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#132789 08/21/01 06:08 AM
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,392
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Member
LOL !
the truth is, 1/2 of America can't understand the other 1/2's accent
[Linked Image]

#132790 08/21/01 12:03 PM
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 7,520
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pauluk Offline OP
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In England one only has to drive 50 miles and the local accent can be completely different.

Those of us from the south of the country (which includes me, as I'm from London originally) have a hard time understanding a lot of the northerners. Run into somebody from Glasgow (Scotland) or Belfast (Northern Ireland) and there's no hope of understanding a word!

Kent:

There's no need to apologize for your English - it's much better than the English used by many people in Britain.

It seems to me that almost everybody in northern Europe (from the Netherlands north) seems to speak at least some English.

I think most of us who have English as our first language (U.K., U.S., Australia, etc.) are very lazy when it comes to foreign languages. I can speak just enough French to ask for things in shops or to understand directions when I'm in France, but I still feel very inadequate.

#132791 08/21/01 08:22 PM
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,392
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Member
I sometimes wonder if english is going to stay our 1st language here
[Linked Image]

#132792 08/22/01 06:31 AM
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pauluk Offline OP
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I take it you're referring to Spanish becoming more and more common.

When I was going through the very-laborious process of getting my green card and work permits I had to make regular calls to the INS, and all their computerized "help" systems offered the choice of English or Spanish.

#132793 08/22/01 07:05 AM
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,392
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Member
yes Paul;
I do now regret having no interest in high school spanish. Having few actual 'ligustic' boarders in the US lends to being lazy, yet the exponential influx of spanish speakers may change that, as it already has had an impact on the school systems here.

#132794 08/23/01 01:51 PM
Joined: Aug 2001
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pauluk Offline OP
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We're lazy about foreign languages here as well. I suppose with English being an international business language (partly thanks to the U.S.A. of course) and with so many Europeans speaking English as a second language most of us just never have any real incentive to learn.

I recall hearing a news story when I was over there last about California trying to pass a bill to make English the state's official language. Apparently, although many states did pass such laws last century, this never happened in Cal. and the state actually hs no legal official language.

#132795 12/01/01 04:20 PM
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 20
G
Member
>I know you can get Romex in 2-way (black, white) and 3-way (black, white, red) with & without ground, but do they make it in any other versions?

I'll jump in here with a Canadian perspective. We call it loomex, based on the historical construction method of the cable which was cotton loom impregnated with bitumen to insulate each conductor, paper spiral wrap around each conductor, with an overall outer jacket of cotton loom impregnated with bitumen. No bonding conductor in the older cables, but since the 60's all loomex comes with a bare bonding conductor.

Present-day construction is thermoplastic or thermosetting insulation on each conductor with an overall PVC jacket.

Available in black/white, black/red/white, and black/red. White is what we call the 'identified' conductor, and is always used as the neutral. Black is hot, red is hot, and are fed either from a split 240/120V single-phase panel so that there is 240V potential between black-red, or from two phases of a 208/120V 3-phase panel so that there is 208V potential between black-red.

The black/red type of loomex is sometimes called Heatex because it is used for 208V or 240V feeds to baseboard heaters and water heaters. We used to be permitted to use black/white loomex to run 208/240V circuits, but it is mandatory now to use the black/red type of cable.

Regards,
Brian

#132796 12/01/01 04:51 PM
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pauluk Offline OP
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We used to have similar cotton-based cables here, usually as a covering for a rubber insulation. Thermoplastic is the standard now, with butyl rubber for high-temp. work.

When you used to use black/white "loomex" for a 208 or 240V circuit, I assume that the CEC required the white to be tagged black or red at each end ??

You'll find some of my posts for U.K. color coding in this section.

#132797 12/02/01 07:10 PM
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 20
G
Member
>When you used to use black/white "loomex" for a 208 or 240V circuit, I assume that the CEC required the white to be tagged black or red at each end ??

Actually the CEC never did explicitly permit the white conductor to be marked a different colour. The electrical inspectors would just ignore the situation because cable with only red/black conductors weren't available.

Regards,
Brian

#132798 12/02/01 08:45 PM
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pauluk Offline OP
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So do I assume that the CEC also didn't officially allow black/white loomex to be used as a switch drop, even if it was used in practice?

Over here, black is reserved for the neutral, but the regs. allow it to be used as a hot wire if it is suitably tagged at each end. For example, our standard 2-w plus gnd cable is red & black, so on a switch drop we normally use red as the feed and black, taped red, as the line to the light.

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