Things that frustrate us all

[DarrenTR1970]

People moving in and out without a word to us.

I've lived in this apartment for a year now and I'm still getting mail addressed to the previous two tenants.
One of them was a letter from the previous tenants attorney saying that the class action lawsuit she was involved in had been settled in the plaintiff favor and that there was $1500-$2000 waiting for her to respond.​

 

[Kraig]

Just out of curiosity, is that really what Californians call them? I get what you're referring to, but I have never heard that term before.

The US English name for it is either a wash cloth, or a wash rag. British English, I think, uses the word flannel.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

The US English name for it is either a wash cloth, or a wash rag. British English, I think, uses the word flannel.

Which seems a bit odd, given that they're made of terry cloth.

 

[Avro Arrow]

The US English name for it is either a wash cloth, or a wash rag. British English, I think, uses the word flannel.

I'm familiar with the word washcloth, as that's what they're called around here. I had never heard the term washrag before today. I thought it might be a regional thing, like pop/soda.

Variations in the English language fascinate me.

 

[fireproof78]

I've heard washrag from my grandparents and wife's grandmother. They're from the South so I wonder if that's the region?

 

[Kraig]

I'm familiar with the word washcloth, as that's what they're called around here. I had never heard the term washrag before today. I thought it might be a regional thing, like pop/soda.

Variations in the English language fascinate me.

My mom, dad and brother were born in Texas, I was born in Florida when my dad was getting his Education Doctorate from University of Florida at Gainesville, and moved to CA when he got his Ed.D. I grew up in CA, and when in the service, I was stationed in the US in San Diego, North Chicago, Orlando, Ballston Spa (NY) and Norfolk. I have heard wash cloth and wash rag in both TX and CA. There are a lot of OK, TX and AR transplants in the Central Valley that escaped the Dust Bowl in the dirty 30s. It is probably more prevalent to say wash rag in the south, but a lot of southern accent speakers and their descendants live in the Central Valley of CA. When you hear Slim Pickens (Kingsburg), Merle Haggard (Oildale) and Sam Elliott (Sacramento), speak, they sound like they are from the south, but they were all born in California's Central Valley.

I've heard some of the strangest words from one of the people I served with at Nuclear Power School from Indiana. He called a vacuum cleaner a vacuum sweeper. Then the whole soda versus pop. I was more specific and called it by brand name Coke, Pepsi, RC, Dr Pepper, 7up.

 

[scotpens]

The US English name for it is either a wash cloth, or a wash rag. British English, I think, uses the word flannel.

Which seems a bit odd, given that they're made of terry cloth.

They also call a Band-Aid a "plaster," even though it's not made of plaster. Go figure.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Manufacturers and pretentious people call it a "face cloth," as if that were the only portion of the anatomy upon which it could reasonably be used.

The usage of "plaster" (or more formally, "sticking plaster") is a bit more understandable: it is "plastered" on a wound (or upon healthy skin to serve as an artificial "beauty mark").

 

[DarthTimon]

I am presently frustrated by a old man who, every day without fail, jiggles the door handle of my workplace. It's such a minor thing, but he feels the need to pull the door into place, every time he walks by, even though it doesn't need any adjusting. It might be an OCD thing.

 

[auntiehill]

Just out of curiosity, is that really what Californians call them? I get what you're referring to, but I have never heard that term before.

I grew up in California. We usually called them "wash cloths." A "wash rag" is generally more like an old dish cloth you might use for washing a car or cleaning up a spill.

 

[Aragorn]

My Hotmail account somehow signed itself out on my laptop and now I can't sign back in. It tells me the password is wrong when it isn't! I can sign in elsewhere with the same address and same password just fine. Anyone know what that means?

 

[Victoria]

Manufacturers and pretentious people call it a "face cloth"

Pretentious? Moi?


"Face cloth" is not unusual in the UK although "flannel/face flannel" is more common. The name "flannel" comes from the original material from which face cloths were made.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Anyone know what that means?

Caps lock?

Pretentious? Moi?

Some retailers, too. But my point is that I don't take a normal shower without one, and find the idea of doing so unsettling. Even Amtrak sleeping cars (with one shower and four restrooms shared among all the accommodations that don't have private facilities) supply at least one washrag per passenger.

 

[Commander Troi]

He called a vacuum cleaner a vacuum sweeper.

Growing up in PA, it was a sweeper.

 

[auntiehill]

In California and Texas, it's just "the vacuum.'

 

[Kraig]

. Anyone know what that means?

Caps lock?

Or, Num Lock?

 

[Fantasy Lover]

I'm 31, I look about a decade younger than I actually am. I already had a shop asking for my student ID, but today I got asked my actual ID because the shop keeper thought I wasn't 18 yet. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm think I'll stop pulling out my grey hair and hope I'll get more so I'll look older because it's getting annoying. For those wondering: if you are in college, you get a student ID so you get discounts

 

[flandry84]

/\My friend cherish these times.
Caught sight of myself in a full length glass reflection recently.I look like my own grandad.

 

[HIjol]

The US English name for it is either a wash cloth, or a wash rag. British English, I think, uses the word flannel.

Which seems a bit odd, given that they're made of terry cloth.

I'm familiar with the word washcloth, as that's what they're called around here. I had never heard the term washrag before today. I thought it might be a regional thing, like pop/soda.

Variations in the English language fascinate me.

I've heard washrag from my grandparents and wife's grandmother. They're from the South so I wonder if that's the region?

Washcloth, washrag, face cloth for me…Midwest…

In California and Texas, it's just "the vacuum.'

Vacuum here, also…

To the OP…it makes me (irrationally?) nuts that people call “non-stop” flights “direct” flights…”direct” means direct/straight line (more or less)…”non-stop” means no stopping between “here” and “there”…if your plane leaves Podunk and lands in Nowheresville with no stops in between, that is a “non-stop” flight…if a flight leaves LA and is destined for New York (“straight” West to East) it doesn’t matter how many stops there are in between, as long as it doesn’t fly to Dallas or Miami or Rio first (NOT a “straight” line!) it is a “direct” flight…

See?

 

[DarrenTR1970]

I'm 31, I look about a decade younger than I actually am. I already had a shop asking for my student ID, but today I got asked my actual ID because the shop keeper thought I wasn't 18 yet. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm think I'll stop pulling out my grey hair and hope I'll get more so I'll look older because it's getting annoying. For those wondering: if you are in college, you get a student ID so you get discounts

It's funny you should mention this.
I was having lunch with Mom and Wink the other day and we got to talking about AARP and Senior Discounts when you reach a certain age, and Mom was telling me about her friend who lives in San Diego who went prematurely Grey in her late twenties/early thirties and used that as way to get Senior discounts on everything from restaurant meals to movie tickets, because no one bothered to check her I.D. They just looked at her Grey hair and said, "Sure."