WTF is a berm

[BoomerD]

Originally posted by: Pheran

Originally posted by: GodlessAstronomer
I honestly didn't know before I Binged it. News to me

Hmm, I see some online dictionaries claiming that this terminology is local to Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, so maybe it's not as widespread as I thought! I'm from Ohio and live in PA.

EDIT: But I seem xeemzor is in Ohio, so he's still guilty unless he's from elsewhere.

Nah, the term is in widespread useage. I've known what a berm is since the early 60's...and the term hasn't changed in any of the multiple states I've lived in.

How about a swale? That one usually throws the uninformed too...

 

[destrekor]

I'm from ohio and never heard of the word berm.

But then again, we really don't have any berms where I'm from. Northwest Ohio is complete flatlands. Only thing we have are shoulders on the road.
And I grew up in the city limits.
Maybe if I grew up in Southern Ohio where it isn't flat lands, which seems to indicate the reason why its local to Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania and West Virginia - all quite the opposite of flat in certain regions, big coal production areas too. Though other parts of those states are like Ohio. the Northern half of Ohio is boring.

 

[FeuerFrei]

Student center at my college was surrounded by berms, and that's what everybody called them. Granted, that's the only time I've heard people using the term.

 

[So]

Originally posted by: GodlessAstronomer
Took me 5 seconds to Bing it.

It would have taken you three seconds to google it.

 

[CoinOperatedBoy]

Originally posted by: GodlessAstronomer
I honestly didn't know before I Binged it. News to me

Are you getting paid to inject "Bing" as a verb into the soft, supple minds of ATOT in order to increase cultural adoption? Anyway, it looks like you're using the past tense of the verb "binge" here and I like that better, so I'm going to go ahead and read it that way.

 

[Train]

Originally posted by: destrekor
I'm from ohio and never heard of the word berm.

But then again, we really don't have any berms where I'm from. Northwest Ohio is complete flatlands. Only thing we have are shoulders on the road.
And I grew up in the city limits.
Maybe if I grew up in Southern Ohio where it isn't flat lands, which seems to indicate the reason why its local to Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania and West Virginia - all quite the opposite of flat in certain regions, big coal production areas too. Though other parts of those states are like Ohio. the Northern half of Ohio is boring.

werent you in the military? You never heard berm? I almost exclusivey associate berm with piles of sand used to protect a base or as a backdrop for a range.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Originally posted by: GodlessAstronomer
Took me 5 seconds to Bing it.

Think about baseball and it'll last longer.

 

[olds]

Originally posted by: CoinOperatedBoy

Originally posted by: GodlessAstronomer
I honestly didn't know before I Binged it. News to me

Are you getting paid to inject "Bing" as a verb into the soft, supple minds of ATOT in order to increase cultural adoption? Anyway, it looks like you're using the past tense of the verb "binge" here and I like that better, so I'm going to go ahead and read it that way.

That would be simple dickscarfery.

 

[Squisher]

Kind of like a barrow without dead people inside.

 

[MovingTarget]

Anyone who lives on the coast knows what a berm is, especially after hurricane season....

 

[Beanie46]

The number of unread here is just staggering. Never heard of berm. Sheesh.

 

[drum]

I am from Ohio, I have heard the term berm quite a lot.

 

[zeruty]

Originally posted by: GodlessAstronomer
Took me 5 seconds to Bing it.

So you're the one who intentionally searched for something on Bing!

 

[olds]

Originally posted by: Squisher
Kind of like a barrow without dead people inside.

Oh crap. I've been building mine wrong then.

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: BoomerD

How about a swale? That one usually throws the uninformed too...

A inverted berm :^P

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Originally posted by: Beanie46
The number of unread here is just staggering. Never heard of berm. Sheesh.

...he says in ironically terrible English.

 

[olds]

We use wattles with our swales.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: Train
werent you in the military? You never heard berm? I almost exclusivey associate berm with piles of sand used to protect a base or as a backdrop for a range.

I was, and I never heard the term there, either.

Originally posted by: Beanie46
The number of unread here is just staggering. Never heard of berm. Sheesh.

As though it's an important literary term or something. Who can forget classics like "A Tale of Two Berms", "The Towering Berm", or "Much Ado about Berms"?

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: Train

Originally posted by: destrekor
I'm from ohio and never heard of the word berm.

But then again, we really don't have any berms where I'm from. Northwest Ohio is complete flatlands. Only thing we have are shoulders on the road.
And I grew up in the city limits.
Maybe if I grew up in Southern Ohio where it isn't flat lands, which seems to indicate the reason why its local to Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania and West Virginia - all quite the opposite of flat in certain regions, big coal production areas too. Though other parts of those states are like Ohio. the Northern half of Ohio is boring.

werent you in the military? You never heard berm? I almost exclusivey associate berm with piles of sand used to protect a base or as a backdrop for a range.

not quite, still in cadet land, got another year until commission.
But now that you mention it, I have seen plenty of berms on bases, but well... just never heard anyone refer to them and I had no reason to ever bring them up. They are just there, sand or earthen mounds. Relatively benign and I never saw a reason to name them. But I'm like a caveman - I'm going to get my point across with as little vocabulary if I can, though I do know the vocabulary (usually), I could do it if necessary.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: destrekor
I'm from ohio and never heard of the word berm.

But then again, we really don't have any berms where I'm from. Northwest Ohio is complete flatlands. Only thing we have are shoulders on the road.
And I grew up in the city limits.
Maybe if I grew up in Southern Ohio where it isn't flat lands, which seems to indicate the reason why its local to Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania and West Virginia - all quite the opposite of flat in certain regions, big coal production areas too. Though other parts of those states are like Ohio. the Northern half of Ohio is boring.

I grew up in NW Ohio just outside of Toledo. Everyone I knew called the road's shoulder the "berm".

Merriam-Webster lists a "berm" as:

1: a narrow shelf, path, or ledge typically at the top or bottom of a slope ; also : a mound or wall of earth or sand <a landscaped berm>
2: the shoulder of a road

Seems that it's use to describe a narrow strip of land or earth actually predates its use to describe a mound of earth, especially given it's etymology.

French berme, from Dutch berm, strip of ground along a dike; akin to Middle English brimme, brim

ZV

 

[manowar821]

I'm laughing out loud, right now.

 

[dainthomas]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

Originally posted by: Train
werent you in the military? You never heard berm? I almost exclusivey associate berm with piles of sand used to protect a base or as a backdrop for a range.

I was, and I never heard the term there, either.

Originally posted by: Beanie46
The number of unread here is just staggering. Never heard of berm. Sheesh.

As though it's an important literary term or something. Who can forget classics like "A Tale of Two Berms", "The Towering Berm", or "Much Ado about Berms"?

So being ignorant of a fairly common word that's been around centuries describing a structure that's been around millennia doesn't bother you? That's like not knowing what a pyramid is.

 

[Ken g6]

I personally searched Wikipedia in no time at all!

Berm was easy. But swale is harder. And Wattle is even worse. You use dulaps in England?

 

[Train]

Some people are getting pretty bent out of shape over the lack of how widespread a word is.

A single word by itself is not that bad. You can come across an extremely educated person who may not know a word you think is fairly common. Perhaps if we took a basket of words, and the same people were consistently unknowledgeable about them, then ya, you could call them unread, but dont jump to conclusions about a single word.

I'm more worried about the mass studies done a few years back on the lack of vocabulary in inner city high schools. Something like 50% didnt know what "trousers" meant. And 75% had no idea what a "cup and saucer" were. Dissapointing indeed.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: dainthomas

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

Originally posted by: Train
werent you in the military? You never heard berm? I almost exclusivey associate berm with piles of sand used to protect a base or as a backdrop for a range.

I was, and I never heard the term there, either.

Originally posted by: Beanie46
The number of unread here is just staggering. Never heard of berm. Sheesh.

As though it's an important literary term or something. Who can forget classics like "A Tale of Two Berms", "The Towering Berm", or "Much Ado about Berms"?

So being ignorant of a fairly common word that's been around centuries describing a structure that's been around millennia doesn't bother you? That's like not knowing what a pyramid is.

Yes, it's exactly like not knowing the name of a simple polyhedron. :roll:
No, not knowing an uncommon word that's used more in specific regions doesn't bother me. I'd have to believe that with the number of books and publications I've read, I would have come across it sooner if it were as common as you seem to think. I've even known people from the aforementioned regions and it never came up.