Hot Rods Automotive terms that don’t make sense....

“big block” Pontiac! Where did that even come from???

 

More than one revolution in a minute isn’t exactly singular.

 

I've never heard of them called nipples before. Always Zerk fittings, grease fittings or grease Zerks around here.

 

They were invented by Oscar Ulysses Zerk and have always been called Zerk Fittings

 

Written like that it implies possession not plural. (My wife is a retired English teacher and hates the wrong use of an apostrophe and it's been drummed into me).

 

Australians have always had a dislike for authority or stuffiness and as a result usually find a way of using a slang term rather than worship the name of the inventor.

 

Well if you have to have an s in there it would be R'sPM. It's the revolutions that are plural, the minute is singular.

 

Except mebbe for Stillsons

Cheers,
Harv

 

That's why it's revolutions per minute.

 

Vise grip, mole grip or locking pliers? Two are proprietary names which have become generic in different markets.

The British have a penchant for generic words, e.g. Hoovering the floor for vacuuming. Following this, working with Mole grips seems to be a British usage.

They have always been Vise grips or locking pliers to me. (And yes, I know referring to all the look-a-likes as Vise grips is also being generic.)

 

Speaking of plural, it's always Stillsons: "Chuck us the Stillsons.." But it's only one tool. Unless you want all the sizes at once!

 

For the life of me I can’t understand why anyone would grease their nipples

 

Mole grips? Why would you want to grip a mole of any sort?

 

Duh! It prevents chafing! Oh wait....wrong forum.....never mind...

 

I think this thread might of ran off into the bar ditch.

 

They can be smoked anywhere in the world.

Yes you can tune a fish - you run your fingers up and down it's scales.

In Australia, "jockeys" or "jocks" are men's undies. Not sure if I want them in my glove box, especially if they have been worn a few times.
We call and adjustable spanner a "shifter" , but it doesn't really shift anything.
If you mention "dizzy" or "carby" to any mechanic here under the age of 40, you will get the "What planet did you come from?" look.

 

That’s how you pull it out of the ground in your front yard!!

 

If someone is talking "Behind your back" they are in front of you.

 

Exactly. I've often had the argument with people when they tell me to reverse backwards up their driveway that it is actually driving forward.

 

I once worked with a German fitter/machinist. Very precise gentleman. He referred to an adjustable wrench as an "Englisher", as only the English would be rough enough to use one. As a proud member of the Commonwealth I naturally took offence... until I realised that in my case he was largely right (I am rough ).

I draw the line though at using water pump pliers on bolts... not even I'm that rough.

Cheers,
Harv

 

One of the jaws can shift position.

 

From the world of Wikipedia:

The Stillson wrench is an adjustable wrench (spanner) with hardened serrated teeth on its jaws. The hard teeth bite into the softer metal of the round pipe and provide the grip needed to turn a pipe, even against fair resistance. The design of the adjustable jaw, which permits a certain amount of intentional play out of square, allows it to bind on the pipe, with forward pressure on the handle pulling the jaws tighter. On some models, two leaf springs, above and below the knurled adjusting knob, help unlock the jaw when pressure on the handle of the wrench is released.
Daniel C. Stillson (1826-1899), a mechanic at the Walworth Company, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, created the first such wrench.[1] On October 12, 1869, US patent #95,744 was issued to Stillson.[2]


In South Africa, the terms "bobbejaan spanner" and "baboon spanner" are commonly used,[6] especially for large pipe wrenches. Bobbejaan is the Afrikaans term for a baboon.

In Spain and Morocco, they are called grifa.

In Mexico they are known and called "stillson" without even using the word llave ("wrench").

In Turkey they are known as "English Keys".

• Adjustable wrench – a straight-jawed adjustable wrench with jaws in line with its handle
• Monkey wrench – a straight-jawed adjustable wrench similar to a pipe wrench and often confused with it
• Nipple wrench (plumbing) – a pipe wrench that grabs the interior of a pipe, rather than the exterior
• Plumber wrench – a wrench used for turning pipes and tightening hex nuts

 

Also:

On 17 August 1888, the Swedish inventor Johan Petter Johansson (1853-1943) took out his first patent on the adjustable pipe wrench.[3] The Swedish Patent Office issued the patent again in 1894.[4] The idea emerged after he established his company Enköpings Mekaniska Verkstad. Back then, nut dimensions were poorly standardized, so each time a tradesman was out on a job, he needed a trolley to take a set of fixed pipe wrenches with him. Johansson's tool could grip nuts of different dimensions.[5]

A plumber wrench (or plumber's wrench, pipe wrench, Swedish wrench or Swedish pattern wrench[1]) is a form of plier described as a pipe wrench that uses compound leverage to grip and rotate plumbing pipes. Similar to the action of a Vise Grip plier, its jaw opening is adjusted to width by rotating a threaded ring. Its advantage is that it grips with significant force without needing to engage a lock nut like an adjustable tongue-and-groove plier. Like these, it can also be used on nuts, particularly hex shaped, and other flat engagement points. If used carelessly it can dent or break plumbing pipe.[2]

Tool and inventor:

 

I have heard Stillsons also called Footprints, maybe it was an old brand name.

 

Lineman pliers is the known name of what a lineman call Kleins for the principle manufacturer. Adjustable pliers, water pumps as my dad would call them, are all known today by Channel Locks also due to the manufacturer. All the electricians I worked with called them only by their number: 420, 430, or 440’s …
One other…. you’d better have a “Buck” on your belt….

 

Channel Locks in Australia are often called multigrips.

Cheers,
Harv

 

Dingleballs

 

My Dad, a Union Carpenter, referred to linesman pliers as “Kleins”. Of course adjustable tongue and groove pliers are “Channellocks”, and adjustable wrenches are “Crescent Wrenches “.

 

Adjustable wrenches are metric wrenches!