I once tried to describe the piece of SpaceX Crew Dragon Trunk debris that was first discovered as being "about the shape and size of a semi-truck hood" for a BBC podcast, and all the very British people interviewing me were like... "Excuse me, a what?" To which I responded "Uhhhh is that a lorry?" and then they later cut in me saying "lorry" in a different tone of voice with my initial description, which I don't think even makes sense... Pretty funny if you know that whole story though.
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@sundogplanets as big as a lorry's bonnet?
@sundogplanets Yeah, Lorry is absolutely the right term in British English.
@sundogplanets The funny thing is "lorry hood" wouldn't make any more sense to a UK audience. It would be "bonnet" not 'hood" in UK English, but more importantly almost all the lorries/trucks on UK roads are cab-over designs which don't even have bonnets/hoods. A significant fraction of the BBC audience would have never seen a truck hood in real life.
Ok this poll is way more interesting than I expected. I knew there were a lot of names for these large vehicles but I had NO IDEA how many terms.
B double? Artic?! Prime mover?
And so many opinions on "sem-ee" vs "sem-eye"
Turns out that language is COMPLICATED, my friends.
@sundogplanets all I know is that I want something else to get me through this semi-charmed kinda life... 馃槢
If it's towing two trailers, I'd call it a B double.
If it's towing three trailers, I'd call it a road train.
@sundogplanets adding further to the Babylonian confusion, let鈥檚 throw in some terms from other languages!
In German, I guess the most common terms are:
1. Lastwagen = truck / lorry (generic term)
2. Sattelschlepper / 40 Tonner = semi / tractor-trailer/ artic (we refer to them by max weight, even though there鈥檚 smaller versions)
3. Pickup = Pickup
@sundogplanets
What about HGV or LGV? (Heavy/large goods vehicle)
@sundogplanets some of them are called turnpike doubles
@sundogplanets I think the poll complicates things because it doesn't specify which English. It's skewing towards results that wouldn't work with the BBC.
Ah, yes! I forgot we use lorry as well as artic (articulated lorry) here in the UK. Lorry is more common though.
@sundogplanets are folks still saying, "A Large Boulder the Size of a Small Boulder"?
