Electrical adapter for London?
Dec 6th 2004, 9:26 am
#31
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Posts: n/a
Re: Ironmongers, was Re: Electrical adapter for London?
"Jim Ley" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Mon, 06 Dec 2004 14:07:37 -0700, randee <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>>I would have expected an ironmonger's shop to be what we call here
>>in
>>the US a blacksmith shop (a shop where things are made of iron and
>>steel
>>bar and rounds). What do they call a blacksmith shop in England?
> A blacksmith
> Jim.
Don't blacksmiths still work in smithies? Or, is that a word for
historical novels? :-)
Jim (another one).
news:[email protected]...
> On Mon, 06 Dec 2004 14:07:37 -0700, randee <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>>I would have expected an ironmonger's shop to be what we call here
>>in
>>the US a blacksmith shop (a shop where things are made of iron and
>>steel
>>bar and rounds). What do they call a blacksmith shop in England?
> A blacksmith
> Jim.
Don't blacksmiths still work in smithies? Or, is that a word for
historical novels? :-)
Jim (another one).
Dec 6th 2004, 10:16 am
#32
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Posts: n/a
Re: Electrical adapter for London?
"Mark Hewitt" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
...
> Where did you get the idea that ironmongers is British for hardware store?
Unless I misunderstand the meaning of a hardware store, that is exactly what
I would call it.
> Did you just make that up? If somebody here actually told you that I think
> they were having a laugh with you! You try asking anyone in the UK where
> the ironmongers is and see what reaction you get,
If I were to be the one asked, the questioner would get clear directions to
the nearest one. I could even provide directions to an architectural
ironmonger, if necessary.
Colin Bignell
news:[email protected]...
...
> Where did you get the idea that ironmongers is British for hardware store?
Unless I misunderstand the meaning of a hardware store, that is exactly what
I would call it.
> Did you just make that up? If somebody here actually told you that I think
> they were having a laugh with you! You try asking anyone in the UK where
> the ironmongers is and see what reaction you get,
If I were to be the one asked, the questioner would get clear directions to
the nearest one. I could even provide directions to an architectural
ironmonger, if necessary.
Colin Bignell
Dec 6th 2004, 10:23 am
#33
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Electrical adapter for London?
"Mark Hewitt" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Jim Ley" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> I think he'd have just as much trouble with hardware store, which is
>> an americanism anyway.
> True. But around here (Newcastle) if you asked someone for the local
> hardware store they would know what you mean and direct you to e.g. B&Q.
B&Q is a DIY shed, to be used only in dire emergencies, when real
ironmongers are shut. Their range of hardware is very small, compared to
what I can find in my local ironmongers.
Colin Bignell
news:[email protected]...
> "Jim Ley" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> I think he'd have just as much trouble with hardware store, which is
>> an americanism anyway.
> True. But around here (Newcastle) if you asked someone for the local
> hardware store they would know what you mean and direct you to e.g. B&Q.
B&Q is a DIY shed, to be used only in dire emergencies, when real
ironmongers are shut. Their range of hardware is very small, compared to
what I can find in my local ironmongers.
Colin Bignell
Dec 6th 2004, 10:25 am
#34
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Electrical adapter for London?
"nightjar .uk.com>" <nightjar@<insert_my_surname_here> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Mark Hewitt" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> ...
>> Where did you get the idea that ironmongers is British for hardware store?
> Unless I misunderstand the meaning of a hardware store, that is exactly what I
> would call it.
>> Did you just make that up? If somebody here actually told you that I think
>> they were having a laugh with you! You try asking anyone in the UK where the
>> ironmongers is and see what reaction you get,
> If I were to be the one asked, the questioner would get clear directions to
> the nearest one. I could even provide directions to an architectural
> ironmonger, if necessary.
> Colin Bignell
I agree. There are at least four within ten miles of where I live. And several
Coopers, too!
JohnT
news:[email protected]...
> "Mark Hewitt" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> ...
>> Where did you get the idea that ironmongers is British for hardware store?
> Unless I misunderstand the meaning of a hardware store, that is exactly what I
> would call it.
>> Did you just make that up? If somebody here actually told you that I think
>> they were having a laugh with you! You try asking anyone in the UK where the
>> ironmongers is and see what reaction you get,
> If I were to be the one asked, the questioner would get clear directions to
> the nearest one. I could even provide directions to an architectural
> ironmonger, if necessary.
> Colin Bignell
I agree. There are at least four within ten miles of where I live. And several
Coopers, too!
JohnT
Dec 6th 2004, 10:29 am
#35
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Posts: n/a
Re: Electrical adapter for London?
"Evelyn C. Leeper" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Mark Hewitt wrote:
>> "Larry" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>>It is apparently the Radio Shack one you want (they do not show the other
>>>side
>>>but presumably that takes standard US plugs).
>> Yup. That's the one the OP needs.
>>>I have never been anywhere in the UK where the REI one would be needed.
>> True. UK 'certain areas' is just a blatant fabrication! There are no
>> areas in the UK which require that sort of plug! I think that is the type
>> we used about 50 years ago, but nowhere now.. Except for in hotel
>> bathrooms where they have such plugs but they are only supposed to be for
>> shavers.
> I used one like it in Scotland in 1989, but they were probably old houses.
> (The outlets in my parents' house in Massachusetts are really old also.)
By 1989, any houses with round pin sockets (there were several varieties)
was surviving on borrowed time. The rubber insulated cable that would have
been used to wire them would have been well past its best before date and it
would have been a serious fire hazard.
Colin Bignell
news:[email protected]...
> Mark Hewitt wrote:
>> "Larry" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>>It is apparently the Radio Shack one you want (they do not show the other
>>>side
>>>but presumably that takes standard US plugs).
>> Yup. That's the one the OP needs.
>>>I have never been anywhere in the UK where the REI one would be needed.
>> True. UK 'certain areas' is just a blatant fabrication! There are no
>> areas in the UK which require that sort of plug! I think that is the type
>> we used about 50 years ago, but nowhere now.. Except for in hotel
>> bathrooms where they have such plugs but they are only supposed to be for
>> shavers.
> I used one like it in Scotland in 1989, but they were probably old houses.
> (The outlets in my parents' house in Massachusetts are really old also.)
By 1989, any houses with round pin sockets (there were several varieties)
was surviving on borrowed time. The rubber insulated cable that would have
been used to wire them would have been well past its best before date and it
would have been a serious fire hazard.
Colin Bignell
Dec 6th 2004, 7:10 pm
#36
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Electrical adapter for London?
"nightjar .uk.com>" <nightjar@<insert_my_surname_here> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Mark Hewitt" <[email protected]> wrote in
> message news:[email protected]...
> ...
>> Where did you get the idea that ironmongers is British for hardware
>> store?
> Unless I misunderstand the meaning of a hardware store, that is exactly
> what I would call it.
Where do you live? Maybe it's just around here where this strange term is
absent!
news:[email protected]...
> "Mark Hewitt" <[email protected]> wrote in
> message news:[email protected]...
> ...
>> Where did you get the idea that ironmongers is British for hardware
>> store?
> Unless I misunderstand the meaning of a hardware store, that is exactly
> what I would call it.
Where do you live? Maybe it's just around here where this strange term is
absent!
Dec 7th 2004, 2:00 am
#37
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Electrical adapter for London?
"Mark Hewitt" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "nightjar .uk.com>" <nightjar@<insert_my_surname_here> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> "Mark Hewitt" <[email protected]> wrote in
>> message news:[email protected]...
>> ...
>>> Where did you get the idea that ironmongers is British for hardware
>>> store?
>> Unless I misunderstand the meaning of a hardware store, that is exactly
>> what I would call it.
> Where do you live? Maybe it's just around here where this strange term is
> absent!
I've lived in various places around the UK and known ironmongers in all of
them. Perhaps, as you suggested that you would send someone to B&Q if they
asked for a hardware store, it is ironmongers that are missing in your area.
Colin Bignell
news:[email protected]...
> "nightjar .uk.com>" <nightjar@<insert_my_surname_here> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> "Mark Hewitt" <[email protected]> wrote in
>> message news:[email protected]...
>> ...
>>> Where did you get the idea that ironmongers is British for hardware
>>> store?
>> Unless I misunderstand the meaning of a hardware store, that is exactly
>> what I would call it.
> Where do you live? Maybe it's just around here where this strange term is
> absent!
I've lived in various places around the UK and known ironmongers in all of
them. Perhaps, as you suggested that you would send someone to B&Q if they
asked for a hardware store, it is ironmongers that are missing in your area.
Colin Bignell
Dec 7th 2004, 4:07 pm
#38
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Electrical adapter for London?
You would have to look very hard to find a cooper in the US. Most work
for a particular industry, say a winery. I used to work in a cannery
and they had a cooper for the olive and pickle barrel repair.
As to an ironmonger's - it sounds like a very large and well equipped
hardware store. Most large towns used to have them, but they are now
replaced in the US by such as Lowe's and Home Depot.
--
wf.
JohnT wrote:
>
> I agree. There are at least four within ten miles of where I live. And several
> Coopers, too!
>
> JohnT
for a particular industry, say a winery. I used to work in a cannery
and they had a cooper for the olive and pickle barrel repair.
As to an ironmonger's - it sounds like a very large and well equipped
hardware store. Most large towns used to have them, but they are now
replaced in the US by such as Lowe's and Home Depot.
--
wf.
JohnT wrote:
>
> I agree. There are at least four within ten miles of where I live. And several
> Coopers, too!
>
> JohnT
Dec 7th 2004, 6:39 pm
#39
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Electrical adapter for London?
On Mon, 6 Dec 2004 23:29:04 -0000, "nightjar"
<nightjar@<insert_my_surname_here>.uk.com> wrote:
>"Evelyn C. Leeper" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> Mark Hewitt wrote:
>>> "Larry" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>> news:[email protected]...
>>>>It is apparently the Radio Shack one you want (they do not show the other
>>>>side
>>>>but presumably that takes standard US plugs).
>>> Yup. That's the one the OP needs.
>>>>I have never been anywhere in the UK where the REI one would be needed.
>>> True. UK 'certain areas' is just a blatant fabrication! There are no
>>> areas in the UK which require that sort of plug! I think that is the type
>>> we used about 50 years ago, but nowhere now.. Except for in hotel
>>> bathrooms where they have such plugs but they are only supposed to be for
>>> shavers.
>> I used one like it in Scotland in 1989, but they were probably old houses.
>> (The outlets in my parents' house in Massachusetts are really old also.)
>By 1989, any houses with round pin sockets (there were several varieties)
>was surviving on borrowed time. The rubber insulated cable that would have
>been used to wire them would have been well past its best before date and it
>would have been a serious fire hazard.
I remember a conversation around the mid-1980s with the occupant of a
flat which had been subject to very little modernisation in the
preceding decades. The lighting wiring was ancient, but the flat did
have square-pin sockets with relatively new power wiring. Apparently
the electricity supply to the flat had been cut off for a while (I
think simply during an interval where it wasn't occupied), and the
electricity board refused to restore the supply until the wiring was
modernised. And no, I don't know how the electricity board was aware
that there was still old-fashioned wiring in the flat.
Martin
<nightjar@<insert_my_surname_here>.uk.com> wrote:
>"Evelyn C. Leeper" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> Mark Hewitt wrote:
>>> "Larry" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>> news:[email protected]...
>>>>It is apparently the Radio Shack one you want (they do not show the other
>>>>side
>>>>but presumably that takes standard US plugs).
>>> Yup. That's the one the OP needs.
>>>>I have never been anywhere in the UK where the REI one would be needed.
>>> True. UK 'certain areas' is just a blatant fabrication! There are no
>>> areas in the UK which require that sort of plug! I think that is the type
>>> we used about 50 years ago, but nowhere now.. Except for in hotel
>>> bathrooms where they have such plugs but they are only supposed to be for
>>> shavers.
>> I used one like it in Scotland in 1989, but they were probably old houses.
>> (The outlets in my parents' house in Massachusetts are really old also.)
>By 1989, any houses with round pin sockets (there were several varieties)
>was surviving on borrowed time. The rubber insulated cable that would have
>been used to wire them would have been well past its best before date and it
>would have been a serious fire hazard.
I remember a conversation around the mid-1980s with the occupant of a
flat which had been subject to very little modernisation in the
preceding decades. The lighting wiring was ancient, but the flat did
have square-pin sockets with relatively new power wiring. Apparently
the electricity supply to the flat had been cut off for a while (I
think simply during an interval where it wasn't occupied), and the
electricity board refused to restore the supply until the wiring was
modernised. And no, I don't know how the electricity board was aware
that there was still old-fashioned wiring in the flat.
Martin
Dec 8th 2004, 2:58 am
#40
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Electrical adapter for London?
"Martin Rich" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Mon, 6 Dec 2004 23:29:04 -0000, "nightjar"
> <nightjar@<insert_my_surname_here>.uk.com> wrote:
>>"Evelyn C. Leeper" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>news:[email protected]...
...
>>> I used one like it in Scotland in 1989, but they were probably old
>>> houses.
>>> (The outlets in my parents' house in Massachusetts are really old also.)
>>By 1989, any houses with round pin sockets (there were several varieties)
>>was surviving on borrowed time. The rubber insulated cable that would have
>>been used to wire them would have been well past its best before date and
>>it
>>would have been a serious fire hazard.
> I remember a conversation around the mid-1980s with the occupant of a
> flat which had been subject to very little modernisation in the
> preceding decades. The lighting wiring was ancient, but the flat did
> have square-pin sockets with relatively new power wiring. Apparently
> the electricity supply to the flat had been cut off for a while (I
> think simply during an interval where it wasn't occupied), and the
> electricity board refused to restore the supply until the wiring was
> modernised. And no, I don't know how the electricity board was aware
> that there was still old-fashioned wiring in the flat.
If the flat had been unoccupied for some time, the electricity would have
been cut off by removing the company fuse. The electrician sent to replace
it would have spotted the old wiring.
Colin Bignell
news:[email protected]...
> On Mon, 6 Dec 2004 23:29:04 -0000, "nightjar"
> <nightjar@<insert_my_surname_here>.uk.com> wrote:
>>"Evelyn C. Leeper" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>news:[email protected]...
...
>>> I used one like it in Scotland in 1989, but they were probably old
>>> houses.
>>> (The outlets in my parents' house in Massachusetts are really old also.)
>>By 1989, any houses with round pin sockets (there were several varieties)
>>was surviving on borrowed time. The rubber insulated cable that would have
>>been used to wire them would have been well past its best before date and
>>it
>>would have been a serious fire hazard.
> I remember a conversation around the mid-1980s with the occupant of a
> flat which had been subject to very little modernisation in the
> preceding decades. The lighting wiring was ancient, but the flat did
> have square-pin sockets with relatively new power wiring. Apparently
> the electricity supply to the flat had been cut off for a while (I
> think simply during an interval where it wasn't occupied), and the
> electricity board refused to restore the supply until the wiring was
> modernised. And no, I don't know how the electricity board was aware
> that there was still old-fashioned wiring in the flat.
If the flat had been unoccupied for some time, the electricity would have
been cut off by removing the company fuse. The electrician sent to replace
it would have spotted the old wiring.
Colin Bignell
