National Boards > General Highway Talk
What’s in a name?
US 89:
--- Quote from: ran4sh on December 01, 2021, 05:31:50 PM ---Root has two listed pronunciations, I use the one that isn't the same as route.
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Heh. Today I learned. I didn't believe you until I went to Merriam-Webster, and apparently you can pronounce "root" to rhyme with "put". I have never, ever heard that.
As far as I'm concerned, you have two pronunciations to distribute between three words. "Route" for me can really go either way - as a verb it's always "rout", and it's always "Root 66" ... but at the same time, I find myself saying "State Rout 154" ...
Scott5114:
--- Quote from: US 89 on December 01, 2021, 07:09:17 PM ---Heh. Today I learned. I didn't believe you until I went to Merriam-Webster, and apparently you can pronounce "root" to rhyme with "put". I have never, ever heard that.
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My mom uses that pronunciation, but usually only in reference to things like tree roots. She wouldn't use it when she's rooting for the Chiefs while drinking root beer.
andrepoiy:
--- Quote from: 7/8 on November 29, 2021, 10:20:15 PM ---
--- Quote from: US 89 on November 29, 2021, 08:38:42 PM ---
--- Quote from: 1995hoo on November 27, 2021, 11:05:23 AM ---Out west, the word "highway" is sometimes combined with a route number as a proper noun—for example, "take Highway 29 south for two hours." I have a brother-in-law in Phoenix whose wife uses that style and it threw me off briefly when she was riding with us here and she said something about "Highway 7" when we were on I-395—it took me a second to realize what she meant because Virginia Route 7 in that area is an arterial (with that portion of said route ordinarily referred to as King Street), and in this part of the country "highway" is a generic term used more to refer to Interstates or similar (example from when I was in law school: "751 was blocked by an accident, so I had to take the highway," with "the highway" meaning US-15/501).
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See, that kind of thing fascinates me. I'm originally from Utah where that usage is very much standard, even though the state-maintained roads there are in fact legally "state routes". In fact, it's so standard it is usually what shows up on street signs. Where I grew up north of Salt Lake, the main pre-interstate highway is usually signed as Highway 89, and in conversation you'll either hear that or just "US 89". Likewise, the famous scenic highway in southern Utah is "Highway 12", "SR 12", or maybe "State Route 12" or "State Road 12". I have never heard "Route 89" or "Route 12".
It wouldn't even occur to me that this usage might confuse people from "route" parts of the country.
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Yeah, this basically applies to Ontario too. People say "highway" not "route" (which would be pronounced "root"). Here's an example of a sign for Highway 27.
The exception are the 400-series highways, which are "The __" (ex: the four-oh-one).
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I wouldn't say that would be a good example due to Highway 27 being downloaded.
Here's a better example of a non-downloaded Ontario Highway which is also referred to as Highway 48.
But that does raise something interesting:
Lots of decommissioned Ontario Highways are still referred to as "Highway X" as their street name, even when it doesn't match the new designation.
For example, York Regional Road 1 in Holland Landing ON is named Highway 11 and used to actually be Ontario Highway 11.
Other decommissioned Highways retained their name (e.g Highway 7 through York Region, Highway 50, Highway 27) and were assigned a corresponding route number.
Some other decommissioned highways have conflicting street name blades. I can't remember exactly which one, but I remember seeing one where they had a "Regional Road X" street blade at one point and a "Highway X" at another point.
Here's an even more interesting case: Ottawa Road 174 in Ottawa is referred to as Highway 174, even though Highway 174 was never the Ontario designation (it used to be Highway 17)
But I'd say Ontario never got the "Route" lexicon because Ontario Highways are called "King's Highways".
Dirt Roads:
--- Quote from: US 89 on December 01, 2021, 07:09:17 PM ---Heh. Today I learned. I didn't believe you until I went to Merriam-Webster, and apparently you can pronounce "root" to rhyme with "put". I have never, ever heard that.
--- End quote ---
We use that phrase all the time in Appalachia (and in the Deep South), but it kinda goes like "rut it out". I've never seen that phrase spelled out as "root it out", but that is how it was supposed to be spelt (my Mom was an English teacher).
1995hoo:
--- Quote from: US 89 on December 01, 2021, 07:09:17 PM ---
--- Quote from: ran4sh on December 01, 2021, 05:31:50 PM ---Root has two listed pronunciations, I use the one that isn't the same as route.
--- End quote ---
Heh. Today I learned. I didn't believe you until I went to Merriam-Webster, and apparently you can pronounce "root" to rhyme with "put". I have never, ever heard that.
....
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I'd never heard that either, but now you're making me remember that my father pronounced the word "booger" with the "oo" rhyming with the word "boo" (as in, the sound of disapproval you direct at the ref or the umpire) rather than with "book." It led to great fun when he said it that way at a Boy Scout event and one of the other kids asked, "What the hell is a 'boooo-ger'?"
Returning to the pronunciation of "route," I work directly with three people who are all from different parts of the country (California, Indiana, and Louisiana). I asked them about this issue. The one from California didn't respond; the one from Indiana voted for "rout" except for the "[Root] 66" context (she suggested that's probably due to the song); the one from Louisiana voted for "rout" without comment. My wife grew up in Dayton, Ohio, and she voted for "root" (she also thinks it's because of the ubiquity of "[Root] 66").
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