It's not a "motor" dammit... it's an ENGINE!!!!!

i just can't believe that this subject came up again...when we run up a jet engine with out actually starting it, we call it "motoring an engine"...figure that one out...?

 

The meanings of words change with usage, so while it may have been true once, it may not be so today.

 

Sometimes I wonder if this is just being grammar correct!

Engine stand
Motor oil/ engine oil
motor vehicle
Motor Trend


About the only truisms are "internal combustion engine" and "electric motor".

Never seen internal combustion motor or electric engine.

I would suggest just leaving all this alone and focus more on solving problems and other fun stuff.

 

"i just can't believe that this subject came up again"

It's a fun banter.

 

I cured cancer... yesterday.

 

So is Google a search motor now?

 

As the UPS guy said when he brought me my engine, "Call it what you want, just get it off my damn truck."

 

BTW, while we're debating things, is an El Camino a car or a truck?

You know what El Camino means in Spanish? The Camino.

 

We all know if he was teaching high school auto shop he must know everything!
Really if something as trivial as this bugs ya how do you feel about a 29 ford 5 window coupe (weren't all the coupes 5 windows) or a 32 duece.....

 

Sports Coupe or Sport Coupe??? Vicky or Victoria???

 

who gives a shit

 

zzzzzzzzzzzzz... "boring"

 

My father told me that motors were electric and engines were internal combustion. I asked him why motor mounts weren't called engine mounts. He told me to shut up. I still don't know what to think.

 

That term is actually quite correct.

A motor is any device that produces energy

An engine is the term [in 3rd person] for the mechanical actions of the device. ["device", meaning like a car engine for the sake of this arguement]

So, "motoring up an engine" is using a motor to spin a mechanical device.

P.S. I'm an engineer, and this is how it was explained to me.

 

I've got six Stromberg pots on my flattie motor hooked to my crashbox going to my banjo, but I'm switchin it out to a nine inch with a 411 pumpkin. Then I'm puttin on a huffer, getting rid of the pots and goin with a Hilborn. I've got a polished puke tank and a F-100 box a couple of chromed drag links, ladder bars, and maybe some bat wings painted with a rattle can.

Give this to your English teacher and have her "look it up in the dictionary"

 

anything that powers something is a motor. that said i usually only say motor when refering to an electric motors.

 

You cared enough to post... Thanks!!!

 

Didn't your daddy told you to shut up

 

perfect... my work here is done.

 

so what does a Toyota Prius have in it?

 

this is the same crap I got kicked outa shop class for in high school because I called them MOTORS and not engines along with sandpaper was "abrassive paper",the only thing abrasive was Mr Harper the shop teacher....................oh yeah about the cresent wrench thing....adjustable spanner my ass!!!!!!!! it is what ya want it to be!!

 

It's a matter of preference. The definitions in the dictionary are nearly identical...

Motor: A machine, especially one powered by electricity or internal combustion, that supplies motive power for a vehicle or for some other device with moving parts.

Engine: A machine with moving parts that converts power into motion.

Sounds interchangeable to me.

 

Ted Nugent isn't the "Engine City Madman" and Lemmy ain't a member of Enginehead, so the two words aren't completely interchangeable.

A friend's father used to have a thing about misusing the words antenna and aerial, but I can't remember what he claimed the distinction was. Aerials were for transmitting and antennas were for receiving, maybe?

 

My crazy, genius uncle would always correct me too.
He'd say "An Engine has a piston and Motors do not."

He'd also climb into my old '56 that I called just an old car and say.
"Son, this isn't just an old car. This is an automobile."

Thanks, for that memory.

 

Just because people accept it as convention don’t necessarily mean it’s correct. I mean a lot of people kiss their sisters but that still don’t make it right.

Yeah, most dictionaries use motor and engine interchangeably, but also consider that they also feature illegitimate bumpkin words like irregardless. Yeah it’s in there, but people who understand language will usually snicker at ya’ if you use it.

While there’s no chance that anybody’s gonna think anything of it if you refer to that greasy lump in your car as an engine, there’s a pretty good chance that they’ll giggle if you call it a motor. In such a case I’d rather be safe than sorry even if it only prevents me from looking like a rube to the machinist who’s doing my work.

But who gives a shit anyway; we got a president who can’t even say the word nuclear even though he has access to the Big Red Button.

And for god's sake, Kirk, have some standards. Some people still have faith in you magazine guys!

 

Great question that leads to the answer 'it matters for hybrids'.

A dumb joke from a friend: Did you hear about the guy with the electric lawnmower? He ran out of gas.

Thanks,
Kurt

 

Yeah, you probably know more than the dictionary...


Why are flatheads often called flat-motors?

Ever heard of Motor Manuals? You should write them a letter and send it back in a time machine. Or would that be time mechanism?

Language is an ever evolving entity. The English language today has little resemblance to that of the past. What we use today is right for today. Do you spell color COLOUR? Well if you want to be correct and "retro" you should.

I am around more automotive related people than most and the two words are used interchangeably by those at all levels.

I also have the largest vintage hot rod/automotive magazine and book libraries of anyone I know of. The words have been interchanged since day one.

Feel free to use them as you see fit. It doesn't make anyone else wrong. Sorry, but that's just the way it is.

 

In the immortal words of Mr Toad from "The Wind in the Willows"

M O O O T O O O R C A A A R !!!

 

the saga continues!!

 

An electric motor... and an internal combustion engine that runs on PETROL