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need help on lodging language
OK. I had hoped I wouldn't have to show my abysmal ignorance, but, alas, I must. I thought I had figured out that "en suite" means the shower or toilet or both are in the room and not down the hall. This would mean they are private. But I have come across several B&Bs that offer en suite rooms AND rooms with private facilities. How are these different? Also, I have come across prices listed for adults, children, and concessions. I don't have a clue about the concessions. Help, please!
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Ensuite = bath/shower and toilet in the bedroom
Private = A bathroom for your individual use - but NOT in your bedroom. Could be right outside you bdrm door, down the hall a bit, or even (rarely) up/down stairs. Shared = Bath/shower/toilets shared among 2 or more rooms. Sometimes even B&Bs w/ shared baths will have wash basins in the rooms. Concessions = discounts -- usually for senior citizens/disabled/students. But that would be rare for accommodations - more often for museums/sites. BTW - a "cot" is a baby crib, not a rollaway or camp bed. |
Some rooms may include private use of a bathroom, but that bathroom is not necessarily directly accessible from your bedroom---you may have to cross the hallway to get to it, so you'll have to throw on your robe for the trip, even if the bathroom is for your exclusive use.
Or it may mean something else, and you're best served by contacting the property directly. Concessions are discounts, to which one is typically entitled by virtue of age and/or residency. The property may list those conditions under which it offers a concession, or it may assume that you'll know if you're entitled. Again, contact the property to see what the story is. Based on your query I'm assuming you're looking at properties in the UK, so language shouldn't be a barrier. |
"<i>Or it may mean something else</i>" Not in the UK. There, ensuite means facilities in the bedroom whilst private means a private bathroom but not in the bedroom.
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"<i> . . . . in the UK, so language shouldn't be a barrier. </i>" :D (there are hundreds of English words that mean something different in the States)
just a few: cot first floor second floor pavement subway verge marrow chip biscuit squash sister swede jelly coach and on and on and on . . . . . |
Very true, and of course you can find similar examples without ever leaving the U.S.
But the differences are not such as to preclude the OP's contacting a property directly and asking for herself, as might be the case if she were considering a property in, say, Albania. |
But the OP <u>isn't</u> going to Albania - they are going to the UK and that is how I answered the questions
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Sigh....I don't see how these snide remarks will help the OP. That's the only problem I have with this forum...there are a few people that think they are experts on everything & everywhere, and pick apart what are meant to be helpful posts. Churlish & boring.
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Due to another thread that sallyky started I know that she is going to the UK so assume that is why janisj knows this also. And janisj who has lived in England is very familar with England of course. A US citizen/resident who from my conversations with her is rather an expert on England.
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jewela: Got up on the wrong side of the bed?? Sorry - but I fail to see one thing I wrote that wasn't accurate -- and hopefully, helpful
1) Gave the definitions of Ensuite/private/shared 2) Explained concessions 3) Warned that one should not assume there won't be a language problem (as the original question clearly demonstrates) and gave some useful examples. Which of those answers was incorrect?? (Hi, LoveItaly :) - guess no good deed goes unpunished, huh? ) |
Interested, Janis, what do verge, marrow and sister mean in the US ??
Cot is a very good example in connection with B&Bs ! I remember reading not long ago of a Fodorite who had turned up at a Scottish B&B with her 18 year old, 6 foot son for whom she had booked a cot :-) |
Girls, girls, now, now. janisj - you're American are you? You're command of British English idiom is excellent, as you also demonstrated in another post around here somewhere about Cambridge.
FWIW, I thought the OPs original question was very reasonable, the answer should be used as a reference for overseas visitors. British English and American English diverged a century or more ago. Lots of the words and phrases used in the USA are quite archaic in the UK. I have only ever heard of bleachers, gurnies and indeed lodging in an American context. The use of prepositions is often different, we always write 'to' somebody or protest 'against' something, although that second usage is lapsing. And the word 'fag' is probably not a good place to go here. Love this, it could go on for ages. |
Oh, dear, sorry to have come across as testy. I do, in all honesty, feel that my reply to the OP was helpful. My definitions were, after all, correct, and my advice to contact a property directly if you really want to know particulars hardly incendiary (and actually a nice way to get a feel for a place and establish a rapport with the owners of small properties). janisj and I were answering simultaneously, so although it might have seemed as if my post attempted to contradict or clarify hers, as it appears after hers in the thread, I was simply giving the same information.
I don't think there's anything at all to disagree about here, and janisj and I should both continue to share our travel experience with others here on this forum. |
stfc: Yep - I'm defintely bi-lingual :)
caroline_edinburgh: >> verge, marrow and sister << UK - sister can mean a hospital nurse. An American would usually not understand that. (Funny story - A friend traveling w/ me fell down the stairs in a double decker bus. A real header. The driver immediately stopped and came to her aid. He kept saying "you must go to the surgery - it is just down the road" . I could see absolute panic in her eyes - then I realized she thought she needed surgery for some horrible broken bone or something. So "surgery" is another one) Marrow/UK = Squash/US Verge/UK = Road shoulder/US |
I think some of the confusion comes from the fact that the title of the thread doesn't indicate that the OP is traveling to the UK. janisj knew that from sallyky's other planning thread, but Therese seemingly did not...
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I do know some UK words from reading so many mysteries. Hercule Poirot retired to grow vegetable marrows, e.g. ;-) I'm already telling friends we will be staying in a fifth floor flat without a lift, though the difference in designating floors may have me wrong on that number of stairs I'm visualizing.
I didn't ask the B&B owner the questions because I did know what I would have where we're staying, but I noticed the references in other descriptions. BTW,I saw another listing with concessions today. It asked number of adults, with a pull down of numbers to choose from. Then number of children, likewise. Then concessions, with choices from 0-25. So it didn't seem to be discounts. Sally |
sallyky: "<i>Then concessions, with choices from 0-25. So it didn't seem to be discounts.</i>"
That does mean discounts. It is asking how many OAP's (old age pensioners) who qualify for concessionary rates are in the group. |
Thanks Janis. I never thought of sister in its hospital meaning ! What do you call a doctor's surgery ? Interesting re the veg, I would call some marrows & others squashes. To me (& generally in UK I think) a marrow is specifically the large, green, oval, watery & tasteless one. All the others are squahes - like butternut squash, pattypan squash, etc. Except for pumpkin, of course, which is pumpkin. Then there's marrow as in marrow bone, of course - do you call it that ?
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A doctor's surgery is called a Doctor's office.
Veterinary surgery = Veterinary office (or clinic) MP's surgery = no actual equal, but sort of like a Congressman's constituency meeting or office open house. |
Marrow in the marrow bone is also called marrow (and may be described as marrow bones). And upmarket-ish restaurants will even give you a marrow spoon (though you may need to ask).
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