Mac3d ago
If derailleur (the part of the gear shifting system on a bicycle that kicks the chain to a different sprocket) in English comes from the french dérailleur, which means derailer, as in de-rail, which is what the derailleur does... then why isn't the English term for a derailleur a derailer? o.O
#MTB #cycling #bicycles #language #English
Show threadKevin B

@macberg

Languages borrow all the time. In aviation, we also borrow:
- empennage
- aileron
- fuselage
- pitot tube (Pronounced: pee-toe. ok, named after the inventor but..)
- pilot (hmm)

If you like to name things, I guess it pays to invent them.

Mar 20 at 1:25pmWeb
Show threadMac3d ago
@keraba I think the nuance of the point of my post might have escaped you. It's not about the borrowing, which, as you correctly point out, happens all the time and is perfectly fine. It's that the borrowed term has an English term that not only means the same, but also spells and sounds almost the same.
Borrowing in this instance is basically just an unnecessarily difficult spelling of the already existing English word for the same thing. It's just superfluous and ridiculous imo.
Show threadKevin B3d ago

@macberg

"unnecessary difficult spelling" in English ? You don't say...

(see if you catch my point)

Show threadMac3d ago
@keraba Not much of a point to be made. I'm talking about a derailleur.