International curiosity and translation needed CH

Rodney Summers

But they live in a hot place I presume; the Chichewa don't need boilers in their basements. So, no problem there...

Gosh, 23 genders and I bet they manipulate each adjective and verb to agree in gender and number with the noun. Poor little kids in school.

OK, do I hear 24 genders? Anyone?

Rodney Summers

Steamy Gender Issues with Calvin & Hobbes

Calvin was once wondering what the gender of things were. He was upset that other kids knew while he was stuck with English where everything is just an “it”. If I remember right, his questioning Miss Wormwood landed him in the principal’s office.

So, is a boiler a he or a she? I know we speak affectionately of them, but still, what is it? And what sort of kinky things are we doing when fondling a radiator trap? I need to know!

This is an international call to see what people call their boiler parts in other languages, and what gender they are, masculine (M), feminine (F), or somewhere neutral (N) in between.

German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Estonian, Russian, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese, Polish, Swedish, Welch, Turkish, Hindi, Esperanto... I started with French because they didn't invent the French kiss for nothing. Thus, allowing for the accent:

Boiler: chaudiere, F

Steam boiler: chaudiere a vapeur, F

Oil, wood, gas fired boiler: chaudiere a mazout, a bois, au gaz naturel, F

Domestic hot water heater: chauffe-eau, M; boiler, M

Pipe: tuyau, M; conduite, F

Closed loop, open loop: circuit ferme, M; circuit ouvert, M

Radiant loop, hot water coil: serpentin, M

Steam main: feeder, M

Return: retour, M

Flue: canal de fumee, M; tuyau de cheminee, M; boisseau, M

Chimney: cheminee, F

Smoke: fumee, F

Natural gas: gaz naturel, M

LPG: propane, M; propagaz, M; butane, M; butagaz, M

Oil: fioule, M; mazout, M; huile de chauffage, F; combustible de chauffage, M

Hot water: eau chaude, F

Steam: vapeur, F

Condensate: condensat, M

Radiant floor heat: chauffage par sol, M; plancher chauffant, M

Hot water hydronic: chauffage a eau chaude, M

Gravity hot water: thermosiphon, M

Hot air unit: aerotherme, M ; chauffage par air, M

Blower, fan: ventilateur, M; soufflante, F

Air conditioning: climatisation, F; air conditionne, M

Window AC unit: climatiseur, M

Heat exchanger: echangeur de chaleur, M; corps de chauffe, M

Heater: calorifere, M

Radiator: radiateur, M

Thermostatic valve: robinet thermostatique, M

Bleeder, air vent: purgeur d'air, M

Thermostat: thermostat, M

Outdoor sensor: sonde exterieure, F

3, 4 way valve: vanne melangeuse a 3, 4 voies, F

Expansion tank: vase d'expansion, M

Accumulating tank: bassin d'accumulation, M

DW tank: ballon de chaudiere, M

Circulator, pump: pompe de circulation, F; circulateur, M; acclerateur, M

Manifold: collecteur, M

Boiler drain: purge, F

Safety valve: soupape de securite, F; soupape de surpression, F

Pressure valve: detendeur, M

Pressure gauge: manometre, M

Pressure, head, high, low pressure: pression, F; haute, basse pression, F

Flow: ecoulement, M; debit, M

Steam heat: chauffage a vapeur, M; chauffage par vaporisation, M

One pipe: systeme a prise d'air, M

Paul: systeme a canal d'aeration, M

Vacuum, vapor system: systeme a vide, M

Vacuum pump: pompe a vide, F

Alternating return trap: pompe mecanique, F

Air vent: prise d'air, F

Main vent: bouche d'aeration, F

Radiator trap: purgeur de vapeur, M

Thermostatic trap: purgeur thermostatique, M

Bimetallic trap: purgeur bimetallique, M

Float trap: purgeur a flotteur ferme, M

Bucket trap: purgeur a flotteur inverse, M



Well, I got carried away, but I think this is spoken like a dictionary. Like Calvin, isn't this something you always wanted to know, your foreign boiler is it a he or a she to you?

How far around the world does this site go? I look forward to hearing more from all of you. Thanks in advance.

Errors, additions, omissions, not PC, fun, useful?

Christian Egli

Jamie_5

More than 2

Many languages have more than two genders. If I recall correctly, Chichewa, an African language, has 23. (That is a good example of the difference between linguistic gender and the biological category of sex.)

I'm no help on your search, since I have no idea what the gender of a boiler is in Chichewa. But it may well be that boilers come in more flavors than "he," "she," or "it."