Names of Parts.
Page 17
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One of the matters now engaging the attention of that energetic and practical body, the Society of Automobile Engineers of America, concerns the nomenclature of automobile parts. In this useful work the I.A.E. and the Engineering Standards Committee, of this country, are co-operating.
We are sure that there cannot be two minds as to the importance of such a proceeding, but we hardly think that anyone giving a thought to the matter would believe it possible that such variations are to be found as those reported by the American body as the result of its preliminary investigation. Reference was made to 182 terms, of which 24 only represented uniform nomenclature, this being 13 per cent., and in only five cases did more than two of the eight manufacturers use the same name for a part ; that is to say, in the case of 87 per cent, of the terms investigated no two manufacturers agreed as to the name for a part.
Such a state of confusion in American trade circles, reflected as they are here, cannot be anything but detrimental, particularly at a time like the present, when orders for spares by hundreds are being passed through from the Front daily.
It is, moreover, a matter for congratulation, that the business is being treated in an international manner, although we deprecate the adoption of many of the purely American terms. The root of the evil in the U.S.A. is undoubtedly the American penchant for the coin. ing of new words, many of which to our own ears are harsh and unsuitable. The introduction of• uniformity is worth some trouble.