Do you say "ground" or "floor" if you drop something outside?
Posted by Traditional-Bid5887@reddit | AskABrit | View on Reddit | 118 comments
Posted by Traditional-Bid5887@reddit | AskABrit | View on Reddit | 118 comments
stercus_uk@reddit
Floor is manmade, ground is anything else.
Traditional-Bid5887@reddit (OP)
So you would say "floor" if you were on the street?
amusingjapester23@reddit
I would say "pavement" or "road" in that case.
stercus_uk@reddit
Depends. Dirt track is ground, concrete is ground, tarmac/asphalt is ground. Tiles or slabs can be floor.
Traditional-Bid5887@reddit (OP)
So on the street is "floor"?
TSC-99@reddit
This Is true actually!
MrMattyMatt@reddit
I think it’s becoming more common that floor is used instead of ground (outside) due to all the non native English speakers saying it that way
Throw2thesea@reddit
I hear English people saying floor to mean the ground outside all the time. I am a native English speaker but Canadian. Last week on a British reality cop show they were all using floor for ground (north /midlands).
shandybo@reddit
I was born and raised in england, now living in Canada, and people always point out to me that I say floor even when it's outside 🤷🏼♀️ they either find it really funny or stupid but it's just what I have always said.
Throw2thesea@reddit
Boo to any Canadians implying that it's stupid! And I say that as a Canadian! Within many families our grandparents and parents will use different words for the same thing so they should be familiar with the concept.
shandybo@reddit
I know! And having lived in 3 different Commonwealth counties I am so bored of the "you say it like this!?" conversation. However, the person that rips me the most for the 'floor' thing is my sweet Canadian born man. BUT I rip on him for 'booey' (instead of 'boy' for BUOY) ☺️
Throw2thesea@reddit
😂
MrMattyMatt@reddit
That may be a British thing. I was referring to American native speakers
Throw2thesea@reddit
Yeah, I'd not thought of the ESL angle before, but I think would apply here too. My antenna will be out for it now. It's exactly the kind of mistake I'd make in French or Spanish.
Scottish_squirrel@reddit
Floor is inside. Ground is outside
Tommy-Foxwell@reddit
This question seems to be popping up a lot recently....
terryjuicelawson@reddit
Another thing people can claim to get irate about if done the wrong way round I guess, the wacky swines.
Traditional-Bid5887@reddit (OP)
Not getting irate. Just genuinely curious since I have heard Brits use "floor" outside and I wondered if it was common usage. Turns out, it's not universal in the UK, but it is done by some. Differences in the language are interesting, don't you think?
Tommy-Foxwell@reddit
'Wacky swines' 😂😂
ActuaLogic@reddit
ground (because floor is part of a building)
coffeewalnut08@reddit
I say ground
cari-strat@reddit
I know they are technically different (floor is inside) but in everyday speech I'm not that precise. So for example if someone asked 'where's my bag' I might say 'on the floor by where you were sitting' even if we were outside and ground was more correct.
Dedward5@reddit
This question floored me, I thought I was well grounded.
Traditional-Bid5887@reddit (OP)
Just trying to get to the bottom of it.
Go1gotha@reddit
Ground is outside, floor is inside.
NobleRotter@reddit
The correct answer. Why are people even debating this? Are these the same people who confuse roof with ceiling?
Traditional-Bid5887@reddit (OP)
Several people in this thread have acknowledged that "floor" is used outside at times. One person noted that they use the term when in a forest. Another commented that they have heard it multiple times in police procedurals. It's clear that it is used occasionally, but it is not a common "Britishism".
UncleSnowstorm@reddit
What about the forest floor? Or the cave floor? Or the ocean floor?
Originally "floor" just meant a flat surface, hence why a stage or dancefloor is called a floor ("the floor is yours") and then that changed to mean the ground/bottom. More recently it generally (but not exclusively) refers to indoor flooring.
NobleRotter@reddit
I think a cave could count as indoors easily enough. Most people would call the "ocean floor" the sea bed, but that and forest floor are their own phrases anyway.
If I dropped something on the forest floor I would still definitely say it was on the ground not the floor.
ian9outof10@reddit
Yes you would say ocean floor, forest floor or sea bed as complete descriptions. But you wouldn’t say house floor, probably.
sunbeamshadow@reddit
Ground outside, floor inside (or if you’re in a forest). This is the hill I will die on!
Traditional-Bid5887@reddit (OP)
Aha! That might explain why I have heard "floor" when outside. Don't remember the context but I know I have heard Brits say "floor" when outside. Thank you.
Goatsandducks@reddit
Oooh, I love this one. My mum always corrects me still to this day (I'm 31). I hope to have a chance to say it to her at some point. I'm going to have to start inviting her for walks in the forest.
sunbeamshadow@reddit
😄
ThinkLadder1417@reddit
I have said floor before and it seemed to really upset people. So I say ground. But I might think floor.
Traditional-Bid5887@reddit (OP)
Thank you. I know I have heard it that way from some Brits, so I appreciate you reinforcing that some do say it that way.
Inevitable_Stage_627@reddit
Floor indoors, ground outdoors
Flashy-Release-8757@reddit
Floor if its man made inside or outside, ground if earth, grass, sand.
harrietmjones@reddit
Depends on if the dropping happens inside or outside.
If it’s inside, then it’s the floor but if it’s outside, then it’s the ground.
Though, I’ve accidentally said that I dropped something on the carpet when I was outside and that was very very wrong and a careless mistake of mine at the time!
ian9outof10@reddit
Grass is a carpet of organic matter on the ground. So while you done fucked up, you didn’t done fuck up terribly.
harrietmjones@reddit
Haha, thank you for the positivity! 😄
HandOne4272@reddit
Ground is always outside. A ‘floor’ is only inside.
RegularWhiteShark@reddit
And then there’s the “ground floor”!
ian9outof10@reddit
Yes, it’s the floor you go to when you’d like to walk from floor to ground.
Dear-Kiwi-4711@reddit
Unless you are inside a ship.
AletheaKuiperBelt@reddit
You can have an outdoor floor. Like in a gazebo or on a stage.
EmLa5@reddit
Ground outside, floor inside
therealdrewder@reddit
And yet your elevators have a ground floor
ian9outof10@reddit
You’d prefer floor floor?
Zorro-de-la-Noche@reddit
They’re called lifts, Seppo.
Plane_Ad6816@reddit
Because it’s the floor that is level with the ground?
Balnagask@reddit
Yeah, I don't see what the problem was either 😂
conniespitfire@reddit
We don’t have elevators~ we have lifts
SoggyWotsits@reddit
As it should be, because that’s correct!
Shawn_The_Sheep777@reddit
Yup this ☝🏻
harrietmjones@reddit
Same!
Different_Guess_5407@reddit
If it's outside it's dropped on the ground - if I am inside it's dropped on the floor.
Remarkable_Hat8655@reddit
I've never heard of this!
Shakis87@reddit
"the grun" if it's outside, "the fler' if it's inside.
"Fuck, a droaped it oan the grun"
"Fuck, a droaped it on the fler'"
I feel "flair" is a better spelling but I'd definitely read it wrong if spelled like that lol
Naive-Passenger-6669@reddit
Ground teehee
pjs-1987@reddit
I proclaim thusly "egads, it has been begrounded"
stevebehindthescreen@reddit
I usually say shit, or fuck. I've never said ground or floor when I have dropped anything ever.
PM-me-your-cuppa-tea@reddit
I'd say either but ground feels like it's more outside and floor is more inside.
But if someone dropped something outside and called it the floor I wouldn't bat an eyelash
pluckmesideways@reddit
It’s “Bat an eyelid”. But you had already established your level of English by your statement, so there was no need to embellish. 😜
decentlyfair@reddit
I was going to type this but you have done it for me.
Jackiedhmc@reddit
If someone dropped something outside and called it the floor my head would explode
sunbeamshadow@reddit
Mine too. I watch all the real life UK Police shows (Police Interceptors, Motorway Cops and others), and when they are arresting someone who’s outside (after a chase/standing/running etc), and they’re resisting, they tell them to ‘get on the floor’. I shout ‘ground’ at the TV every time. it drives me mad. A few weeks ago an officer shouted ‘get on the ground’ and before I even had a chance to say anything my husband and daughter both looked at me and said ‘wow, he said ground!’. This is my life, such is the excitement!
gotcha640@reddit
I thought you were say "crumbs" or "Oh my trousers" in the UK.
BeanOnAJourney@reddit
Ground outside, floor inside. I will assume anybody who says floor for outside has recently suffered a stroke.
Throw2thesea@reddit
Almost everyone is saying ground outside, floor inside, but I hear English people using floor for the outside all the time. not sure if it's a west country thing, but also heard it on reality copy show from north/midlands.
Down-Right-Mystical@reddit
I'm from the west country, and it's not occurred to me to say 'floor' for outside.
Throw2thesea@reddit
I became aware of the floor/ground thing a few years ago, so I might just be noticing it only when it's wrong to my ears
Dadaballadely@reddit
There's no floor outide
Jayatthemoment@reddit
And the ocean.
Dadaballadely@reddit
I'll give you ocean, but pelvis is definitely inside
Jayatthemoment@reddit
Says somebody on the right side of childbirth and menopause!
Dadaballadely@reddit
Hahaha
ot1smile@reddit
Except in a forest.
Dadaballadely@reddit
If I drop something in a forest I still won't say floor but fair point
joemorl97@reddit
Depends where outside I dropped it, if it’s on the path I’d just say floor but grass I wouldn’t call that a floor
ghotiboy77@reddit
ground is natural, floor is manmade (unless talking about location, like ground floor)
Joanna_C_McGoolies@reddit
I say "three second rule!" Then pick up and eat accordingly
Cyan-180@reddit
Paving slabs in an enclosed bus shelter? Ground or floor?
dawson821@reddit
The floor is the thing inside your house that you walk on. The ground is the thing beneath your feet outside.
underwater-sunlight@reddit
When I worked on building sites, the shout was always 'below'
No_Watercress8348@reddit
Ground.
FebruaryStars84@reddit
Interchangeable for me.
Cruump@reddit
Usually just “for fuck sake”
noobtidder@reddit
Especially if preceded by a "tut".
Competitive_Fennel36@reddit
Well done for answering the question as it was asked.
Cruump@reddit
Should I have just answered with “no” then, or actually is humour perhaps sometimes acceptable? I assume you’re miserable, even if you don’t realise it
-coconutscoconuts-@reddit
Also “why the Christing fuck?” or my personal favorite, “fuck me.”
PartTimeLegend@reddit
Floor inside. Ground when I’m tossing cake on it.
SirPooleyX@reddit
Ground. Because it's not the floor.
Next.
LinuxRich@reddit
Deck
Parking-Tip1685@reddit
Most of the commenters here have never been in a lift. You don't go from level 3 down to floor floor, it's always the ground floor.
Glenner10@reddit
I usually call both "the deck"
Lazy-Contribution789@reddit
Mother earth
veryblocky@reddit
Ground. Floor feels like an indoor word
Jackiedhmc@reddit
Ground, deck, asphalt, patio, whatever surface applies to the outdoor situation. When people drop something on a floor and call it the ground it drives me crazy
EatingCoooolo@reddit
Floor inside, ground outside.
aluzunaris6@reddit
in Nyc, the ground is sometimes called floor. Often used interchangeably, even though it's wrong.
Fair_Comfortable6561@reddit
Floor
Hot-Box1054@reddit
Ground
HandOne4272@reddit
Also, vaguely related to the ‘ground’ question. In English English we wouldn’t refer to “dirt” in a garden. We’d say soil or mud, if it was wet but ‘dirt’ is what you’d empty out of a vacuum cleaner or get maybe get on your face while cleaning something. And of course yard to a Brit is a small paved area behind some houses where the dustbins stand ~ it’s never the word we would use for a garden.
Sxn747Strangers@reddit
If it’s on the ground I say ground and if it’s on the floor I say floor.
iamthefirebird@reddit
If something has been dropped, it's generally on the floor if it's inside, and on the ground if it's outside. While phrases like "forest floor" exist, they are mostly used in more artful phrases in literature, rather than the spoken word.
ZCT808@reddit
Ground is outside. Floor implies an indoor situation. And the dictionary confirms it.
Top-Hedgehog-4607@reddit
Outside it’s the ground and inside it’s the floor
MiddleEnglishMaffler@reddit
The ground is outside. The floor is inside. Even if you have tiles outside, it's either the ground or the patio.
But if you are in a shed, then it's the floor, because the shed makes it indoors and with it's over floor.
But if it's a gazebo, it's the ground still, because it isn't a real 'indoors'.
ProfessionalEven296@reddit
Usually I say “darnit” or something similar (dependent on unprotected toe proximity, of course…)
Johnny_Vernacular@reddit
Just to confuse matters one might refer to the 'forest floor'.
Mobile_Bench7315@reddit
Ground
YUNoPamping@reddit
ground
ThaiFoodThaiFood@reddit
We say "oi mate you dropped your gay card"
Real_Run_4758@reddit
i would use ‘floor’ in the context of ‘dropped it on the __’.
FMLitsSML@reddit
Drop it on the floor, put it on the ground.
Although both can be used interchangeably, people will know what you’re saying.
qualityvote2@reddit
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