White goods

[pne]

Inspired by this entry from Language Log, but turned into a poll.

Apparently, this is a very British phrase and most Americans would be stumped by it. Here, have a guess, wherever you come from (though those from the UK will probably find it absurdly easy). No Googling or Wikipediery before answering, of course.

[Poll #1052014]

Comments

[asciident]

Actually, I think a lot of Americans are familiar with the term white goods, but it means something else here (which is how I answered the question -- what it means to me). ;)

We have "white sales" here, and in fact Amazon is holding a September White Sale right now: http://www.amazon.com/bed-bath-bedding-bathroom-accessories/b?ie=UTF8&node=1057792

[pne.livejournal.com]

Actually, I think a lot of Americans are familiar with the term white goods, but it means something else here

Ah! I wasn't aware of that.

Hm. Not sure how to re-word my entry, then, or whether to.

[fledchen.livejournal.com]

That's what it means in this part of the U.S. (upper Midwest) as well, linens/towels.

[sparkofcreation.livejournal.com]

Agreed.

[nitaq.livejournal.com]

IIRC it was on German TV in Genial Daneben.

[fledchen.livejournal.com]

I just checked Wikipedia, and the article is about major household appliances, but mentions the U.S. meaning of linens/towels.

[arthur-sc-king.livejournal.com]

I picked up the phrase from the point of view of recycling. The garbage facility up in Yellowknife is geared towards recycling as much as possible, and appliances that are mostly composed of steel — refrigerators, washing machines, etc. — were referred to as "white metal".

(The facility allows for compacting of trash into large bales. "White metal", aluminum, and other separable and relatively-valuable items are baled separately from "regular" garbage.)

[rick-day.livejournal.com]

you have white trash in your neighborhood too?

so..prolific, they are!

[tungol.livejournal.com]

I haven't a clue what white goods are.

[lnbw.livejournal.com]

I hadn't a clue -- I just guessed. (The American meaning of "linens" is not even one that's familiar to me.)

[alsatia.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that wasn't familiar to me either. I don't associate linens with being white in color (nor appliances) and couldn't understand why other people would make that association, so I figured it had to do with ethics or legality in some way, rather than the literal color.

[eva]

I actually knew that; I don't even know why. Are they called this in Germany too?

[pne.livejournal.com]

I actually knew that; I don't even know why.

Same here.

Are they called this in Germany too?

Wikipedia seems to think so; there's Weißgerät (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weißgerät) (redirecting to "Elektrogerät"), and that article mentions the category "Weiße Ware".

I don't think I've ever heard either term in German, though.

[leora.livejournal.com]

I simply had no clue.