What do you call a flashlight in your country?
I know in parts of Europe (England) it is called a torch but I was wondering if it was called that in other countries.
The reason I ask is I have been creating/writing/illustrating a children’s book for the past three years and a flashlight/torch has become a very important part of the story. I want to make the book more internationally identifiable so I am asking this question here in our own little version of the United Nations. The “Flashlight” or “Torch” will be in the title so I need to know soon before I finalize it all for copyright purposes.
Thanks
Dave
A question for those outside of the USA
by seven006 25 Replies latest jw friends
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seven006
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zagor
yep, same downunder
... also a lamp
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stillajwexelder
A flashlight (also called an electric torch or torch) is a portable electric spotlight which emits light from a small incandescent lightbulb, or from one or more light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The light source is mounted in a housing which contains a parabolic reflector, a clear protective lens, a power source (typically electric batteries), and an electric power switch.
While most flashlights are intended to be held in the hand, there are also helmet-mounted flashlights designed for miners and campers. Some types of flashlights can be powered by hand-cranked dynamos or electromagnetic induction. It is known as a flashlight mainly in the United States and Canada and as a torch or electric torch in most Commonwealth countries.
Source - WIKIPEDIA -
seven006
Thanks guys I appreciate it, and Stilla, thanks for the engineering lesson. I’m sure the 4 to 8 year olds the book is created for will love it. Especially the ones with dreams of going to MIT.
Dave -
stillajwexelder
Sorry - didn't mean it if it sounded condescending. Just cut and pasted verbatim from Wikipedia
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seven006
Stilla,
Nothing to say you’re sorry for, I was joking. Don’t take life so serious. I appreciate all your in-depth research on flashlights. I wouldn’t have done it myself but it’s nice information to have if I’m ever confronted about the subject by a five year old. Personally the little buggers scare me sometime with all the constant questions.
Chill out and go give Minimus some shit today (he needs it), I’ll even help you if you’d like.
Dave. -
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Duncan
Hello Seven
Here in England, you're right - the word in everyday use is certainly "torch"
But, such is the cultural saturation with American TV shows/films/music, that there's not an English kid alive who would be thrown for a minute by "flashlight".
Same goes with "cookies" "sidewalk" "high school" and so on.
We'd never heard of "trick or treat" when I was a kid, but it's huge now. In a way, we all live in America these days.
Good luck with the book.
Duncan