In 1899 an American created the first Flashlight - it was called this, rather than a torch because it did not give a constant light, but flashed as the incandescent bulbs of the time could not work at the low voltage of dry cells, so it had a high voltage coil system, rather like a car’s ignition circuit.
This device never came to Britain, as only a few weeks later, Joseph Swan, who invented the light bulb about 6 months before Edison, came up with a low voltage bulb, which, therefore, didn’t flash. It was called an electric torch, as it followed on from the traditional word for a portable light source, such as a burning brand.
The US, adopted the low voltage bulb soon after, but social inertia seems to have played its part here also, so the word flashlight was retained.
Wikipedia sort of agrees, but I like the Wiki explanation better. They mention the first filaments being carbon filaments (threads I believe). Flashlight - Wikipedia
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Why do brits (and others) call gasoline, petrol?
To give someone a ride has completely different meanings in UK and US.
They also call anything on a hamburger bun a burger. That always bothers me. Burger implies ground meat formed into a patty. A piece of fried chicken on a bun isn’t a burger.
actually wiki doesn;t say anything about ‘high voltage bulbs’, or ‘coil devices’
wle
Etymology
Early flashlights ran on zinc–carbon batteries, which could not provide a steady electric current and required periodic “rest” to continue functioning.[1] Because these early flashlights also used energy-inefficient carbon-filament bulbs, “resting” occurred at short intervals. Consequently, they could be used only in brief flashes, hence the common North American name “flashlight”.[2]
The reason Wiki gives for the US torch giving flashes makes more sense to me than the quora post. If the carbon-filament was left on too long it would burn out, literally. They were carbonized cotton thread. Some were bamboo I think. So the light was used in “flashes”. That’s the part that caught most of my attention.
Hmm I don’t know about that, English people under the age of 25 are way worse! No watta min blud innit…… :person_facepalming:
I don’t know what is happenning, it’s like they are so lazy now they can’t be bothered to actually pronounce words anymore, it’s gone from wannabe gangsta rap english, to some sort of Jamaican gangster muttering without moving their lips in recent years.
Worse still, they don’t even know what half the words you and I use mean any more! (and visa versa) this video pretty well sums it up, and shes wrong it’s not just in London, all teenagers speak like this!
No watta min blud innit…… :person_facepalming: