Americans

You can be of use today.

I need to find the standard American terms for a few thingies.

1. Traffic circle
Is that right? In England we call it a roundabout. I've got a feeling you know what that is but usually it's a traffic circle, yes?

2. Back trunk
At the back of the car there is some storage space for a spare tire, oil-stained rag and a few empty chip packets. Is this a back trunk?

3. Hire a car
In England we say "rent a car" but I've got a feeling that Americans talk about "car hire". You go on holiday to France and you decide it might be nice to have a car for a few days. "Honey," you say. "Why don't we hire a car for a few days?" Is that right?

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<hr>In England we say "rent a car" but I've got a feeling that Americans talk about "car hire". <hr></blockquote>
Don't some people in the UK talk about 'car hire' too? It doesn't sound in the least bit strange to me.

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<hr>Don't some people in the UK talk about 'car hire' too?<hr></blockquote>Well... perhaps but we don't say 'hire a car'.

I do but maybe that's because I used to live in Canada? It's so hard to be objective about your own language use. I'll have to work it into a conversation...

1. They're much less common in the US than in the UK. I think "traffic circle" is probably the most common US term although where I live the few that exist are more often called roundabouts.
   
   2. It's just the trunk, not the rear trunk.
   
   3. We rent a car in the US. Hiring a car is unknown here.

That would explain why 'car hire' doesn't sound strange to me!

It would seem that both 'rent' and 'hire' are used in British English.

#1 in Boston is a rotary. Most other places it's a traffic circle.

1. Roundabout
   
   2. It's just a trunk whether it's in the front or the rear.
   
   3. In the U.S. we don't hire cars, we rent them. An extended rental for a set period of three, four, or five years is referred to as "leasing a car." We only hire people.

1. "Traffic circle" or "rotary". Except for some eastern cities they aren't very common.
   
   2. Just "trunk". You might hear people say "in the back" meaning "in the trunk", but never "back trunk".
   
   3. We "rent" cars (or apartments, or tuxedos) and "hire" people. A car that you rent from an agency is a "rental car".

Canadian usage is exactly as US. Traffic circle, trunk, rent. But on the other hand, while we're familiar with the alternatives, native Canadians don't use them, at least not here in the west.

1. New Jersey is the home to traffic circles in the United States. Also, you should be on the look out for jug handles.
   
   3. We do not use "hire a car" at all here. It still sounds funny to me. "Hire" is mostly used when you pay somebody to do something for you. You rent a car and hire a driver.
   

Traffic circle or roundabout, they both work (it's a rare phenomenon, but luckily becoming more common)

It's a trunk whether its front or back. Front ones are rare, and tend to be on older models and hippy types (ie the vw squareback)

Rent.

& US, west coast raised, west interior worker.

Ah, the jug handle. Only in New Jersey do you have to make a right to make a left.

I have had a few americans ask me what a 'roundabout' is. in Vermont it is called a Rotary. I have also heard Traffic Circle.

"You can be of use today.

I need to find the standard American terms for a few thingies.

1. Traffic circle
Is that right? In England we call it a roundabout. I've got a feeling you know what that is but usually it's a traffic circle, yes?

2. Back trunk
At the back of the car there is some storage space for a spare tire, oil-stained rag and a few empty chip packets. Is this a back trunk?

3. Hire a car
In England we say "rent a car" but I've got a feeling that Americans talk about "car hire". You go on holiday to France and you decide it might be nice to have a car for a few days. "Honey," you say. "Why don't we hire a car for a few days?" Is that right?"

1. In the West Midlands (West Wastelands more like) of England a roundabout is called a 'traffic island'.

2. All over UK/DQ they talk of 'car hire' - e.g. in 1983 in Aberdeen I hired a car from a company called 'Hire a Heep'; it rented old cars for about one-third the price of Avis 'et al'.

London is also dotted with 'mini-roundabouts' - painted onto the road, or slightly raised - designed to keep traffic flowing more freely.

in Scotland a roundabout is called a "circle"

"in Scotland a roundabout is called a "circle" "

Since when, and where?

#8, there is an exception to your statement. In Norht America, if you get a car with a driver, you hire the car. One of the rental companies is called "Thrifty Car Hire". It just get confusing but there is no doubt that North Americans Rent a Car and to some extent I have heard people talking about renting a car in the UK. Ah but they were probably North Americans anyway!!

First two are correct:

North America: traffic circle
UK: roundabout

North America: trunk (back trunk)
UK: boot

Disagree about the third one, though; it should be the other way around.

North America: rent a car
UK: hire a car