# Renting And Hiring In American English, British English, And Spanish **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 20, 2019, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renting-and-hiring-in-american-english-british-english-and-spanish/840563 "2019-09-20T14:33:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2019, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renting-and-hiring-in-american-english-british-english-and-spanish/840563/21 "2019-09-21T00:55:29Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > “I rent a nice bungalow on Maple street.” = Speaker likely pays the rent money. > “I rent five different houses and a couple of retail spaces.” = Speaker likely receives the rent money. > [@Musicat](#): > > I can only speak for USA usage. > > There is a lot of ambiguity in these statements. Using the phrase “I rent _out_…” might remove some of it. There’s actually very little ambiguity in that example. Unless you’re thinking that the second speaker is trying to somehow live in five houses simultaneously. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2019, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renting-and-hiring-in-american-english-british-english-and-spanish/840563/22 "2019-09-21T01:08:24Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > There’s actually very little ambiguity in that example. Unless you’re thinking that the second speaker is trying to somehow live in five houses simultaneously. I know people who rent (not rent out) five houses simultaneously. They use them as seasonal housing for employees. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2019, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renting-and-hiring-in-american-english-british-english-and-spanish/840563/23 "2019-09-21T11:54:21Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Australian follows English, as modified by international companies, American media, and a recent migration total now pushing towards 50% of the population. Whatever you say, it’s in use here. Houses are traditionally “To Let”, but I’ve seen “For Rent” signs, which are probably speaking to Chinese immigrants – no need for a new word for the letting process when after they’ve signed the rental or lease agreement they’ll have to pay rent for the house they are renting. > > While I’m here: the term “Hire-purchase” has fallen almost completely out of use. If you are doing salary-sacrifice to buy a car with pre-tax income, what you get is a novated lease. If you are buying a car with post-tax finance, you’re just buying it. Unless you’re a company - because leases are treated differently than capital expenditure for tax purposes. Pretty well captures the mix of terms used in Australia. I would let or rent out an apartment to someone and while the legal document underpinning this is the lease, they would be known universally as renters. Lessees is commonly used for other commercial transactions. I’d hire a car from Hertz for the week but, as Melbourne says, a (novated) lease arrangement allows me to treat it as my own, effectively paying it off in instalments. I’ll also hire a marquee or box trailer, but if I said I rented them no one would look at me weird. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2019, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renting-and-hiring-in-american-english-british-english-and-spanish/840563/24 "2019-09-21T14:15:57Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Part of that, I suspect, is that, to the extent that the word _maquiladora_ gets used here in the US at all (it’s not a common term here), it’s in the context of factories in Latin America (particularly Mexico) which make products for the US market under preferential trade agreements. Not part: that’s the context in which it is used, but under the assumption that any such factory will be a shithole. You guys conflate two completely different things. ---
**Author:** ![bardos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bardos/32/1069_2.png) [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2019, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renting-and-hiring-in-american-english-british-english-and-spanish/840563/25 "2019-09-21T18:28:21Z")
In my region of Spain, babysitters are often called “canguros”. Read Kangaroo… ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2019, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renting-and-hiring-in-american-english-british-english-and-spanish/840563/26 "2019-09-21T20:56:26Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Yes, it seems that in the US one only “hires” a person, not an object. Really? “Not for hire” on private trucks? It’s not usual – we rent cars – but it’s not an “only” type of situation. In Mexico, I see “Se Renta” all over the place, even though they probably mean “arrendar.” This is the same in English, though. People often say they “rent” an apartment, when in fact they have a “lease” arrangement. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renting-and-hiring-in-american-english-british-english-and-spanish/840563.md?page=1)