A must have! Zebra crossings!
More decorations that go on the street would be great. There's only the barrier at the moment that can. Cars going on the road are an obvious omission. There was supposed to be a manhole lid in the...
Forum Discussion
neuroheart wrote:Airion wrote:neuroheart wrote:Airion wrote:
OMG, really? They're CALLED zebra crossing because THEY HAVE BLACK AND WHITE STRIPES! No actual zebras are involved!
Yeah, but it's a potentially confusing term to Americans who have never heard it, plus it's easy to make jokes about.
Google is your friend. There's even a picture of one on the first page! And they have them in NY, so I just assumed that the rest of the country would have them to. That might not be what the local populace call them, but they're there nonetheless.
...I think I need to lay down
You're stressing yourself out over nothing, here. Do you really need me to break this down for you?
In the U.S. we call them crosswalks or pedestrian crossings. We also have deer crossings. It's an easy leap for an American to make that when you say "(blank) crossing" you're talking about a place where (blank) crosses the street. Therefore, it's rich fodder for jokes, even for those who do know what it's actually supposed to mean.
I happen to know a lot of English terms because I've made friends with several people there and watch a lot of BBC shows, so I knew what you meant, but I was also perplexed the first time I heard the term "zebra crossing" because, well, it sounded like a place for zebras to cross the street.
Of course we have them, we have them all over the place, but no one who grew up here is going to call them zebra crossings. No one. Any more than you would refer to a fringe as "bangs," which is what we call it. Do you google every American colloquialism you see? Do you even immediately know that it's a colloquialism?
(Also, most people here were joking, because to us it sounds like a pretty funny term. Seriously.)
I understand almost all American colloquialisms I come across due to being half American, having all-American brothers and sisters and generally spending a good chunk of my life there. Not to mention all the American TV shows shown in the UK. But if I don't understand or know something I come across, yes, I Google it. It's common sense.
