THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)
Fun Stuff => CHATTER => Topic started by: Mister D Nomms on 25 Dec 2011, 22:46
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I know I have plenty, but what made me think about odd or pointless things I do was a few seconds ago when I went to take some pills. I poured them into my left hand. Then, for no reason, I moved them to my right hand before putting them in my mouth.
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You're right handed, right? Pour with the right (into the left), then put them into your mouth with your right. It's the more accurate hand for you. I've seen people try to use their "off" hand for things. You could actually miss your mouth...
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Doesn't explain why I always put soap in my right (dominant) hand, and shampoo in my left.
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You use the right hand to squeeze/pour the shampoo into the left as receptacle?
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Wife gets on me about squeezing the tube from the bottom/middle instead of the end. Squeezing from the end is too awkward for me.
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So squeeze it back from he end when you're done using it.
She'll never know... :evil:
We got these little squeeze thingies that you slip over the tube that keeps it squeezed up from the end, and you can squeeze the middle of what's left (it's fatter that way), and then you just slide the thing up every once in a while.
(http://www.imgsrv.worldstart.com/store/images/tube-squeezer/tube-squeezer-01.jpg)
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I do the knee bounce thing a lot, esp when I am tired or focusing, I don't notice it.
Also I keep murdering all these children.
I will overuse the F word when I am super tired too.
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I think I knee bounce way too much, to the point where it starts to feel like exercise
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I like the feeling of muscle cramps in my feet, so I'll make them happen on purpose sometimes.
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I know I have many weird quirks but I can't remember what they are until someone points them out and I say, "Don't judge me."
Re: toothpaste - Before I open the tube, I push all the toothpaste up towards the top, open the tube, then squeeze from the middle. Unless it's almost empty, then I squeeze from the top. Squeezing from the bottom seems dumb and awkward.
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We got these little squeeze thingies that you slip over the tube that keeps it squeezed up from the end, and you can squeeze the middle of what's left (it's fatter that way), and then you just slide the thing up every once in a while.
I'm not sure why they felt the need to mention that the tube is not included. I wouldn't know what to do with a tube containing toothpaste, cream, ointment, and etc.
You know those key-like tools that come with tins of sardines, which you use to roll up the cover? A similar tool can be used to roll up empty portions of tubes of ointment, the ones that come in a metal (aluminum, tin, I dunno) tube that doesn't spring back after you squeeze it. But you can no longer do that with toothpaste because all of those have plastic tubes now.
I like the feeling of muscle cramps in my feet, so I'll make them happen on purpose sometimes.
Don't those, you know, hurt like hell?
Oh, I just thought of a quirk: For some reason, I like bouncing the cartilage parts of my knuckles and finger joints against my front teeth. From that description you'd think it makes me look like I punch myself in the mouth repeatedly, but it's not that dramatic.
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They hurt, but at the same level as when your teeth hurt and you bite down. I like watching my feet curl up by themselves.
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Why do I eat only oven-pizza's for about a month and then decide it's okay to go eat self-made burgers just to eat something differently... :psyduck:
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Because your diet's shit.
Seriously, try a salad once in a while. Or maybe pasta.
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I hear Frank Sinatra survived on a diet of only pasta and alcohol. Or was that Frank Zappa? Those two always mix up in my head.
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Because your diet's shit.
Seriously, try a salad once in a while. Or maybe pasta.
Yeah, I do that :) I eat healthy say... 2/3 times a week at friends and stuff ^_^ I'm not feeling unhealthy and I'm fat so yeah... cheap student dinners it is!
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...Frank Sinatra ...Or was that Frank Zappa? Those two always mix up in my head.
I...I just... I ... I can't... how can you...???
Oh, fuck it.
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:psyduck:
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CONSIDER YOUR BRAIN FUDDLED, CARL-E!
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Mister D Nomms has reminded me of one of mine.
I always say, "Sammy Davis Jr" when I mean, "Robert Downey Jr". I know they're two completely different people when I think about it but if Robert's name comes up in conversation, I will say Sammy's name. It's reached the point my closer friends won't correct me on it because they know who I meant, so they just hear the right thing even if I don't say it.
I don't say Robert's when I mean to say Sammy's though.
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Now I want a Sammich Davis Jr.
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I can not say "Arnold Palmer" without making a huge effort. It comes out as "AHNA PAMA" otherwise.
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Are you from Dorchester or something?
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A little bit further North with no sales tax.
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Vermont?
:-D
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No, New Hampshire. Vermont can piss up a rope.
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I'm glad I chose not to move there then; I'd feel obligated to get all huffy right about now if I did live there, and I just don't have the energy for it.
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I just hate Vermont. They just re-used our state's shape and flipped it. And they're always stealing our stuff we're good at. Like cows and maple syrup.
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I can not say "Arnold Palmer" without making a huge effort. It comes out as "AHNA PAMA" otherwise.
Ahnol Palma.
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Several times this morning I've tried to skip to the next song by clicking on my MP3 player, even though it's plugged in to charge and I'm listening to music through the computer.
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Restless leg in both legs, can be done voluntarily but often shows up on its own.
Am left-handed, but was taught to do most things right-handed. I use a fork and spoon in right hand, though I can use them equally well in left hand with practically no training. Oddly, I cut my food (ex. steak) with the knife in left hand but when cutting up food to cook, cut it with the right hand. When I learned to use chopsticks some time ago, I could use them equally well in either hand (at the same time, too), but decided to stick with my left hand since that's my dominant hand. Now I can barely use them in my right hand. Go figure.
I stroke my chin a lot, while in deep thought, making decisions, listening in to a conversation, etc.
I twist my neck to crack the joints, even when the joints don't need popping. Usually happens when I'm irritated or feel out of my league.
I overanalyze EVERYTHING. Even when I try and stop myself from doing it, it just happens until I either find an acceptable solution/answer or just overload myself.
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I overanalyze EVERYTHING. Even when I try and stop myself from doing it, it just happens until I either find an acceptable solution/answer or just overload myself.
Urgh, this for me too....it can be really helpful sometimes, but then other times it just makes your head feel like it's so full it's going to burst.
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I have odd eating quirks which drive my mother bonkers whenever we have lunch together. Why she's bothered by my way of eating is beyond me.
I eat the crust on pizza first then I eat around the pepperoni (if there are any). I don't know why.
When I eat fries, I eat them in pairs. Near the last dozen or so, I pair them up according to size on my plate (or burger wrapper) before I eat them.
Muffins, I tear the top from the stub, eat the stub first then the top.
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I overanalyze EVERYTHING. Even when I try and stop myself from doing it, it just happens until I either find an acceptable solution/answer or just overload myself.
Urgh, this for me too....it can be really helpful sometimes, but then other times it just makes your head feel like it's so full it's going to burst.
Yeah, or you just shut down and zone out for a few minutes :/
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My friend Cory eats sandwiches by taking them apart and eating one thing at a time. Pizza too. The part that baffles me is that he'll actually make the sandwich and assemble it all nice and then take it apart.
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I eat sammiches (another quirk?) by eating the crust first. I spin the sammich around while eating the crust and then keep spinning it so it's roughly the same dimensions throughout eating.
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I used to eat sandwiches that way. I can't figure out why I started to in the first place but now I don't do it as much. :?
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I do eat for the same reason I eat my food from least favourite thing to most favourite thing. Most of the time if I go right for the thing I enjoy the most I won't be hungry enough or just plain not bothered for the rest.
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Same here. I used to eat a slice of layer cake by carefully eating all the cake, leaving a frosting skeleton...
While my mother thought it was weird, my father admired the precision it took to do it.
Now I eat it in such a way as to have roughly equal amounts of frosting with each bite of cake, which is a bit harder than it sounds...
I actually have a lot more OCD tendencies than I let on, which is one reason I hate to have other people do things for me - they won't be done the way I do them, and so won't be good enough. Fortunately, I've learned to let most of it go.
Most of it.
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I eat multicolored things in "color order"...
First, I sort them all by color. Then, I order them by how many there are. If there are 5 red ones, 5 blue ones and 3 green ones, I eat a red one first. Because I like blue the best and there should be more of them than red. And I don't like ending up with the same number for a different color. And they're all laid out in my hand in a triangle. Then, I eat one of each. Then I do that again. And again, etc. Until there is only one left. If I can, I do it in ROYGBIV order....but only when I get really lucky.
I do this with M&Ms, Skittles, Lucky Charms, etc....(except I don't have as much control over the arrangement of the cereal and if I take too long it gets too soggy for me to eat....That's more of a "I like you the least so I'm going to eat all of you first. Then, I end up with a bowl full of marshmallows. YUM.)
Food is tons of fun. :-P
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I don't eat the peanut mm's that have broken shells and their peanut showing. I feel like the exposed peanut makes it dirty
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Oddly, I cut my food (ex. steak) with the knife in left hand but when cutting up food to cook, cut it with the right hand.
Same here, I'm right handed though.
I eat sammiches (another quirk?) by eating the crust first. I spin the sammich around while eating the crust and then keep spinning it so it's roughly the same dimensions throughout eating.
Yup, same here as well...
Also... with every single meal that I have... I always save the best part in the end if it is possible to do so. Well, not really... If I eat let's say... Steak with rice or something. I eat everything pretty much equally until I'm almost done with the meal... Then I would just save my favorite part (a bit steak) for the last bite as I want to "save the flavor" for a longer time or something.
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I eat multicolored things in "color order"...
First, I sort them all by color. Then, I order them by how many there are. If there are 5 red ones, 5 blue ones and 3 green ones, I eat a red one first. Because I like blue the best and there should be more of them than red. And I don't like ending up with the same number for a different color. And they're all laid out in my hand in a triangle. Then, I eat one of each. Then I do that again. And again, etc. Until there is only one left. If I can, I do it in ROYGBIV order....but only when I get really lucky.
I don't eat things in color order, but I do eat them in pairs - two at a time, and of matching colors. The number takes precedence over the color (I hate odd numbers), though I prefr that they match. If I have an odd number and leftover orphans from other colors, I pick a color that is closest to another on the color wheel and go from there.
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Anyone ever match their shirts (or pants) with the same color hanger?
Red shirt on a red hanger, blue shirt on a blue hanger...
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I did that every once in a while, but I switched to those fancy fuzzy hangers and they're effing expensive so i bought the cheapest color. Now all my blue shirts match the hanger.
Oh. another thing I do...this one is ridiculous and I wish I could stop but it just is not happening. We live in a basement apartment and the laundry room/storage area is on the opposite side of our front door. Whenever I come back from doing laundry or getting something out of storage I run back to the door, look behind me and then run across and into my apartment and lock the door. I used to do this coming up from the basement in my parents house.
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I remember the storage room from one of my old apartments. It was awful. It really was a combination of this:
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_YaZEkNQKHRg/STL4OE5yTJI/AAAAAAAAAB0/3Wib8U7UrnM/s320/CIMG1165.JPG)
But the walls where like this:
(http://members.madasafish.com/~cj_whitehound/artwork/prison_corridor.gif)
So I don't blame you if you run because you get freaked out ro something.
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That really reminds me of a corridor out of Silent Hill.
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Ahhh, that is scary! In ours the laundry section is a huge open space, but storage is just like what you posted (and it's pretty dimly lit). Plus, we have a bizarro third room that is open (but dark) that attaches to a corridor that leads to the other side of the building. Just....too many places for things to hide. :|
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The only thing that I found cool about it (but it was also really scary when you think about it) was the door... It was almost like that cliche door in the banks that have a ridiculous amount of money. You know... really heavy steel doors that you have to close with two big steel levers or something.
Just think about someone closing the door... urgh... and since it was underground, the constant eco and sounds from above didn't help at all.
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Just think about someone closing the door... urgh... and since it was underground, the constant eco and sounds from above didn't help at all.
I think about this any time I go into the big fridge at work. I always turn the light in it on, even though it barely does anything, and leave one of the big trolleys in the doorway.
I always feel the need to jump into bed after I turn off the light or run to my room if I turn off the hallway light. Guess it's a primal thing that just sticks with some people.
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Guess it's a primal thing that just sticks with some people.
Cowards FTW
]:<
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I'm incredibly scared of the dark, and of heights. As a child I would be physically unable to move if I was walking down the stairs, for example, and there was a power cut. I would just stand there completely silent until someone came to rescue me, which obviously they would often not even realise I needed them to do. I'm better now but I still am scared. And the heights thing seems to only be getting worse, I almost pass out walking to the top floor of my faculty building (but then this is my faculty building (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Law_Faculty_University_of_Cambridge.jpg) and the stairs are those floating steps without a back between each one, so you can see why that would be scary for someone with a fear of heights).
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Augh...I couldn't even imagine. I'd probably make a point to do all my laundry at my parents' house haha
And the dark thing- yes! i really think that's what it is. Uncertainty and whatnot.
Barmy- I freak out on stairs too. I can't walk down them without holding onto the railing. Then again, I fell down stairs a few times as a kid. They were carpeted....but that doesn't make it suck much less. I was a giant klutz.
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I freak out when I'm standing next to a tall building or a tower and look up at the top. I'm afraid I'll warp to the top of it and fall.
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Sometimes I don't even notice I've turned it the wrong way out and put it on anyway... I'm not that quick.
After I eat a meal I will, using my finger, eradicate any bit of sauce or crumb left on the plate until it almost looks like the plate hasn't been used. I can just about hold off from doing it in a public place, or in the presence of someone I don't know that well. But only just.
Because of this, gravy is my mortal enemy. Tasty, tasty, enemy.
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I knew someone who was unable to eat anyone *EDIT* if anyone was standing *EDIT* behind her - she would just stop chewing, hunch her shoulders up, and hope really hard that they didn't smack her in the back of the head.
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I would not wish to be eaten if I were standing behind someone ;)
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Thanks to a dumbass nutritionist from when I was a toddler, my go to comfort food is butter. Just butter. Butter and chips/fries is the big one which to this day if I'm feeling really down or sometimes just because, I get a ridiculous craving for butter that will not go away till I give in. I've had the craving last for over a week till I gave into it.
Annoying thing, since my family switched to Flora, a low-fat spread, when I was about ten, real butter is too rich and sickening for me. So I just want more Flora instead.
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I also apparently never read through my posts before I post them anymore.
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Mmmmm.....I prefer those fake-y spreads/margarine to butter anyway.
I love making rice or grits and loading it up with margarine and shredded cheese. That's my go-to comfort food. Of course...that leads us to another quirk of mine. I eat cheese like I'm never going to see it again. This is a problem because I'm lactose intolerant. But it's SO worth the agony.
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I understand the dark and heights thing, but really have never succumbed to them myself. I think the lack of fear ofthe dark comes from being near-blind s a child. I'd challenge myself to get around in the dark, in case I ever lost my sight. It became like a game, and I also realized that even in extreme dark there are still minor light sources that can provide guidance, even when the power goes out.
As for heights... I love 'em. I like being on roofs, ladders, towers, so long as it's safe. I won't let go and wave my hands around like an idiot, but I like the view and don't have trouble functioning. Again, I'm pretty sure it was from helping my dad fix my grampa's (relatively flat) roof. Right now, I'm the only person in our church who's been in the steeple to grease the bells, because the access ladder is on the outside of the roof. And after the last step you have to swing yourself into a little door.
80 feet up.
It's fun!
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I'm always making myself go up to stupid heights, I've asked if I can climb around the top of the chapel organ some time because I'd love to see how it works, but that doesn't mean I'm not terrified every single second. I used to have to climb up and down a narrow vertical ladder that went from the catwalk where the lights were down to the scene dock in the theatre (at least thirty feet drop if the trapdoors were open) and it was horrific. For some reason the law faculty stairs are just a thousand times worse, it's horrible. Making me feel a bit ill just thinking about it actually.
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See this church?
See the golden ball on top above the tower?
(http://cassland.org/images/WestWycombeChurch.jpg)
That ball is a meeting room for having secret and secure meetings in!
When I was a child my mother and I climbed up and sat in that ball!
The best photo I can find showing the steps up, and a man standing in the opening is this:
(http://cassland.org/images/WestWycombeChurchBall.jpg)
Under the hill on which the church stands is a series of caves (http://www.hellfirecaves.co.uk/index.php?id=30), which you can visit. They (and the ball) were the haunt of Sir Francis Dashwood's Hellfire Club (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Wycombe_Caves).
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Oh, now I wanna go there...
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Visitors haven't been allowed up there for decades, now - Health and Safety, and all that. Another no-longer-allowed thing I did as a child is crawled in and stood up under the second largest bell in Britain (which is used to strike the hours, but also strikes 101 times at 9:05pm every evening during full term): Great (http://www.finestoneminiatures.com/catalog/catalog_76.htm) Tom (http://www.abbotshill.freeserve.co.uk/TomBell.htm), in Wren's Tom Tower (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Tower) over the gate of Christ Church College, Oxford.
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101 times every night? That would drive me up the wall. I thought our fire alarm was bad enough.
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As well as the hours.
When the pianist Artur Schnabel played a concert in Ch Ch in the 1920s, he came back after the interval at about 9pm, and hearing the bell striking, as he thought, the hour, he waited for it to stop. When he had counted up to forty, he gave up and started playing. I dare say that's happened to others.
I was a chorister at Christ Church Cathedral (for those who don't know, Oxford Cathedral and Christ Church college chapel are the same building). The original college foundation had included eight choristers - so we liked to think that the last eight strokes represented us. We used to lie awake and count the strikes - if the number was wrong, we reckoned the porter had had a bit to drink (more likely, even then they were automated and it was our miscounting).
The 101 strokes are said to represent the original 101 members of college returning at the time of the evening curfew (which is pretty unlikely, it seems to me). 9.05pm represents 9pm actual meridian time - for the same reason the cathedral services all start at five minutes past the hour, being the hour at the Oxford meridian.
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I used to live accross the street from a fire station and every day at 7 pm they fired off an air horn that could be heard all the way accross town. If you were outside when it went off, your whole body would vibrate for a few minutes after.
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Makes me think of this comic (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2050).
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I have a fear of my running senseo appartus
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Even if I hate the music, once something goes on my iPod it stays forever, because I'm afraid I'll want to hear it one day and won't be able to. Biggest example: Girls Just Want to Have Fun. I've never let that song go past the first verse, but I keep it on there anyway.
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I can imagine! Sometimes I find a song that I've long since deleted from my music player, but is still saved somewhere in the depths of one of my hard drives. But it's worth wiping some old shit from your ipod that you've heard a million times so that you can enjoy it later.
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My iTunes used to be like that, but I've started to fix it. Why would I have several albums worth of material where I like only two songs? I enjoy using shuffle, so to have to skip over the stuff I never listened to got annoying.
And speaking of my music collection I have a bizarre array of playlists to *try* and suit every mood I could possibly be in. This ranges from those based on emotions, seasons, memories, and so on. It works, most of the time.
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I made a playlist of ambient music and DM'd a round of DnD by improvising based on the music that was playing. It was fun, but Alex kept hitting everything with his mace and the game went from middle ages stuff to modern day New York where everybody died because he thought he could take the national guard with his mace. It was fun.
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My iTunes used to be like that, but I've started to fix it. Why would I have several albums worth of material where I like only two songs? I enjoy using shuffle, so to have to skip over the stuff I never listened to got annoying.
You can unselect a song so it doesn't play. I do this a lot if I have doubles of songs but don't want to delete albums (Say, if I have a best of and then an album, I'll deselect the best of songs).
And speaking of my music collection I have a bizarre array of playlists to *try* and suit every mood I could possibly be in. This ranges from those based on emotions, seasons, memories, and so on. It works, most of the time.
I used to, but now I'm on a shared computer and all my music is kept in one playlist call I NOT UNICRON I UNICORN
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Not quite sure why, but I always check the milk date after i pour it on my cereal. Never before for some reason. Same goes with any kind of juice, always after pouring it into something.
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I'm the total opposite, I drink and eat out of date things (I have been known quite frequently to simply remove parts of food that are mouldy and eat the rest). I figure it'd have to be badly off to kill me, I'm vegetarian and the risk is generally lower.
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I'm with you, May. If it's not moldy, stinky or discolored.....it's edible. I think the only exceptions for me are dairy products. I just don't trust them. They wreak enough havoc on my digestive system when they're not expired.
Some things are even better past their prime. Stale cheese doodles? Mmmmmmmmmmm
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Also, bananas taste best when they're between 30 and 50% brown.
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That's because that's the banana starch breaking down into sugar.
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Movies are best past their prime.
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My wife's a big fan of stale marsmallow peeps (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peeps). Apparantly they get hard, then soft again, but in a different way than when they were fresh.
And sticky. They get sticky on the surface.
I can't stand any kind of marshmallow in the first place. These things both gross and weird me out at the same time.
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The only thing Peeps are good for is jousting.
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I joust with peeps every year! I hate pretty much everything marshmallow except for Fluff.
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My favorite things to do with Peeps are to freeze them. The texture is similar to that of going stale but it's forced upon them and they're harder. Microwaving them is fun too. I love watching them puff up like little sugar coated Hulks.
This (http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/peeps/) is pretty wonderful too. I look forward to checking out all the entries every year.
Btw- Carl-E, I followed your link and I love that they are basically "indestructible". Makes me want to buy a package and try to destroy them haha
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This (http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/peeps/) is pretty wonderful too. I look forward to checking out all the entries every year.
Fixed the link. Pretty funy stuff! I like the Sgt Peepers.
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Ah, crap. Thanks for letting me know, fixed it up there too. Still trying to get the hang of fancy shmancy posting. :-P
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Being from England I have never seen a real peep, but they look kind of frightening.
Too many of my dreams involve Christmas and public transport. Anyone know why?
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Christmas
To dream of Christmas symbolizes family togetherness, reunions, celebration, peace, goodwill, generosity, and human kindness. It is also representative of new beginnings and fresh starts. Consider also your own associations with this holiday.
Bus
To dream that you are waiting for a bus indicates a temporary setback in achieving your personal goals. If you miss the bus, then it indicates that an aspect of your life is out of control. You need to slow down and map out a new plan. If you get on the wrong bus, then the dream indicates your fears of making the wrong choice and going on the wrong path. You are conflicted between what you want and what others want for you.
To dream that you are at the bus station suggests that you have reached some new level or stage in your emotional or physical life.
To dream that you are riding a bus implies that you are going along with the crowd. You are lacking originality and control over where your life is taking.
To dream that you are in a bus accident suggests that it is time for you to move away from a group setting and venture out on your own. You need to be more independent.
Bus Driver
To see a bus driver in your dream indicates leadership in some group idea or plan. It is symbolic of collective power. Alternatively, it suggests that you are going around in circles and showing little progress.
To dream that you are a bus driver suggests that you are moving forward quickly. You need to show more patience and less force. In particular, if you are a school bus driver, then it signifies that through knowledge and learning you will advance rapidly in life. Your dream may be connected with a new learning situation.
Bus Stop
To dream that you are at a bus stop indicates that there is a decision that you need to make. You need to decide what you want to do with your future.
Subway (What "The Underground" is called in the US)
To dream that you are in the subway denotes that you are reaching your goal via unconscious methods. By recognizing the hidden aspects of yourself, you are able to move forward in life. Alternatively, a subway suggests that you are making a hasty decision.
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Totally irrelevant but -
The subway is called the underground in the States? What are we talking about here? Trains which run under the ground? Or footpaths for pedestrians which go under the road?
I always thought that subway was the American word for what we call the Underground - as in the London Tube train. Subways are either sandwiches from a well-known chain or the footpath under a road, more commonly called an underpass. Am I totally wrong? Perhaps I have unconciously absorbed an Americanism.
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First, didn't this mean to go in the dream thread? Second, you know that's all mum
bo-jumbo, right?
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No I'm pretty sure you're right, May. I thought the Underground was a British thing. I think of Subway as a generic American/North American term for the citywide train system (as opposed to the Amtrak and Marc trains). And then each city has its own name for the local system. I guess I'd call a pedestrian walkway under a road an underpass, but the word more often refers to the where a road goes under a raised highway, like so:
(http://s0.geograph.org.uk/photos/03/94/039474_0934e83a.jpg) rather than this: (http://news.ssi-schaefer.us/Portals/84540/images/pedestrian-underpass-resized-600.jpg)
I'm not sure what to call that second one. A tunnel? We have a few around town on the walking paths.
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Hmm I'd call that a tunnel too, I'm talking more about:
(http://duo.irational.org/tunneling/bearpit_underpass_e_ST59087358/bearpit_underpass_e_kayle_brandon02.jpg)
I think that's a subway.
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I entirely meant it here, as I wondering why on earth my dreams are consistently about these things. It's a quirk of my subconscious... one might arguee.
I think my idea of a subway is so confused since I'm influenced heavily by American culture so things get a little screwed up in my head. That's definitely a quirk.
But yeah a subway is a pedestrian tunnel, a sandwich or some underground choo choo trains.
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I'm not sure what to call that second one. A tunnel? We have a few around town on the walking paths.
That is a culvert. Back in NY there's a culvert that lets you drive under the Erie Canal.
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A culvert is a tunnel carrying water - a stream or open drain - under an embankment (possibly from Fr. couler, to flow); OED and Webster's agree on that. The illustration was a pedestrian underpass of rather crude construction.
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I've never heard of a culvert used in that manner; I'm largely used to The Culvert Tunnel.
http://www.exploreny.net/orleans.php3 This page mentions it, if you can get past the gross site design.
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Totally irrelevant but -
The subway is called the underground in the States? What are we talking about here? Trains which run under the ground? Or footpaths for pedestrians which go under the road?
I always thought that subway was the American word for what we call the Underground - as in the London Tube train. Subways are either sandwiches from a well-known chain or the footpath under a road, more commonly called an underpass. Am I totally wrong? Perhaps I have unconciously absorbed an Americanism.
My mistake. I meant to say "What we Americans call your "Underground". Fixed it.
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Aha! That clears up a lot :)
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I very much dislike the use of subway as substitute for the word underpass. Why not call it subwalk?
A tunnel in my mind can be an underpass or a motorway tunnel. The picture was just that of a bridge. A tunnel is through a mountain or going under a river.
The word subway is the same thing as the underground in my mind becuase I connect them both to being trains in cities.
American words are taking over though, much to my dismay.
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The irony of Americanised words taking over the English language amuses me greatly.
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Of course, some of those "American" words are ones that we English gave away when we no longer wanted them, like "fall" for autumn or "trunk" for (car) boot.
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Trunk was originally a descriptive term...
(http://www.oldtrunks.com/history/historypics/Auto/RRCarTrnk_s6.jpg)
How it became a "boot" is beyond me...
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From the OED (talking about early coaches): "boot (b). An uncovered space on or by the steps on each side, where attendants sat, facing sideways; later, a low outside compartment before or behind the body of the vehicle."
This goes back at least to the 1600s; there might be a relationship with boot-locker, perhaps where the passengers stored their boots on entering.