Stop calling wheels "rims" (if you do).

WaxAddict

WaxAddict

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In relation to the subject of wheels, the term "rim" only applies to the outer part of a truly SPOKED wheel* (which is kind of rare except in bicycles), and possibly the beauty ring used on hub caps. A wheel is not a rim. It`s like calling a speedometer a cotter pin.

More often than not, synonyms and word substitutions are fun. They make you cool. A hat is a "lid". Coffee is "Joe". Colloquialisms and slang are fine, in fact they are a blast. Until they aren`t.

An adjustable wrench is often called a "Crescent wrench" - See where this is going?

A few months ago, I had some wheel cleaner to give away at work. One gentleman (I`d say he`s 42 or so) began to describe how he uses "Bleche Wite to keep his wheels nice and black". This rattled around in my head a bit, then I said "no.. I have some WHEEL cleaner". it took him a while, and he said "OHHHhhhh, you mean for the RIMS". THIS PERSON IS AN ELECTRICAL ENGINEER AND OTHERWISE SMART. (Smarter than me because he refused the Chemical Guy`s wheel cleaner I was trying to give away).


*The most concise definition I have found of "rim" is:
the outer edge, border, margin, or brink of something, especially of a circular object.

soapbox: off


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I’m completely with you. Never have I referred to wheels as “rims” and I always found it a bit odd to do so. The correct term is wheel. Thanks for the PSA.
 
Thanks for pointing this out!
I do not like to use the word rim to describe wheel +1
 
I may have been guilty of this faux pas. It saves me from saying “not the rubber part of the wheel”. Google “rims”. Rims are the metal things that hold onto the rubber. To me the wheel is the combo of the rim and tire. Am I confused?
 
Taken from a google search "What is the difference between tires and wheels?
Generally speaking, a wheel is a round object with a hub and an axle. A tire is the rubber part of a wheel that grips the road. ... Wheels are for rolling (or sometimes spinning, consider a roulette wheel, for example); tires are for traction. In an automobile, the wheels on a car consist of the rims and the tires."

If you google wheels you will find that rims come up also. Google rims, and wheels come up, But what do I know, I am old and been using these terms for yrs and I am not always PC in nature and don`t get upset at some things when I know what people are talking about. Its late, going to bed, I mean retire, sorry I mean going to sleep.
 
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Stop calling a automotive vehicle a car. Car is derived from karros.... which references any horse drawn vehicle. Whips, rides, beaters, hoopties still acceptable


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I`ve always heard the metal part of wheel called the rim, and the rubber part is tire

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And while we are at it, stop calling the inner wheel a "barrel"..... It never was a barrel, it will never be a barrel.. It always takes me a sec to decrypt that word when I see it written or hear someone say it... Its the inner wheel, lads.. :)

Growing up around automotive everything, wheels had edges that stuck out from the wheel edge and were curved. These edges held the tire beads in place, front and back.. They were always called the rim of the wheel, and that edge is where you hammered on the rim weight to balance the wheel and tire...

Somewhere back in the 80`s I think, people started calling wheels, "rims"... Hey man, I got some new "rims" !!!!

That adjustable wrench was made originally by a company called Crescent Tool, so naturally, people called it the Crescent Wrench...
I am positive that no one on this Forum was around when that tool came out in the 1907 time period...:)

Dan F
 
OK...who`s gonna call Gyeon...
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Sorry, I just don`t see this being a big thing. When I say "rims" people know I mean a wheel, and I say
"barrel" people know I mean the inside of the wheel. I`m not out to change the world, I just want to be understood, so I`ll keep using them.
 
Isn`t an automotive vehicle (Not car, according to Coatings=crack) WHEEL technically a "rim" and "tire" assembly?
I doubt anyone would refer to a rim as a tire hub, when in essence, that is what it is.
Semantics and technicalities aside, I will continue to use the word rim.

In mechanical engineering world of threaded fasteners, the word bolt and screw are used interchangeable, but they are different. Most mechanical savvy individuals will refer to a hex-headed "cap screw" as a bolt, but, technically it is not; it is, indeed a hex-head cap-screw, especially when you add the grade level and precision (hardness, and strength characteristics, and thread precision/fit) to it.
Here is how I had to technically describe a common "bolt" in an engineering bill of material:
Screw, Cap, Hex Head, 1/2-13NC-2A x 1-1/2 Lg, Grd 3, Stl, Znc Oxide
Try verbalizing that description verbatim to the floor clerk/associate at the local hardware store and see what you get (besides a look of complete bewilderment!)
 
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Lots of words have gotten twisted as far as their meaning. Engine, and motor is another one.

Speaking of wire wheels above. I have them on my jaguar. Wanna talk about a pain in the rump to clean.
 

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And quit calling magazines "clips" and (as Coleroad noted) engines "motors", and and and....you dadnabbed kids!

But seriously, words mean things, and IMO the broader and more precise one`s vocabulary the greater the potential for concept formation and thinking in general.
 
Accumulator said:
And quit calling magazines "clips" and (as Coleroad noted) engines "motors", and and and....you dadnabbed kids!

But seriously, words mean things, and IMO the broader and more precise one`s vocabulary the greater the potential for concept formation and thinking in general.
Click to expand...

Hear! Hear! I tell my kids this all the time and it drives them (and my wife) nuts! Too many times in my line of work projects have gone completly off the rails because someone used the wrong terminology.

In all fairness, I always though the wheels/rims argument was a regional thing like soda/pop/coke. Growing up EVERYONE called them rims and it wasn`t until I started living in other places I heard differently.
 
Desertnate- Heh heh..yeah, IRL I`m a lot less pedantic than I probably come across here. As the saying goes..."it`s not what you SAY, it`s what they HEAR" so I guess it cuts both ways and you gotta speak to your audience.

I gotta admit that, e.g., saying "ANTI-swaybars or "stabilizer bar" can sound pretty pretentious compared to "swaybar" and coming across like a [twit] can negatively influence one`s life whether you care what people think or not.

And yeah#2, my (very Southern) wife and I use some different terms for certain things due to those regional diffs...well, maybe we usED, past tense ;)
 
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