# What is a mobile home and how come so many americans here live in them? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 4, 2002, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-mobile-home-and-how-come-so-many-americans-here-live-in-them/117359 "2002-07-04T15:34:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![the\_farse\_licker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f1d935/32.png) [@the\_farse\_licker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_farse_licker)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-mobile-home-and-how-come-so-many-americans-here-live-in-them/117359/1 "2002-07-04T15:34:57Z")
Also, I am a big fan of asses. My friend he keeps his ass on the beach. You can ride him for 300 roubles. His ass likes to eat carrots. Sometimes the ass breaks free and we have to find him. Do you have asses in America? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-mobile-home-and-how-come-so-many-americans-here-live-in-them/117359/2 "2002-07-04T15:46:17Z")
Donkeys are a similar animal to asses, and so are burros. Donkeys are sometimes bred with horses and give birth to mules, which are larger and stronger, but cannot breed. As for mobile homes, we use that term for a narrow house that is built at a factory and then towed to the location where it will be occupied. It does not rest on a foundation, but instead on a concrete pad. Mobile homes are inexpensive and can be moved more than one time, so they are good for temporary housing. However, they are considered to be poorly built and can be dangerous in high winds. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-mobile-home-and-how-come-so-many-americans-here-live-in-them/117359/3 "2002-07-04T15:50:06Z")
A mobile home is basically a trailer that is used as a permanent dwelling, is usually connected to utilities, and is designed without a foundation. There are “single-wides” that are about three meters wide, and “double-wides” that are two trailers joined at the middle, usually with a shallow peaked roof, to make a six meter wide house. There are also “triple-wides”. They are inexpensive compared to traditional houses, so are popular with people who don’t have much money and people on fixed incomes. They are also popular choices to live in while a permanent house is being built on your land. I used to keep my ass on a shelf in my office, but now it’s packed away in a box. ---
**Author:** ![the\_farse\_licker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f1d935/32.png) [@the\_farse\_licker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_farse_licker)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-mobile-home-and-how-come-so-many-americans-here-live-in-them/117359/4 "2002-07-04T15:53:51Z")
I am understanding your independence very much now. You live in caravans, I am thinking that america is sky scrapers and white houses. In Romania, we have a saying “He who lives in a caravan should sell his daughters for he is very poor.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-mobile-home-and-how-come-so-many-americans-here-live-in-them/117359/5 "2002-07-04T16:02:01Z")
> [@](#): > > In Romania, we have a saying “He who lives in a caravan should sell his daughters for he is very poor.” In America, mobile homes are often considered a joke. Films and television often portray people who live in mobile homes as uneducated poor people who see Elvis and space aliens, drink too much, beat their wives and sleep with their daughters. And everyone _knows_ that mobile homes in trailer parks are virtual tornado magnets. But as you read in the other thread to which you posted, the stereotype is not universally true. In the other thread you saw that there are intelligent people who are not exactly poor who see a mobile home as a logical, attractive choice. And they like them. As for me, I’d rather live in a three-bedroom mobile home on an acre in Washington (state) than the one-bedroom apartment I currently live in in Los Angeles. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-mobile-home-and-how-come-so-many-americans-here-live-in-them/117359/6 "2002-07-04T16:04:03Z")
Oh – As I understand it, a caravan is a motor vehicle. Is this correct? If so, then in the U.S. we would call those “motor homes” or “RVs” (recreational vehicles). ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-mobile-home-and-how-come-so-many-americans-here-live-in-them/117359/7 "2002-07-04T16:12:41Z")
Nah, the “Euro” definition of a caravan is a trailer home you hook up to your automobile. Although t\_f\_l certainly isn’t _posting_ from Romania. ---
**Author:** ![the\_farse\_licker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f1d935/32.png) [@the\_farse\_licker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_farse_licker)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-mobile-home-and-how-come-so-many-americans-here-live-in-them/117359/8 "2002-07-04T16:14:31Z")
No, I am posting from London where i am doing ESL course. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-mobile-home-and-how-come-so-many-americans-here-live-in-them/117359/9 "2002-07-04T16:15:25Z")
**Coldie** : So a “caravan” is a “travel trailer”? What do you call RV/Motor homes? ---
**Author:** ![the\_farse\_licker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f1d935/32.png) [@the\_farse\_licker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_farse_licker)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-mobile-home-and-how-come-so-many-americans-here-live-in-them/117359/10 "2002-07-04T16:17:29Z")
you have motor homes too? DO many people live in them? ---
**Author:** ![the\_farse\_licker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f1d935/32.png) [@the\_farse\_licker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_farse_licker)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-mobile-home-and-how-come-so-many-americans-here-live-in-them/117359/11 "2002-07-04T16:19:09Z")
or do you mean kankerlijeremobiles? ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-mobile-home-and-how-come-so-many-americans-here-live-in-them/117359/12 "2002-07-04T16:19:12Z")
JLA: depends on the country, what with all the languages. 🙂 We’d call it a “camper”. Just the English word, but probably with another meaning than in (American) English. ---
**Author:** ![the\_farse\_licker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f1d935/32.png) [@the\_farse\_licker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_farse_licker)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-mobile-home-and-how-come-so-many-americans-here-live-in-them/117359/13 "2002-07-04T16:20:37Z")
that is what we call them in Romania ---
**Author:** ![the\_farse\_licker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f1d935/32.png) [@the\_farse\_licker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_farse_licker)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-mobile-home-and-how-come-so-many-americans-here-live-in-them/117359/14 "2002-07-04T16:23:21Z")
yes - we have ass driven campers in Romania. There is nothing I am enjoying as much as a having a fag on a camper with an ass. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-mobile-home-and-how-come-so-many-americans-here-live-in-them/117359/15 "2002-07-04T16:24:29Z")
Here, a “camper” is generally a structure that is attached to the bed of a pickup truck. My sister has a nice one on a big Ford. Seems like a good thing for travelling, but I prefer a tent. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-mobile-home-and-how-come-so-many-americans-here-live-in-them/117359/16 "2002-07-04T16:27:18Z")
They _can_ be on pick-up trucks here too, although most are the integrated kind. What you’d call RVs I guess. t\_f\_l, let me guess: today’s class was on differences between American English, and the Queen’s English? And tomorrow’s exercise was “Find some Americans and confuse them with English words like ‘ass’ and ‘fag’”. Close enough? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![the\_farse\_licker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f1d935/32.png) [@the\_farse\_licker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_farse_licker)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-mobile-home-and-how-come-so-many-americans-here-live-in-them/117359/17 "2002-07-04T16:30:16Z")
yes, very good. ik ben blij 🙂