# Quick and Easy US English Question Re "Sidewalk" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 13, 2006, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-and-easy-us-english-question-re-sidewalk/372533 "2006-09-13T13:16:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-and-easy-us-english-question-re-sidewalk/372533/1 "2006-09-13T13:16:46Z")
What happens when it’s not a “side (of the road) walk”? Say, running through a park? Path? Footpath? Something other? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-and-easy-us-english-question-re-sidewalk/372533/2 "2006-09-13T13:23:10Z")
Both path and footpath are commonly used. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-and-easy-us-english-question-re-sidewalk/372533/3 "2006-09-13T13:55:45Z")
In my experience, “sidewalk” is still the standard term. A concrete, paved strip meant for pedestrians? Sidewalk, even if it’s not on the side of something. **Friedo** might be right and “path” and “footpath” might be used as well, but those aren’t as automatic as “sidewalk” is in colloquial speech. They’re more likely to be found on official notices and signs (“Stay on the marked path.”). And “path” tends to mean an unpaved path. You might also see “walk” used for this purpose. I’m sure there are other terms used as well. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-and-easy-us-english-question-re-sidewalk/372533/4 "2006-09-13T14:15:27Z")
Yeah, if it’s the concrete kind, it’s usually “sidewalk” regardless. Path and footpath are more likely if it’s a dirt path or even flagstones or something. It’s pretty much never pavement, which is what roads are made of, and which drives my SO crazy when he’s in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-and-easy-us-english-question-re-sidewalk/372533/5 "2006-09-13T14:22:47Z")
> [@betenoir](#): > > It’s pretty much never pavement, which is what roads are made of Eh? There’s cement concrete pavement, which is what sidewalks are usually made of. There’s tarmacadam pavement (“blacktop”), which is usually what roads and parking lots are made of. Actually, in a park, you occasionally do see sidewalks made of the same stuff as roads and those are usually in a park. > [@](#): > > , and which drives my SO crazy when he’s in the US. It drives him crazy that roads and sidewalks are paved? ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-and-easy-us-english-question-re-sidewalk/372533/6 "2006-09-13T14:34:36Z")
IME in the States most paved walking paths (like through a manicured urban park) are made of poured concrete, like sidewalks, and are still called sidewalks even if they don’t run beside anything. Tarmac-paved paths, like for bikers/runners/walkers (like in a more woodsy rural park, or along a river or something) are called “bike-paths” or “foot-paths,” even if they run right beside a road. Non-paved paths are called trails. I don’t think there’s a national concurrence on this, so YMMV, but to me, the distinction in name is governed by the paving substance. ---
**Author:** ![Shadowfyre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfyre/32/9972_2.png) [@Shadowfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shadowfyre)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-and-easy-us-english-question-re-sidewalk/372533/7 "2006-09-13T14:39:59Z")
Well, here in nothern Illinois, we tend to refer to a paved path through a park or forest preserve as a “bike path”. By “paved” I mean with asphalt (aka blacktop). Such a path invites bikers as well as rollerbladers, joggers, and walkers as it is very even and smooth. Using concrete in such a case would be problematic in that it would be tough to get a cement truck into some of the more twisty curves of the paths. Plus asphalt is easier to repair than concrete. Using asphalt in some of the southern climes might prove to get too hot and soft, so concrete might be a better solution there. Around here an unpaved path (whether its just plain dirt or covered in mulch or gravel) is usually just called a “path” or “trail”. Some bike riders with the mountian type bikes might use these paths, but mostly they accomodate foot traffic. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-and-easy-us-english-question-re-sidewalk/372533/8 "2006-09-13T14:57:45Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > It drives him crazy that roads and sidewalks are paved? I don’t know where he’s from, but here a pavement is what is called a sidewalk in the US, whatever material is used to pave it. You might tell a child to stay on the pavement before it’s safe to cross the road, for example. So it sounds odd to us to hear the road surface described as pavement. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-and-easy-us-english-question-re-sidewalk/372533/9 "2006-09-13T15:02:05Z")
From memory, the CIA Factbook lists countries as having “paved” and “unpaved” roads, where as Australian usage would be “sealed” and “unsealed” repsectively. “Pavement” to me means sidewalk/footpath-style concrete rather than bitumen or tarmac. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-and-easy-us-english-question-re-sidewalk/372533/10 "2006-09-13T15:08:34Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > tarmacadam pavement (“blacktop”), which is usually what roads and parking lots are made of Actually, it might be _tar-bound macadam pavement_ or it might be _asphalt concrete pavement_. I don’t really know the difference, although I’m aware that there is one. When we were kids, we called it “tar” or “blacktop.” Now we call it “asphalt.” ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-and-easy-us-english-question-re-sidewalk/372533/11 "2006-09-13T15:14:23Z")
> [@Usram](#): > > I don’t know where he’s from, but here a pavement is what is called a sidewalk in the US, whatever material is used to pave it. You might tell a child to stay on the pavement before it’s safe to cross the road, for example. So it sounds odd to us to hear the road surface described as pavement. I can buy that. But **betenoir** said: > [@](#): > > Yeah, if it’s the concrete kind, it’s usually “sidewalk” regardless. So, to Betenoir, concrete = cement concrete paving, as usually used for sidewalks. > [@](#): > > It’s pretty much never pavement, which is what roads are made of, and which drives my SO crazy when he’s in the US. So, to Betenoir, pavement = asphalt concrete paving, as usually used for roads. My parsing of this sentence gives me only two options, that Betenoir’s SO is driven crazy by either: - Sidewalks not made of “pavement” (asphalt concrete paving), or - Roads made of “pavement” (asphalt concrete paving). ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-and-easy-us-english-question-re-sidewalk/372533/12 "2006-09-13T15:14:37Z")
> [@](#): > > “Pavement” to me means sidewalk/footpath-style concrete rather than bitumen or tarmac. Ah. Here, “paved” just means “covered with some artificial substance to make it flat,” be it concrete, tarmac, asphalt, or whatever. (What’s “bitumen”?) But not gravel or small stones – gravel roads are not paved. An unpaved sidewalk is a trail or a track; an unpaved road is a dirt road or a gravel road. There’s no concept of “the pavement” as a specific thing, like a sidewalk; “the pavement” is just the surface of the (paved) road or walkway. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-and-easy-us-english-question-re-sidewalk/372533/13 "2006-09-13T16:58:13Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > It drives him crazy that roads and sidewalks are paved? It drives him crazy that Americans refuse to speak proper English and call things by their proper names. He always got furious (mock furious 🙂 ) when I’d say “sidewalk.” ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-and-easy-us-english-question-re-sidewalk/372533/14 "2006-09-13T17:44:04Z")
> [@](#): > > It drives him crazy that Americans refuse to speak proper English and call things by their proper names. The response, of course, is that Americans speak perfectly proper American English, calling things by their proper American names, and that he seems to have precious little ground to complain about what Americans call things in America. But then, the refusal to acknowledge that Americans can do anything “properly” dates to Fanny Trollope’s 1832 publication of _Domestic Manners of Americans_, if not before, so we’re used to it. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-and-easy-us-english-question-re-sidewalk/372533/15 "2006-09-13T23:07:43Z")
As Jodi mentioned in passing, “walkway” covers it. In a couple of traffic codes with which I am familiar a “sidewalk” is defined as “the area , other than the shoulder, between the roadway and the street right-of-way (property) line that is intended for use by pedestrians”. Such an area, if unpaved, is referred to as the “sidewalk area” and it is unlawful (in my state) to drive a motor vehicle on or along a sidewalk or sidewalk area except across it at a driveway. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-and-easy-us-english-question-re-sidewalk/372533/16 "2006-09-13T23:21:51Z")
> [@Ignatz](#): > > As Jodi mentioned in passing, “walkway” covers it. > > In a couple of traffic codes with which I am familiar a “sidewalk” is defined as “the area , other than the shoulder, between the roadway and the street right-of-way (property) line that is intended for use by pedestrians”. > > Such an area, if unpaved, is referred to as the “sidewalk area” and it is unlawful (in my state) to drive a motor vehicle on or along a sidewalk or sidewalk area except across it at a driveway. My dictionary defines it this way, _i.e._ a walkway for pedestrians at the side of the street. However, my WAG is that this will change in the future. People, me included, increasingly (I think) refer to any paved path as a sidewald. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-and-easy-us-english-question-re-sidewalk/372533/17 "2006-09-14T01:23:17Z")
> [@Jodi](#): > > But then, the refusal to acknowledge that Americans can do anything “properly” dates to Fanny Trollope’s 1832 publication of Domestic Manners of Americans, if not before, so we’re used to it. Actually, it began in the seventeenth century when some sniffy visitor from England was put out that the cut-banks on the river near Savannah were known by the “crude” word “bluffs,” (despite the fact that it was a perfectly natural extension of the English word blough/bluff that was already in circulation). ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-and-easy-us-english-question-re-sidewalk/372533/18 "2006-09-14T03:48:16Z")
It’s all English with its various usage areas, so there’s no explaining it, any more than we could hope to explain why a New York cut of steak is called a Kansas City cut when actually in New York (I think). > [@](#): > > Actually, it might be tar-bound macadam pavement or it might be asphalt concrete pavement. Asphalt concrete pavement is the “correct” general term. Macadam [Macadam - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macadam) is - technically - the specific paving system developed by John McAdam. By the way, “tarmac” has yet another specialized meaning: it refers to asphalt concrete pavement found within an airport. Bitumen is a generic term for the heavy petrochemical used as the binder (the “glue”) in asphalt concrete pavement. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-and-easy-us-english-question-re-sidewalk/372533/19 "2006-09-14T04:35:40Z")
In less it’s beside an ocean, in which case it is a boardwalk, no matter what it’s made of. Tris ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-and-easy-us-english-question-re-sidewalk/372533/20 "2006-09-14T05:11:24Z")
> [@Triskadecamus](#): > > In less it’s beside an ocean, in which case it is a boardwalk, no matter what it’s made of. > > Tris In Galveston, there was a long sidewalk running along the beach called the “Sea Wall”. of course, the sidewalk was on top of an 8-12 foot high concrete wall (depending on the height of the sand at any given point), so that probably had something to do with it. Speaking of Galveston, lovely beach, but the particular lens that I used on my camera that day STILL makes grindy noises to this day. :rolleyes: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-and-easy-us-english-question-re-sidewalk/372533.md?page=2)