Things you may or may not know about cars.

[Axsor100]

i always thought nearside was kirb side, so depend what side of the road and whether lhd or rhd vehicle

http://www.cartechnical.co.uk/n/96-nearside.html

[Albannach]

i always thought nearside was kirb side, so depend what side of the road and whether lhd or rhd vehicle

http://www.cartechnical.co.uk/n/96-nearside.html

It's nothing to do with what side of the road one is on or where the steering wheel is.

[Albannach]

I checked all the motors I have laying around here, 2nd and 3rd Gen Surfs, Ford Transit Connect, Pajaro, the Westfield kit car, and a Iveco Cargo horse lorry, next doors Golf and Merc. All obayed Andys rules apart from a Pajaro which has the fuel gauge symbol the wrong way round.

Pretty good.

It's a reasonably good barometer, but as we've seen, there are exceptions.

[Albannach]

I drive a combo, does that count?

No, but it highlights their other convention...

[Rustinho]

i always thought nearside was kirb side, so depend what side of the road and whether lhd or rhd vehicle

http://www.cartechnical.co.uk/n/96-nearside.html

Never believe t'intarweb if the Oxford English dictionary says otherwise...

[Apache]

Been doing it for years!

Cavalia!

[Sancho]

Never believe t'intarweb if the Oxford English dictionary says otherwise...

http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/nearside

[Predictable Bob]

Bwaaaaahaaaahaaa !

Nice one Adam - common sense rules (nearly)

[flounderbout]

http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/nearside

The Oxford English dictionary is, or is generally taken as, a reliable source material. The proliferation of online dictionaries with the name "Oxford" in them (which have nothing to do with the OED) aren't.

You can find support on the internet for virtually any proposition that you care to name. Especially when (as with nearside for example) the proposition is apparently sensible. But even if they aren't - the moon is made of cheese.

Unfortunately since most journalists etc now use Google as a principal source of reference, popular misconceptions now find themselves increasingly perpetuated in the mainstream media, hence giving them a momentum of their own.

A good example is the age-old canard, that the expression "freezing the balls off a brass monkey" has something to do with stacking cannonballs on the decks of ships on brass racks which would contract more than the iron cannonballs in cold weather hence the balls rolling off. This is obviously garbage for a whole raft of reasons. But reference to it can be found in mainstream publications (e.g. here (albeit not a journo's fault here, but they should still know better than to print this crap)), and before long it is accepted without question.

[Sancho]

The Oxford English dictionary is, or is generally taken as, a reliable source material. The proliferation of online dictionaries with the name "Oxford" in them (which have nothing to do with the OED) aren't.

I would draw the honourable gentleman's attention to the copyright at the foot of the page.

[flounderbout]

I would draw the honourable gentleman's attention to the copyright at the foot of the page.

Touche sir, touche.

However some caution still required - see http://oxforddictionaries.com/page/oed

The online one records practical usage rather than correct usage - c.f. the OED.
By way of example the online version records the bollox etymology of the "brass monkey" expression - see here.

[gwh200]

Phuq Yews...i know loadsashit out motah's innit.

[Apache]

3rd Gen Surfs,

Petrol one must be different then. I reckon it's BS