Zompist Bboard Again

zompist wrote: ↑Wed Mar 22, 2023 4:12 pm
I suggest you pull up the satellite view of Google Maps and nose around a US city— Chicago, for instance. From the satellite view you can easily distinguish urban, suburban, forest, and fields.

I think your impression is a bit exaggerated. I'm in a suburb adjoining the city. If I walked west, I'd be on streets for a mile, then in the woods. But that woods is only half a mile wide. There are other green areas in the suburbs, some of them much larger.

When I was younger you could find some farms in between the suburbs— development here largely followed the train lines, so there were gaps between. Today most of those gaps are filled in with suburbs— you won't find farms till you're 40 miles from the city center. But again, there are parks and forest preserves all over.

But it also depends on the region.

zompist wrote: ↑Wed Mar 22, 2023 4:12 pmBut that woods is only half a mile wide.

alice wrote: ↑Thu Mar 23, 2023 5:20 am

zompist wrote: ↑Wed Mar 22, 2023 4:12 pmBut that woods is only half a mile wide.

Is "woods" singular in the USA? Over here we'd say "that wood is", or "those woods are".

alice wrote: ↑Thu Mar 23, 2023 5:20 am

zompist wrote: ↑Wed Mar 22, 2023 4:12 pmBut that woods is only half a mile wide.

Is "woods" singular in the USA? Over here we'd say "that wood is", or "those woods are".

zompist wrote: ↑Wed Mar 22, 2023 4:12 pm

Raphael wrote: ↑Wed Mar 22, 2023 2:40 pm I have a question about life in the USA. Basically, how "compact" or "solid" are suburban belts there? From what I've heard, I've got the impression that each major city in the US is surrounded by a ring of suburbs so that, if you're somewhere between the inner and outer edge of that ring, there's basically suburban middle- or upper class homes no matter where you turn.

I suggest you pull up the satellite view of Google Maps and nose around a US city— Chicago, for instance. From the satellite view you can easily distinguish urban, suburban, forest, and fields.

I think your impression is a bit exaggerated. I'm in a suburb adjoining the city. If I walked west, I'd be on streets for a mile, then in the woods. But that woods is only half a mile wide. There are other green areas in the suburbs, some of them much larger.

When I was younger you could find some farms in between the suburbs— development here largely followed the train lines, so there were gaps between. Today most of those gaps are filled in with suburbs— you won't find farms till you're 40 miles from the city center. But again, there are parks and forest preserves all over.

But it also depends on the region.

alice wrote: ↑Thu Mar 23, 2023 5:20 am

zompist wrote: ↑Wed Mar 22, 2023 4:12 pmBut that woods is only half a mile wide.

Is "woods" singular in the USA? Over here we'd say "that wood is", or "those woods are".

Rounin Ryuuji wrote: ↑Thu Mar 23, 2023 9:17 pm I think in daily speech I would probably say it's a plurale tantum in its general sense — as in "The woods are full of mysterious creatures..." or "In these woods, there are a number of mysterious creatures..." — but singular in the names of some places — "Thatcher Woods is a housing development". I might use a singular "wood" to mean "forest" in poetry or fantasy narration (or in a place name), but it would be a deliberate archaism.

foxcatdog wrote: ↑Fri Mar 24, 2023 1:26 am Apparently in the french version of harry potter wands are translated as Baguette Magique. Is this the normal word for wands in french?

Torco wrote: ↑Fri Mar 24, 2023 7:22 am is it used for penis?

I shall be disappointed in french if it isn't

zompist wrote: ↑Fri Mar 24, 2023 1:52 am Yep. Also used for chopsticks, conductors' batons, and of course bread.

Ryusenshi wrote: ↑Fri Mar 24, 2023 2:54 pm I once saw a music store right next to a bakery. A sign said "Buy three baguettes, get one free". I wondered whether the sign belonged to the bakery or the music store.

Torco wrote: ↑Fri Mar 24, 2023 7:22 am is it used for penis?

I shall be disappointed in french if it isn't