Terms in America, England, Australia

[Wolf]

I think it would be interesting to share common used terms in different countries. I don't really know many very few actually. Im mainly think about including only countries that speak English.

America - England
No color Open White

 

[Van]

I love collecting new words for familiar terms. I've even seen regional differences in the US. There are quite a few in the Wiki, often at the end of an article there will be a list synonyms or AKA's.

 

[Raktor]

Everywhere else (?) - Australia
Load in/out - Bump in/out
Wrench - Shifter
Rep plot - Standard rig

 

[avkid]

Working at a theatre camp with a mostly international staff the language differences are amazing, even among the English speaking countries.

 

[Van]

Everywhere else (?) - Australia
Load in/out - Bump in/out
Wrench - Shifter
Rep plot - Standard rig

Oh Don't forget my favorites:
Spanner - c-wrench
Grips- pliers.

Used to have a set of shop manuals for a Triumph TR6 took me 20 minutes just to figure out which tool they were referring to.

 

[waynehoskins]

Spanner - c-wrench

Beat me to it, you did.

Also:
desk - board

And don't forget the tons of names for the Pan Bolt on a c-clamp .. those vary even between theatre companies, though there's usually a common theme to the names.

 

[Serendipity]

What about United States vs Canada?
One of the colleges I'm contemplating applying to is in Canada, and this thread made me curious...
Anyone know?

 

[Grog12]

What about United States vs Canada?
One of the colleges I'm contemplating applying to is in Canada, and this thread made me curious...
Anyone know?

Yeah....
US/Canada
Imperial/Metric

That's all you need to know.


I know one universal word between the 4...

No.

 

[jwl868]

Not truly theatrical terms, but they could crop up:

ton/tonne (metric ton)

US gallons/ Imperial gallons


An English unit of weight is stone (equals 14 pounds).


Pittsburgh doesn't rhyme with Edinburgh (though it did a couple hundred years ago...)


Joe

 

[Hughesie]

let me just stir the pot with this beauty

THEATRE

 

[cutlunch]

In NZ where you say hot for the non-neutral wire of an AC circuit ( excluding Earth) we say Phase or more recently Active. So on an extension lead or theatre light lead we would have Phase, Neutral and Earth.

 

[waynehoskins]

There's another one:

cable = lead

But "theatre" is generally preferred over "theater" in the US, at least in my experience.

 

[icewolf08]

All the theatrical terminology you could ever want can be found here. Courtesy of Uncle Bill.

 

[derekleffew]

Thanks, Alex for the great link. It has been added to our Glossary entry: http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/glossary/5458-theatrical-terms-non-standard.html.

 

[cdub260]

Thanks, Alex for the great link. It has been added to our Glossary entry: http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/glossary/5458-theatrical-terms-non-standard.html.

Out here in Pageantland, a lot of our terminology is non-standard.

Loader: A rolling step unit used to load cast into paintings and sculptures.

Loadette: A smaller version of a loader. Does not roll.

Frame: The primary light source for most paintings.

Frame Drop: An 8 circuit multi-cable that the Frame Plugs into.

Set Tail: A multi-circuit power cable for plugging sets into the Frame or the Frame Drop.

Pig Princess or Hog Hag: Our Hog 500 programmer.

Have I forgotten anything 'Dip?

 

[cutlunch]

There's another one:

cable = lead

We also use cord for lead eg extension cord, the jug cord.

While we are on electrical terms we use the term double adapter for what I believe you may call a two'fer.

We also have piggyback plugs. These are mains plugs that plug into a power socket and and have a socket on the back of them to plug in another piece of electrical equipment.

A lot of our theatre lights have piggyback plugs so we don't need two'fers or we use an extension cord with a piggyback plug.

 

[philhaney]

Out here in Pageantland, a lot of our terminology is non-standard...

Have I forgotten anything 'Dip?

Ok, I'm not 'Dip, but here's a couple...

First, bear in mind that our show consists of reproducing works of art by replacing people in the painting, sculpture, statue, etc. with humans on a set built to scale.

Second, all of our sets are on rolling wagons as they have to be moved in and out of place on stage during the show.

Frame Piece: A set that fits into our adjustable picture frame.

Leaner: A set representing a flat work of art, like an orange crate label or magic poster. It's mounted on one side of an a-frame.

Sculpt Rooms: A room apart from the main makeup area where cast members portraying nudes are made up. There are separate sculpt rooms for women and men.

And as you have already mentioned elsewhere:

Weather Door: A big plywood door located where a proscenium theater would hang their fire-curtain. Keeps the weather out (our venue is an amphetheater) and serves as a projection screen.

Have either of us forgotten anything 'Dip?

 

[Serendipity]

Out here in Pageantland, a lot of our terminology is non-standard.

Blacks - Legs, black masking.

That's the only important one I can think of...
Most of the terms that are specific to the Pageant are that way for a reason. IE, a road house doesn't need to know what a "leaner" is (Sorry Phil), or what "cookie night" signifies.

Pageantland is nonstandard. The SM doesn't call any cues, nor does he have responsibility of the stage. He runs video.