h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

well, in the midwest we refer to almost everything as a highway. well, everything that isn't a "surface street" (i'll get to that in a mo')
freeway is a term i've heard used more in the western us to describe interstates, i'm not sure if they use that in the east or not. but the only people in the middle us i've ever heard call it a freeway have inevitably been from "somewhere else".

interstates are roads that follow the rules you listed, no stopping, no pedestrians, no bicycles, but interstates describe these roads only if they cross state lines at some point; thus the term 'inter' state.

highway is a term we use for interstates, state roads, county roads, and rural routes. obviously the motorway rules apply for interstates, but isn't enforced so much on the state county and rural roads. however it is important to note that the lesser roads are usually only four or (more commonly) two lanes, have the same speed limit as interstates, little or no shoulder (making stopping hazardous at best, and bicycling or walking suicidal).

oh, and i almost forgot u.s. routes, which are like old highways (pre-interstate) which usually cross state lines, but aren't as big as interstates, and usually pass thru small towns that interstates bypass.

"surface roads" are anything that isn't a highway of some sort. residential, industrial, and commercial areas are reached by surface streets once you leave the highway.

did that help, or have i just confused everyone?

but confusing people is a good thing
and I know exactly what you are on about if that helps

Phew, where to begin?
UK motorways, whilst pretty much the equivalent of US Interstates, are similar to some other US roads such as certain sections of US highways (those are the ones with numbers inside a shield on most maps, like Route 66), even some state or county highways. As far as I know, freeways in the US means Interstates - i.e. no pedestrians, no stopping except in an emergency, no bicycles, etc, but they're not always called freeways. In New Jersey for instance, there's the Garden State Parkway, which is a section of I-95, and in other places they're called turnpikes, although that may only be for toll freeways. In Austin there's a road called Mo-Pac, aka Loop 1, which is (hey - there's another one... UK by-pass = US loop) a state highway, but which has all the restrictions of a freeway. Maybe you could say that it's the equivalent of something like the A1(M).

UK 1st floor = US 2nd floor, UK 2nd floor = US 3rd, etc, etc.

I think clocking on/in - off/out depends on which part of the country of the country you're in Bagpuss

UK guard's van = US brake van/caboose
UK goods van = US boxcar

UK at the back = US in back
UK three quarters = US three fourths

Gosho, I'm so sorry. Just when I was doing the copy & paste on the newest batch of defs, I realize that I hadn't compiled your very, very long list from the other day. Please forgive me my procrastinating ways ... it's sitting up there with all the train stuff that I'm avoiding looking at.

And roads: we've got so many designations to roads in the US, and they're not all consistent. Highway, parkway, expressway, thruway, interstate. I've got 2 highways that my house is situated between. One is a 2-lane road with shops and houses that varies in speed limit, but usually between 35-45mph, there are crosswalks, bicycles, pedestrians and traffic lights. The other is a 6-lane road with a set of 2-lane service roads running on either side. The speed limit is 55mph, there is no traffic except ... well, traffic! So there really aren't specific designations for specific roads.

For the record, here's a rough list of UK road types:

Motorways - as discussed, restricted users, no stopping, 70mph speed limit etc. 2-4 lanes in each direction.

A-something-(M) - there are various sections of A Roads that have been upgraded to motorway status, such as the A1(M) as Gosho mentioned.

Expressways - fairly rare, these are upgraded dual-carriageways engineered to near-motorway standards. Examples are the A38 between Exeter and Plymouth and the A55 on the North Wales coast. They are basically a political sop to places annoyed at not being on the motorway network.

Dual-Carriageways - simply an A Road with two lanes in each direction.

A Roads - Main roads linking towns and cities.

B Roads - Slightly smaller roads, often rather more twisty and slow and linking smaller places.

Unclassified Roads - back roads, side streets and lanes (single track roads) etc.

Then there are Green Lanes (former roads no longer maintained as highways, though often still legally open to motor-vehicles), Cycle Paths, Bridleways, Footpaths etc.

Now try and match the US and UK equivalents, Shea

Just a small addition to PFs note on dual carriageways.

They usually come with a small hard shoulder for stopping in emergencies. It about 3-4 feet across its no where near the size of the hard shoulder on a motorway which is a full lane. But it is a little something to get one out of the main flow of traffic.

Quite alright Shea, no offence taken , I just wanted to make sure that this dictionary is as complete as possible
I think we need to draw a veil over the whole roads thing. Motorways equate to freeways - they traverse the country, they are designed to be major traffic carriers, they restrict certain types of traffic, they are designed to be fast, and they frequently come to a grinding halt. 'A' roads (especially trunk roads like the A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A12, etc, equate to US Highways (that's 'US' as in official designation, not 'US' as in American) - they can be anything from a two lane blacktop (what's left of Route 66) to a 10 lane dual carriageway (US 101 through LA), and can also have some restrictions on sections of them. They also traverse the country, or parts thereof, and were the predecessors of motorways/freeways. Motorways and freeways were devised specifically for motorised traffic, and did not develop along the lines of existing highways, whether those highways be existing paved roads or 1,000 year old trackways.

Hmmm.... does freeway mean free as in you don't have to pay to drive on it, like you do on a turnpike? In that case, we'd have to say that motorway = IH, at least until they open that new road to the north of Birmingham.

The whole roadway issue is so vague as far as the US is concerned, I don't even know if we should bother with it ... opinions?

what did i miss then?

Stuff.

I'm with motorway = Interstate (Highway) if everyone else is

But I've got a nagging freeway at the back of my mind ... no! The less work for me, the better! Sold!

i'm not that bothered...
^. .^
= ' =

Seems reasonable to me.
BTW remember to drive on the left on our roads

I think perhaps we should say interstate = motorway, but other than that leave the road designation thing aside, especially as there are some A-roads in Scotland that are single-track with passing places (single-track means you can only get one car along at a time, i.e. a very narrow road).

Also, a phrase I heard today, what's a "box car"?

I think it's what would be termed a Goods Van in British railway terminology, i.e. a closed wagon with sides and a roof.

Spot on Parrfers

I knew somebody else would be able to describe it in a Brit-centric way! I tried, and realized that all my comparisons were of US things ... not incredibly helpful, really ...

i agree with the motorway = interstate bit. you might include freeway if you feel it is relevant, but it is regional. leave highway off altogether.