It seems that: - if a surface can be grass or paved, asphalt, concrete, paving_stones, etc., then it seems the only reason to state "the surface consists of ground" is if it's unpaved and without vegetation, right? - the American usage of "dirt" (as in "your car will get dirty") is a broad description for 3 more specific values: earth, gravel and compacted (different from loose gravel or soil)
We may add notes to the wiki asking users to choose more specific descriptions. On Thu, Mar 13, 2014 at 1:10 PM, Fernando Trebien <fernando.treb...@gmail.com> wrote: > In Portuguese, we have the same false friend as French, and I'd guess > Spanish and Italian have it too. At least for Portuguese, literal > translations of these terms (ground, dirt, earth and soil) correspond > exactly to your description, Steve. If we translate literally, > however, we're gonna see people tagging as "dirt" any place with trash > accumulation, and most people would pick "earth" for the pictures in > the wiki. Currently, "earth" is the least used value (only 7k > instances), whereas "ground" and "dirt" are used 500k and 350k times > respectively. > > On Thu, Mar 13, 2014 at 12:38 PM, Steve Doerr <doerr.step...@gmail.com> wrote: >> On 13/03/2014 15:09, ael wrote: >>> >>> From another English person, I would say that "dirt" in British English >>> is understood to mean the substance which causes something to be "not >>> clean". That is it is much wider in meaning than soil or earth. But it >>> is almost never used to mean soil or earth under your feet, although >>> that might be described as "dirty" or even "dirt" if telling a child to >>> avoid rolling in it. >>> >>> However, maybe there are places where this is not true given Jonathan's >>> post, but whenever I hear it used that way, it has come from American >>> English. Of course, some American English reflects some old British >>> usage and dialects from a few centuries ago.... >>> >>> I tend to tag with "ground" where there are sections of soil (which >>> may be covered with vegetation for some parts of the year) and maybe be >>> rocky with sections of sand and gravel. I have just been mapping some >>> paths and tracks on Bodmin Moor which have all these characteristics >>> and no one tag seems really descriptive. >>> >>> >> >> For me (British English), 'ground' isn't a type of surface at all: it's >> usually preceded by the definite article ('the ground') and means 'the >> surface of the earth' (where 'earth' means the planet), but not necessarily >> in a natural state: a paved area can be 'the ground'. Inside a building, >> though, you talk of 'the floor'. >> >> 'Earth' as a substance is much the same as 'soil', except that soil makes >> one think specifically of earth as a growing medium for plants. >> >> There may be a 'false friend' in some languages, as 'the ground' roughly >> corresponds to 'le sol' in French, which nevertheless sometimes has the >> narrower meaning of 'soil'. >> >> -- >> Steve >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Tagging mailing list >> Tagging@openstreetmap.org >> https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/tagging > > > > -- > Fernando Trebien > +55 (51) 9962-5409 > > "The speed of computer chips doubles every 18 months." (Moore's law) > "The speed of software halves every 18 months." (Gates' law) -- Fernando Trebien +55 (51) 9962-5409 "The speed of computer chips doubles every 18 months." (Moore's law) "The speed of software halves every 18 months." (Gates' law) _______________________________________________ Tagging mailing list Tagging@openstreetmap.org https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/tagging