Road enthusiast slang dictionary

[empirestate]

From its topic, I really expected this thread to be more like this:
http://kurumi.com/roads/bierce.html

[Molandfreak]

Another term I hate is "roadgeek."  It makes me want to abandon the hobby.  I'm not a geek damnit!

Glad to see I'n not the only one here who despises the term.

I actually don't mind the term. "Road enthusiast" and "roads scholar" sound too pretentious to me. "Roadgeek" seems to describe a hobbyist's interest in roads.

It seems to me the "geek" part indicates the interest is a little eccentric.  That's fine with me.  "Road enthusiast" is my second choice, though for most people outside our community, that enthusiasm would seem a little weird too.

"Roadfan?" "Road nerd?" The definition of a nerd is broadening to include people who are simply passionate about a topic

[bugo]

When I was in school, being a geek was a bad thing.  The only thing worse than being a geek was being a nerd or a biscuit.  Being a spazz wasn't quite as bad as being a geek.

[Alps]

From its topic, I really expected this thread to be more like this:
http://kurumi.com/roads/bierce.html

Roadgeek: someone who bites the heads off of roundabouts?

[empirestate]

From its topic, I really expected this thread to be more like this:
http://kurumi.com/roads/bierce.html

Roadgeek: someone who bites the heads off of roundabouts?

Roundabout: (n.)
A geometric contrivance favored by American traffic engineers who wish to appear British, and by American drivers who prefer negotiating circles clockwise (but by no other kind).

[Alps]

From its topic, I really expected this thread to be more like this:
http://kurumi.com/roads/bierce.html

Roadgeek: someone who bites the heads off of roundabouts?

Roundabout: (n.)
A geometric contrivance favored by American traffic engineers who wish to appear British, and by American drivers who prefer negotiating circles clockwise (but by no other kind).

Clockwise? That would appear very British, indeed.

SPUI: The sound you make when you get stuck for 3 minutes at a red light because it's one of those newfangled freeway ramps.

[empirestate]

Roundabout: (n.)
A geometric contrivance favored by American traffic engineers who wish to appear British, and by American drivers who prefer negotiating circles clockwise (but by no other kind).

Clockwise? That would appear very British, indeed.

Good, then you got the joke.

Parking brake: (n.)
Regional variant for clutch, chiefly in hilly locales.

[Brandon]

From its topic, I really expected this thread to be more like this:
http://kurumi.com/roads/bierce.html

Roadgeek: someone who bites the heads off of roundabouts?

Roundabout: (n.)
A geometric contrivance favored by American traffic engineers who wish to appear British, and by American drivers who prefer negotiating circles clockwise (but by no other kind).

Like this guy?

[agentsteel53]

SPUI: The sound you make when you get stuck for 3 minutes at a red light because it's one of those newfangled freeway ramps.

really?  I've never seen a SPUI back up like that.  I think the ones I've seen generally do a good job, so long as the driver gets used to stopping diagonally, which was the only thing that got me when I first saw one.

[akotchi]

A "Breezewood" is any indirect freeway-to-freeway connection where either a high-volume state/US route, or any Interstate, goes from one freeway to another (like I-676 in Philadelphia, even though it's unofficial), or is just a gap in the freeway on an Interstate (like I-78 in Jersey City). Saying a Breezewood is something like the non-interchanges on the PA Turnpike isn't correct, though technically, I guess Breezewood itself is the only "Breezewood."

My idea of a breezewood is a place where freeway traffic must use non freeways to make a connection that should be possible with freeway ramps only. 

That is what we had until very recently in the District of Columbia, where it was impossible to go from I-395 northbound to northbound D.C. 295 (an expressway with no signalized intersections) without driving on arterial streets and through one or more signalized intersections.  Even worse, the movement from southbound D.C. 295 to southbound I-395 required also required driving on arterial streets, but the required routing was different.

My definition of a breezewood (lower case) is more strict than this.  Mine would stipulate that all freeway-to-freeway interchange movements would have to be made via arterial streets, such as in the namesake case.  The example that comes closest to this to me (for now) is I-95 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Unlike other older Turnpike-Interstate interchanges, though, neither highway is signed as a primary destination from the other mainline.

[bugo]

We never use "Breezewood" in the chats.  We're usually talking about sports, girls, cars, or LAPs.

[Alps]

We never use "Breezewood" in the chats.  We're usually talking about sports, girls, cars, or LAPs.

Or pooing.

[bandit957]

We never use "Breezewood" in the chats.  We're usually talking about sports, girls, cars, or LAPs.

Or pooing.

Or Christopher Cross.

[Scott5114]

there is the inexplicable misspelling "sine".

and, for the record, Michael Summa has never used it.  in salads or otherwise.

I think this is originally from C.C. Slater, who, for some reason, has never made the transition from MTR to here. Which is a shame.

[hbelkins]

I think this is originally from C.C. Slater, who, for some reason, has never made the transition from MTR to here. Which is a shame.

Otto Yamamoto is still quite active on Facebook, but his interests have changed some. He's more interested in taking pictures at punk/hardcore rock shows in NYC than in roadgeeking these days.

[empirestate]

Breezewood: (n.)
A busy Pennsylvania tourist attraction nobody wants to visit, consisting of a historic museum of current American restaurant and fuel chain signage.

[triplemultiplex]

I never got into the chatrooms, but there are two terms commonly used that I dislike.

One is "multiplex." Makes me think of a movie theater complex. I prefer the term "overlap" or "co-signed" or "concurrency" or something similar.

I don't like "multiplex" either.  It sounds too nerdy.

Hey, I might just start taking that personally!   


You gotta embrace your inner nerd.  Everyone is a nerd about something.  Doesn't matter if it's roads or comic books or cars or celebrities; we are all nerds.  Hell, fantasy sports is way nerdier than any SciFi convention.  Bunch of dudes devoting all that time and money playing pretend; sounds like some ol' Dungeons & Dragons stuff to me.

Nerd is normal.  There are two types of people in this culture; nerds and nerds in denial.

[kphoger]

Hidden Interstate [n. ph.]
(1)  A paper designation for an Interstate highway not signed in the field.
(2)  A way to get lost in downtown Tulsa.
(3)  One more reason not to use a satellite navigation system.

[Molandfreak]

Hey, I might just start taking that personally!   

Hahaha!!!

Hidden Interstate [n. ph.]
(1)  A paper designation for an Interstate highway not signed in the field.

Like I-35 on the CKC corridor now?

[NE2]

SPUI: The sound you make when you get stuck for 3 minutes at a red light because it's one of those newfangled freeway ramps.

really?  I've never seen a SPUI back up like that.  I think the ones I've seen generally do a good job, so long as the driver gets used to stopping diagonally, which was the only thing that got me when I first saw one.

I got caught like this in a couple on US 19 in Pinellas County. The phases might be good for rush hour, but are too long for other times. Made losing my spuirginity a slow and painful process.

[SSOWorld]

roo = thunder [verb: crack a roo]

About the sky...

[Duke87]

Made losing my spuirginity a slow and painful process.

I used to pass through the CT 15/CT 111 interchange every day on my way to and from school, from before the project of converting it from a diamond to a SPUI broke ground to after it was completed. That was also the first SPUI I ever saw firsthand. So I suppose I could say the same.

[route56]

Truck Guillotine: (n) A overpass with sub-standard vertical clearance. Should an overheight truck attempt to pass underneath, the top of the truck will likely come off slicker than scum off a Louisiana swamp.

[spmkam]

In the NYC metro area there are many parkways open to only passenger cars because of these overpasses. Some truckers miss the signs and wind up causing incredible back ups as well as missing their top end.

[Brandon]

We have a similar thing around Chicago, but instead of parkways, they're railroad viaducts.  Some of the shorter ones come in under 12 feet.  Usually the trucks aren't a problem as these aren't on truck routes and the vehicles aren't going all that fast (30-35mph).