# Hi I want to confirm if young British people still say or write "aeroplane". **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 25, 2013, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-i-want-to-confirm-if-young-british-people-still-say-or-write-aeroplane/664470 "2013-07-25T11:31:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-i-want-to-confirm-if-young-british-people-still-say-or-write-aeroplane/664470/41 "2013-07-26T19:58:17Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > [IMDB](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080339/releaseinfo?ref_=tt_ql_9) doesn’t list a UK alternate title, though it was apparently _O Aeroplano_ in Portugal. 🙂 It was definitely released as ‘Airplane!’ here in the UK. We can understand American English. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-i-want-to-confirm-if-young-british-people-still-say-or-write-aeroplane/664470/42 "2013-07-26T20:50:17Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > It was definitely released as ‘Airplane!’ here in the UK. We can understand American English. How about Jive? ---
**Author:** ![madrabbitwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@madrabbitwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madrabbitwoman)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-i-want-to-confirm-if-young-british-people-still-say-or-write-aeroplane/664470/43 "2013-07-27T01:02:04Z")
Another Aussie - everyone I know, says and spells it aeroplane. ---
**Author:** ![madrabbitwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@madrabbitwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madrabbitwoman)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-i-want-to-confirm-if-young-british-people-still-say-or-write-aeroplane/664470/44 "2013-07-27T01:04:19Z")
If I try to type airplane my spell check chucks a fit ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-i-want-to-confirm-if-young-british-people-still-say-or-write-aeroplane/664470/45 "2013-07-27T01:07:48Z")
Stuff like that (in Canada) is why I use Firefox’s British English version. ---
**Author:** ![Gullible\_s\_Travels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de0a6/32.png) [@Gullible\_s\_Travels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gullible_s_Travels)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-i-want-to-confirm-if-young-british-people-still-say-or-write-aeroplane/664470/46 "2013-07-27T01:52:01Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > It’s all in the [early childhood exposure](http://www.aeroplanejelly.com.au) Indeed. 😃 To this day I have a few packets of Aeroplane Jelly in the cupboard at all times. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-i-want-to-confirm-if-young-british-people-still-say-or-write-aeroplane/664470/47 "2013-07-27T01:54:08Z")
Why do some (all?) Americans say airplane? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-i-want-to-confirm-if-young-british-people-still-say-or-write-aeroplane/664470/48 "2013-07-27T02:31:52Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > Why do some (all?) Americans say airplane? Because that’s what it is. 🙂 An **airplane** (or **aircraft** ) is a plane (or craft) that flies through the **air**. Kind of like how a **spaceship** is a ship that flies through space. You can call it a “space-o-ship” if you want, but we Americans call it a spaceship. Now that I’ve said that, I have to go look it up on [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airplane#Etymology_and_usage)… > [@](#): > > First attested in English in the late 19th century (prior to the first sustained powered flight), the word airplane, like aeroplane, derives from the French aéroplane, which comes from the Greek ἀήρ (aēr), “air” + either Latin planus, “level”, or Greek πλάνος (planos), “wandering”. “Aéroplane” originally referred just to the wing, as it is a plane moving through the air. In an example of synecdoche, the word for the wing came to refer to the entire aircraft. > > In the United States and Canada, the term “airplane” is used for powered fixed-wing aircraft. In the United Kingdom and most of the Commonwealth, the term “aeroplane” is usually applied to these aircraft. Aha! I should have known. Yet another case of the British doing things the Frenchier way. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-i-want-to-confirm-if-young-british-people-still-say-or-write-aeroplane/664470/49 "2013-07-27T03:44:03Z")
“Aerodrome” makes me think of Mad Max for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-i-want-to-confirm-if-young-british-people-still-say-or-write-aeroplane/664470/50 "2013-07-27T05:16:02Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > More often than we say automobile, but yes, plane is more common. as in “Planes, Trains and Automobiles”? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-i-want-to-confirm-if-young-british-people-still-say-or-write-aeroplane/664470/51 "2013-07-27T06:55:13Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > You can call it a “space-o-ship” if you want, but we Americans call it a spaceship. Because during takeoff it’s airdynamic. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-i-want-to-confirm-if-young-british-people-still-say-or-write-aeroplane/664470/52 "2013-07-27T07:08:18Z")
Sadly due to their corruption of the English language Americans are unable to enjoy an [Aero bar](http://products.nestle.ca/en/brands/chocolates/aero/aero-bar.aspx) and have to accept the pedestrian [Air Delight](http://www.hersheys.com/pure-products/details.aspx?id=24376&name=HERSHEYS+AIR+DELIGHT+Bar). ---
**Author:** ![Lightlystarched](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Lightlystarched](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightlystarched)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-i-want-to-confirm-if-young-british-people-still-say-or-write-aeroplane/664470/53 "2013-07-28T14:36:18Z")
But what is the proper way to say “airlines”? What are British airline carriers called? Aerolines? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-i-want-to-confirm-if-young-british-people-still-say-or-write-aeroplane/664470/54 "2013-07-29T08:46:49Z")
> [@Lightlystarched](#): > > But what is the proper way to say “airlines”? What are British airline carriers called? Aerolines? No. They’re called airlines. Although “Airways” is more common in company names, as in British Airways. You wouldn’t refer to “an airway” though unless you were talking about your respiratory system. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-i-want-to-confirm-if-young-british-people-still-say-or-write-aeroplane/664470/55 "2013-07-29T09:52:37Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Yet another case of the British doing things the Frenchier way. Or more Latin/Greek (although it’s sometimes the same thing). Hydrofoil is another example. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-i-want-to-confirm-if-young-british-people-still-say-or-write-aeroplane/664470/56 "2013-07-29T09:54:16Z")
> [@Lightlystarched](#): > > But what is the proper way to say “airlines”? What are British airline carriers called? Aerolines? No. Seriously? ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-i-want-to-confirm-if-young-british-people-still-say-or-write-aeroplane/664470/57 "2013-07-29T10:40:34Z")
The American band Neutral Milk Hotel sang about an aeroplane over the sea; it scans nicely in the song, however it doesn’t appear that they were always worried about scansion, so maybe they liked the feel of it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-i-want-to-confirm-if-young-british-people-still-say-or-write-aeroplane/664470.md?page=2)