# Highways and "Autobahns" ?



## shpirtkosova (Jun 7, 2009)

Since this section of the forum is all English purpose, shouldn't the "Autobahn" be exchanged with "Motorway"?


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## aswnl (Jun 6, 2004)

No, this is an _international_ section, not an English section.
Autobahns represents the international character.


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## Bad_Hafen (May 19, 2010)

was there really need for separate thread to ask one question?


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## shpirtkosova (Jun 7, 2009)

Well yes actually, We can get get silly by calling it Highways, Autobahns and Autostradas, whats to stop us from that?


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## Bad_Hafen (May 19, 2010)

^^hopefully moderator


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## shpirtkosova (Jun 7, 2009)

I'm more than happy to be a moderator if the Admins and Super Mods decide on this. I am a moderator in several other Albanian forums.


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## RawLee (Jul 9, 2007)

It doesnt go that way...


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## x-type (Aug 19, 2005)

the name od pdf is like that for ages, and now you have appeared to ask that, or demand to change it? lol. no way for that, especially on demand of forumer with 1000 posts.


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## Chilio (May 1, 2009)

Does this thread still exist and even not locked?


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## Verso (Jun 5, 2006)

x-type said:


> the name od *pdf* is like that for ages


*P*o*df*orum (subforum in Croatian)?


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## devo (Jun 24, 2011)

Suggestion: Throw a poll and be over with it.

However, with so many different classifications and standards there's no real word, highway is to wide, and words like expressway, interstate, freeway, motorway and so on are too country specific and does not necessarily mean the same everywhere.


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## Spookvlieger (Jul 10, 2009)

the german word is good since they had the first ever to be build anyway...


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## x-type (Aug 19, 2005)

Verso said:


> *P*o*df*orum (subforum in Croatian)?


exactly  i am in multilingual mood


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## Penn's Woods (Apr 8, 2010)

joshsam said:


> the german word is good since they had the first ever to be build anyway...


That's debatable. 

But since most of the threads here cover all sorts of roads (not just freeways/motorways/autoroutes/autosnelwegen/etc./etc.), it's irrelevant. If we're changing the name of the forum, why not just "roads and highways"?


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## Chilio (May 1, 2009)

Because highway may be any road, so they are synonyms Motorway is closer to Autobahn (the original worldwide)... Expressways are also type of highways, even though they are not autobahns  And the american highways are usually 1+1 lanes without center divide... So the subforum name is just good enough for all roads  And this thread is not necessery. I think anybody with enough brains will get the point what it is about.


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## Penn's Woods (Apr 8, 2010)

^^Speaking as a native speaker of English - yes, there are some, even here, and we do have some say in how our own language is used - "highway" and "road" are not synonymous. (In legal contexts, a highway may indeed be any public road, but in other contexts, at least in North America - where the vast majority of the world's native speakers of English live, by the way - a highway is a road of a certain importance, not just any old country lane.)

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/highway

And there were limited-access roads in the world before the first Autobahn was built. Not in Europe perhaps, but - again, this will come as news to some people - the world is not limited to Europe.


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## De Klauw (Apr 20, 2006)

Penn's Woods said:


> Not in Europe perhaps, but - again, this will come as news to some people - the world is not limited to Europe.


Funny comment for an American. :lol: (no offence BTW)



Penn's Woods said:


> And there were limited-access roads in the world before the first Autobahn was built.


Where? :? Cars are a merely new inventions so I don't think you have to expect the first limited-access road (Autobahn-style) in Asia, Africa or South America in the beginning of the 20th century. According to Wikipedia the first limited-access road was constructed in Italy.


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## Penn's Woods (Apr 8, 2010)

^^I'm not just any American.


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## julesstoop (Sep 11, 2002)

And I always thought the vast majority of native English speakers lives in India... Silly me!


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## Penn's Woods (Apr 8, 2010)

Nope:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of_native_speakers_in_India


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## devo (Jun 24, 2011)

Railways, Bridges, Airports and Aviation, Subway and Urban Transport, Maritime...

...and Roads.

(ducks)


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## Filipdr (Oct 8, 2010)

aswnl said:


> No, this is an _international_ section, not an English section.
> Autobahns represents the international character.


So you're saying that English is not an international language!? :lol:


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## Chilio (May 1, 2009)

Well, I think that Autobahn in the case of the subforum title is not used as specifically German word, but as a internationally recognizable word, which, even if not officially used in all languages, has became some kind of a slang for that kind of roads. As an international word, it's not wrong to put an "s" at the end for plural, instead of the German plural form.
For example, it's very often used in Bulgarian as a synonym of Автомагистрала (Avtomagistrala) and of course, written with Cyrillic letters - Аутобан. It even appears often in newspaper articles and other news, as journalists tend not to repeat Автомагистрала in every sentece 
Pen, nobody in Bulgaria thinks that Highway is synonym of any road. But for example (the way you use the word in USA) is synonym of something "First class road between cities", no matter how many lanes it has. And Autobahn is with at least 2 active lanes in each direction, hard shoulder (emergency lane), center divide with barriers, multilevel intersections, fences to stop animals and other creatures (crazy humans) appearing on the road, etc. etc. etc. As far as I know no one of these isn't obligatory for an American Highway.


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## Penn's Woods (Apr 8, 2010)

Chilio said:


> ....
> Pen, nobody in Bulgaria thinks that Highway is synonym of any road. But for example (the way you use the word in USA) is synonym of something "First class road between cities", no matter how many lanes it has. And Autobahn is with at least 2 active lanes in each direction, hard shoulder (emergency lane), center divide with barriers, multilevel intersections, fences to stop animals and other creatures (crazy humans) appearing on the road, etc. etc. etc. As far as I know no one of these isn't obligatory for an American Highway.


I must have misunderstood you. :cheers:
My point was that some things that have appeared in some of the threads on this forum are not covered by the word "highway," but are covered by the word "road." So if we're going to change the name of the forum, "roads and highways" would be my suggestion, as it covers everything.


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## aswnl (Jun 6, 2004)

Filipdr said:


> So you're saying that English is not an international language!? :lol:


No, I didn't. I just stated that on an international forum English is used as a language to communicate, but it shouldn't mean that _only_ British/American terminology should be used. On the contrary !

By the way: how long will it last before this useless thread will finally be closed ?


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