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Car lots

Posted by Lotg (OZ) on September 02, 2004

In Reply to: A lot posted by Bob on September 02, 2004

: : : A line in a book I'm reading (Kathy Reichs' Monday Mourning) says:

: : : "For the second time that week I pulled into a pay lot in the old quarter." My query is with 'pay lot'. Is that a parking lot?

: : I think it is what we Brits call a 'pay and display car-park'. The distinction is that 'parking lot' does not signify that payment needs to be made.

: : "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot."

: Yes, it's a parking lot, generally attended by someone you pay. A free lot would simply be called a parking lot. A parking lot with parking meters is less likely to be called a pay lot even though you would pay to park there.

Thanks guys. We call them parking stations (ie. those you pay for). Sometimes we also just call them carparks, and while that is generic and can mean paying or non-paying, for some reason in conversation, I suppose the context tells the other party which one it is.

Oh yeah, and when we say car lot, we usually mean a car sales yard - eg. used car lot, etc. Although, probably due to TV, parking lot is creeping in a tad, although the most common term is still parking station.

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