted to buy something in the shop (as in "I'm going to the garage, does anyone want anything?"), but I would probably write 'filling station' since, as Noni quite rightly says, they also sell diesel, and the other options are probably too colloquial for the written word.
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Angela Dickson (X) 
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:47
French to English
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| What's the question? | Apr 22, 2013 |
Michelangela wrote:
As American English speaker, where should I address questions such as: what is the every-day British term for
"gas station"?
Is it petrol station /gasoline station / service station / filling station?
Back to my dilemma, this is for me a pro L10n question. But every British native speaker knows the answer. So, how can I get around pro / non-pro problematic, that I'm sure would trigger immediate re-classification actions by some individuals.
It's not quite clear what your question is - are you asking how to classify these questions in Kudoz, or are you asking more generally what you should do about US>UK localization?
I can't comment on the former, but in general I think it's a good idea to get a native speaker of British English to produce text that is localized for the UK market, rather than trying to do it yourself. There can be more to the task than simply substituting one item of vocabulary for another.
| | | | | You should post them as English-English. | Apr 23, 2013 |
If I remember correctly, you posted this as German-English, which is quite wrong.
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