The US English name for it is either a wash cloth, or a wash rag. British English, I think, uses the word flannel.
Things that frustrate us all
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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?
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.
They also call a Band-Aid a "plaster," even though it's not made of plaster. Go figure.
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").
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").
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.
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.
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.
Caps lock?
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.
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Growing up in PA, it was a sweeper.
In California and Texas, it's just "the vacuum.'
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
Washcloth, washrag, face cloth for me…Midwest…
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?
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."
I think it all comes down to a combination of genetics, environment and work/life balance.
No one in my immediate family looks their age; we all look 10-15 years young.
I'm closing in on 55, yet still look like I can pass for someone in their forties.
I have a coworker who is a few years younger than me, yet looks a decade or more older, thanks to being almost completely Grey and drinking and smoking two-three packs a day.