Nicknames we give to cars/bits of cars

[blearyeyedboy]

Levin said:

MorganP104 said:

Here's an interesting bit of nickname pedantry for us all to chew over. Many moons ago, when I was properly into my BMWs (I still like 'em, but drive a Merc at the moment), a lengthy debate raged amongst the faithful on the difference between Bimmer and Beemer.

Overwhelming consensus was that Bimmers are BMW cars and Beemers are BMW motorbikes.

So, there you are.

Consensus or not, I still disagree and would refer to the cars as Beemers. My act of minor rebellion right there.

I have never heard a real person talk about a Bimmer, only read about it on websites. Everyone I've met calls them Beemers or BM's.

[Sofa]

blearyeyedboy said:

I have never heard a real person talk about a Bimmer, only read about it on websites. Everyone I've met calls them Beemers or BM's.

It seems to be an American thing, I've seen many of them get worked up about it on the internet. Pretty sure if I said 'Bimmer' here in the UK most people would respond with 'Did you mean Beemer?'.

[Halmyre]

RinBinBin - moped

[MorganP104]

Levin said:

MorganP104 said:

Here's an interesting bit of nickname pedantry for us all to chew over. Many moons ago, when I was properly into my BMWs (I still like 'em, but drive a Merc at the moment), a lengthy debate raged amongst the faithful on the difference between Bimmer and Beemer.

Overwhelming consensus was that Bimmers are BMW cars and Beemers are BMW motorbikes.

So, there you are.

Consensus or not, I still disagree and would refer to the cars as Beemers. My act of minor rebellion right there.

You're such a rebel!

[Mr2Mike]

Halmyre said:

Not specifically car related, but a pingfkit is any small but vital part which ricochets off into the darkest recesses of the engine bay/bodyshell/garage.

Similar to a Jesus bolt on a car (e.g. BMW crank pulley bolt), and relates to the expression uttered when straining on the end of a long breaker bar+scaffold pole to no effect, other than possible failure of the breaker bar.

Originally it refereed to a specific part on a helicopter, failure of which would result in the entire rotor assembly detaching from the mast.

MorganP104 said:

Here's an interesting bit of nickname pedantry for us all to chew over. Many moons ago, when I was properly into my BMWs (I still like 'em, but drive a Merc at the moment), a lengthy debate raged amongst the faithful on the difference between Bimmer and Beemer.

Overwhelming consensus was that Bimmers are BMW cars and Beemers are BMW motorbikes.

So, there you are.

Pretty certain that's one of those cases where the etymology was developed after the name came into use. "Beemer" was universally used in the UK in the past, so I suspect Bimmer is simply an Americanism that has been adopted and and a persistent internet legend made up to suit.

Edited by Mr2Mike on Wednesday 1st March 13:13

[Jex]

BMW X6 = Tonka Toy