# Some rivers have "forks". Shouldn't they be called "tines? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 14, 2016, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-rivers-have-forks-shouldnt-they-be-called-tines/752189 "2016-04-14T16:14:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Me\_Billy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Me\_Billy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Me_Billy)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-rivers-have-forks-shouldnt-they-be-called-tines/752189/1 "2016-04-14T16:14:32Z")
A river may have several “forks”. Say 3 rivers which all flow into one river… There will be the “north fork”, “middle fork”, and “south fork” of said river. Shouldn’t it be the “north tine”, “middle tine” and “south tine”? ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-rivers-have-forks-shouldnt-they-be-called-tines/752189/2 "2016-04-14T16:20:52Z")
I haven’t looked up the complete etymology of the various definitions, but “fork” is a very old word ([Fork Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fork)), and I would almost be willing to bet that the definition pertaining to “to divide (into two parts)” is the older usage (ie, going back to Latin _furca_ as in bifurcate, etc.). To call such splits in a river “tines” would imply that the use of the word “fork” to describe such a split is because the river looks like the tool called a fork. But that’s probably not at all the case. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-rivers-have-forks-shouldnt-they-be-called-tines/752189/3 "2016-04-14T16:40:39Z")
This is better suited to IMHO than GQ. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-rivers-have-forks-shouldnt-they-be-called-tines/752189/4 "2016-04-14T16:50:34Z")
From [Etymonline.com](http://Etymonline.com) > [@](#): > > fork (v.) > early 14c., “to divide in branches, go separate ways,” > [@](#): > > tine (n.) > mid-14c., from Old English tind “spike, beak, prong, tooth of a fork,” Even if tine had come first, it’s wouldn’t necessarily had led to tine being applied to river branches. Language and logic are separate creatures. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-rivers-have-forks-shouldnt-they-be-called-tines/752189/5 "2016-04-14T17:14:08Z")
Note also: “fork” as applied to rivers seems to mean, usually, that several separate streams join into one larger stream. This is counter-intuitive to my notion of what “fork” should mean. If one larger stream were to somehow divide into two or more smaller streams (which I think must be a rather uncommon thing), it would make more sense to me to use the word “fork” in that case. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-rivers-have-forks-shouldnt-they-be-called-tines/752189/6 "2016-04-14T17:19:43Z")
If the people that named it lived upstream, yes, but if you discovered the geography by starting at the large stream and working your way upward, you’d find the stream would indeed fork. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-rivers-have-forks-shouldnt-they-be-called-tines/752189/7 "2016-04-14T17:23:09Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Note also: “fork” as applied to rivers seems to mean, usually, that several separate streams join into one larger stream. This is counter-intuitive to my notion of what “fork” should mean. > > If one larger stream were to somehow divide into two or more smaller streams (which I think must be a rather uncommon thing), it would make more sense to me to use the word “fork” in that case. My guess would be that ‘fork’ names are from people heading upstream: I’m following the Fred river, and find a place where two approximately equal rivers join. Which one do I call the Fred river, and what to name the other one (Barney)? Easier to have the North and South forks of Fred. I need to type faster . . . ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-rivers-have-forks-shouldnt-they-be-called-tines/752189/8 "2016-04-14T18:26:11Z")
It’s not just rivers. I grew up on the North Fork of Long Island. It’s all land. (The South Fork is where the rich people live). We’re also one of the few places in the US where “creek” means its original definition (a saltwater estuary). ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-rivers-have-forks-shouldnt-they-be-called-tines/752189/9 "2016-04-14T20:24:09Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > If one larger stream were to somehow divide into two or more smaller streams (which I think must be a rather uncommon thing), it would make more sense to me to use the word “fork” in that case. Large rivers often split into branches when approaching their outflow. These branches are called _distributaries_. An example is the Atchafalaya River in Louisiana, which is a distributary of the Mississippi. Another well known example: the Nile’s delta is formed by distributaries. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-rivers-have-forks-shouldnt-they-be-called-tines/752189/10 "2016-04-14T20:26:05Z")
They have branches, like the forks in trees. Lacking any ther knowledge of the etylmology of ‘fork’ I would assume the term fork was applied to trees before it was used for utensils ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-rivers-have-forks-shouldnt-they-be-called-tines/752189/11 "2016-04-14T20:37:11Z")
I have a couple of saucer-sized stones that I took from a West Virginia river some years ago: the North Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac River, near Seneca Rocks. Pat Paulsen used to have a commercial where he called it the POT-uh-mack. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-rivers-have-forks-shouldnt-they-be-called-tines/752189/12 "2016-04-15T16:53:09Z")
If I had a nickel for every tine this forking question has been asked, I’d have a nickel. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-rivers-have-forks-shouldnt-they-be-called-tines/752189/13 "2016-04-15T18:01:02Z")
> [@Me\_Billy](#): > > A river may have several “forks”. Say 3 rivers which all flow into one river… Then it would have threeks. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-rivers-have-forks-shouldnt-they-be-called-tines/752189/14 "2016-04-15T20:18:16Z")
So two branchs are tweerks? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-rivers-have-forks-shouldnt-they-be-called-tines/752189/15 "2016-04-15T20:45:45Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Large rivers often split into branches when approaching their outflow. These branches are called _distributaries_. An example is the Atchafalaya River in Louisiana, which is a distributary of the Mississippi. Another well known example: the Nile’s delta is formed by distributaries. Iggorance fought here! I never encountered the word _distributary_ before (and neither has this browser’s built-in spell-checker either). And furthermore, I had never noticed the connection between the words “tribute” and “distribute” either. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-rivers-have-forks-shouldnt-they-be-called-tines/752189/16 "2016-04-15T22:02:18Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Large rivers often split into branches when approaching their outflow. These branches are called _distributaries_. So would this logic suggest that a river which flows into another larger river should be known as “contributary” rather than a “tributary”. 🙂