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Have you ever wondered?
12 Answers
Have you ever wondered................
How big a pond has to be before it is called a lake?
How large a wood has to become before its a forrest?
How thick mist has to be before its fog?
Is that a large hill or a small mountain?
Is it a large stream or a river?
The list is endless but there must be some guidelines laid down in some dusty old government office, or is there?
Your thoughts are welcome.
johnny edge.
How big a pond has to be before it is called a lake?
How large a wood has to become before its a forrest?
How thick mist has to be before its fog?
Is that a large hill or a small mountain?
Is it a large stream or a river?
The list is endless but there must be some guidelines laid down in some dusty old government office, or is there?
Your thoughts are welcome.
johnny edge.
Answers
1 to 12 of 12
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The word 'pond' originally meant much the same as we now mean when we say 'pound' as in 'dog-pound'...ie an enclosed space. In other words, the earliest ponds were artificial and usually created for a specific purpose - mill-pond, skating-pond etc. Over time and in certain areas, the word came to mean any small body of water, whether natural or artificial. Given that they were basically man-made to start with, they were obviously of relatively small size compared with, say Lake Michigan! On the other hand, Brits and Yanks often refer - albeit jokingly - to the Atlantic Ocean as 'the Pond'!
The difference between a wood and a forest is rather like the difference between a sea and an ocean. Basically, in both cases, it is generally a question of size.
Chambers Dictionary...wood = a collection of more or less densely growing trees; a stretch of country supporting such growth.
forest = a large uncultivated tract of land covered with trees and undergrowth.
The only apparent difference is one of size, if you consider the words in those definitions.
In Britain, the agency known as the Forestry Commission has multi-thousands of acres of deliberately planted trees. On the other hand, nature programmes on TV are constantly showing us life in the tropical rainforests, which were certainly not deliberately planted! It would seem, therefore, that a forest can be either natural or man-made. I'm not so sure whether a wood can be either. Having said that, I'd imagine that some of the great country houses had woods deliberately created around them in past times.
Some people maintain that a �forest' was just a royal hunting-area and so indeed it was; however, the word 'forest' itself actually comes from the medi�val Latin phrase "forestem silvam", meaning "the outside wood"...ie the woodland outside private parkland. It originally referred, therefore, to terrain largely covered by trees, whether used for royal hunting or not.
In modern Britain, there are areas - such as Ashdown Forest and Sherwood Forest - formerly known as forests which are now brought under cultivation or built upon.
Chambers Dictionary...wood = a collection of more or less densely growing trees; a stretch of country supporting such growth.
forest = a large uncultivated tract of land covered with trees and undergrowth.
The only apparent difference is one of size, if you consider the words in those definitions.
In Britain, the agency known as the Forestry Commission has multi-thousands of acres of deliberately planted trees. On the other hand, nature programmes on TV are constantly showing us life in the tropical rainforests, which were certainly not deliberately planted! It would seem, therefore, that a forest can be either natural or man-made. I'm not so sure whether a wood can be either. Having said that, I'd imagine that some of the great country houses had woods deliberately created around them in past times.
Some people maintain that a �forest' was just a royal hunting-area and so indeed it was; however, the word 'forest' itself actually comes from the medi�val Latin phrase "forestem silvam", meaning "the outside wood"...ie the woodland outside private parkland. It originally referred, therefore, to terrain largely covered by trees, whether used for royal hunting or not.
In modern Britain, there are areas - such as Ashdown Forest and Sherwood Forest - formerly known as forests which are now brought under cultivation or built upon.
In Britain, the Ordnance Survey uses whatever the local name is to describe high lands. Throughout England, Wales and Ireland, it is agreed that those above 2,000 feet qualify as �mountains'. Some people maintain, however, that a mountain must have a specific �peak'; on that basis, Kinder Scout - the highest area of Derbyshire's Peak District at 2,087 feet - is just moorland rather than mountain, despite the area's name!
In Scotland, there are various names for different mountain-heights...2,000 - 2,499 feet are Grahams, 2,500 - 2,999 feet are Corbetts and 3000 feet plus are Munros. The last of these is now also applied to mountains in England, Wales and Ireland.
So, yes...there are some guidelines!
In Scotland, there are various names for different mountain-heights...2,000 - 2,499 feet are Grahams, 2,500 - 2,999 feet are Corbetts and 3000 feet plus are Munros. The last of these is now also applied to mountains in England, Wales and Ireland.
So, yes...there are some guidelines!
-- answer removed --
Gravitate... umm, it is spelt dyslexic, with a y ;o)
Johnny, good question. I like the definitions of a hamlet, village, town and city.
Maybe it is a church joke, but when reading a random piece of paper at work, a canon referred to his church as being "2 inches short of a cathedral"... and it does make you wonder.
Though a cathedral is about size, a lot of things are given a status from a council etc
Johnny, good question. I like the definitions of a hamlet, village, town and city.
Maybe it is a church joke, but when reading a random piece of paper at work, a canon referred to his church as being "2 inches short of a cathedral"... and it does make you wonder.
Though a cathedral is about size, a lot of things are given a status from a council etc
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