Driver’s Woes

~ Clarissa

So if the rearview mirror is not the window you have in the back of the car but, counter-intuitively, the thing you have sticking in front of you, what is the correct name for the window in the back?

I have also just discovered that when people say, “Great car! Is this a 4 or a 6?”, the answer of “I bought it used” is not what they are expecting.

 

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Published by Clarissa

20 thoughts on “Driver’s Woes”

  2. To me a window can be rolled up or down (electrically or manually). So the back window-kind-of-thing is the rear windshield (though I might slip and call it a window)

    The rearview mirror is the one inside the car in front of you and the one outside is a side view mirror.

    I’m pretty sure that 4 or 6 has to do with cylinders in the engine though I’m too ignorant to say more…..

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    1. I was told to attach my parking badge to the rearview window, and I spent 2 hours swearing and almost crying because I couldn’t find a way to do that. 🙂 🙂

      It is quite a relief to feel like a dumb blonde sometimes. 🙂

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      1. Did the instructions actually say “rearview window”? I’ve NEVER heard that term used in American English. “Rear window” and “back window” are the commonly used terms. “Windshield” applies only to a forward-facing pane of glass on a vehicle that deflects the flow of wind.

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  3. Yes, 4 or 6 refers to the number of cylinders. If it is an 8 cylinder, it is usually referred to as a V-8, since straight 8’s are rare (likely nonexistent) nowadays. There are also a few five cylinder cars.

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      2. No, I meant the person asked wether you are driving an A4 or an A6.
        They can be hard to distinguish at a distance.

        Normally there is an emblem on the rear door or trunk that displays the model, the motor and maybe some options.

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  6. Huh. I never thought of that as a confusing term. It’s the mirror to view what is at the rear of the car, hence rearview mirror. It’s the window you look through to see the rear of the car -> rearview window (although I hear just plain rear window and back window more often). I guess when you grow up around cars it’s one of those things you take for granted. Or maybe it’s a product of being in a field that has very uncreative naming conventions – dark matter (it has mass but doesn’t interact with light, so it’s dark!), the Very Large Array (that array of telescopes is very large), the 30 Meter Telescope (guess how big it is?)…

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      1. No, you got me real curious as to what kind of car you have… You see, I also got late into this car thing business. As a matter of fact I just got my license and perhaps I’ll get a car and discover the uk countryside…. Anyway, you’ll have to post pictures so I can tell what kind you have… An SUV maybe? 🙂

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        1. OK, definitely not an SUV. How many of me do you think there are? As hard as it is to believe, all of these posts are written by just one person. 🙂

          The car is an Audi (bought used.) Four doors. Not a truck, obviously.

          OK, that’s all I’ve got. 🙂

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  8. OK, behind the rear seat, is there a small shelf leading to the rear window, or a large open compartment for carrying stuff? Sedans have the shelf, while hatchbacks, station wagons and SUVs have the open compartment.

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