[strimming] The etymology isn't listed but it's perhaps a portmanteau word the British may have borrowed from the Americas

[Ken Blake]

At first I had thought it may have been a typo because it's not in the
typical (Am)English dictionary; but it's in multiple (Br)English articles.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/strimming => not a word

Officers were working with strimmers and heavy machinery at the Barragem do
Arade on Wednesday, around 30 miles from where Madeleine went missing in
2007.

https://nypost.com/2023/05/24/informant-reportedly-behind-renewed-maddie-mccann-search-authorities/
Officers later appeared carrying rakes as strimming work continued near a
Ford Ranger pick-up parked just above the pre-drought water line.

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/strim
to cut (grass) using a Strimmer (no etymology)

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/strimmer
an electric tool used for cutting long grass

https://www.wordnik.com/words/strimming
Sorry, no etymology could be found

Given we might call a weed whacker a string trimmer on this side of the
pond, perhaps that's the etymology for the British side. What do you think?

[Ken Blake]

On Thu, 25 May 2023 02:43:50 -0600, Ken Blake wrote:

> Officers were working with strimmers and heavy machinery at the Barragem do
> Arade on Wednesday, around 30 miles from where Madeleine went missing in
> 2007.
>
> https://nypost.com/2023/05/24/informant-reportedly-behind-renewed-maddie-mccann-search-authorities/
> Officers later appeared carrying rakes as strimming work continued near a
> Ford Ranger pick-up parked just above the pre-drought water line.

I somehow lost a link in the above post.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/madeleine-mccann-police-cut-trees-portugal-b2344883.html
https://nypost.com/2023/05/24/informant-reportedly-behind-renewed-maddie-mccann-search-authorities/

Note that [strimmer,strimming] is not an (Am)English word according to MW
but the Post article is from an (Au)English site news.com.au so it's likely
a (Br)English language word, as used on the independent.co.uk web site.

While it's likely not an (Am)English word, logically it seems to be a
portmanteau word based on the American use of the weed whacking string
trimmer (as far as I can surmise, sans any etymological references).

[Hibou]

Le 25/05/2023 à 09:43, Ken Blake a écrit :
>
> At first I had thought it may have been a typo because it's not in the
> typical (Am)English dictionary; but it's in multiple (Br)English articles.

> https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/strimming => not a word [...]

Comparative Ngrams:

<https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=strimmer%3Aeng_us_2019%2Cstrimmer%3Aeng_gb_2019&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=en-2019&smoothing=3>

Early examples (~1973) of 'strimmer' and 'strimming' in Google Books are
mis-scans of 'swimmer' and 'swimming' (strimming pool, strimming
instructor...).

The OED says 'strimmer' comes from 'string' and 'trimmer', and that
'Strimmer' is a proprietary name, apparently belonging to Black and Decker.

[Paul Carmichael]

El Thu, 25 May 2023 02:51:12 -0600, Ken Blake escribió:

> Note that [strimmer,strimming] is not an (Am)English word according to
> MW but the Post article is from an (Au)English site news.com.au so it's
> likely a (Br)English language word, as used on the independent.co.uk web
> site.
>
> While it's likely not an (Am)English word, logically it seems to be a
> portmanteau word based on the American use of the weed whacking string
> trimmer (as far as I can surmise, sans any etymological references).

Wiki tells all:

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/strim


--
Paul.

https://paulc.es

[Ross Clark]

Wikipedia mentions "Weedwacker, Weed Eater and Whipper Snipper" as trade
names, and also regionally:

South Africa — Line trimmer or brushcutter
Australia and Canada — whipper snippers
UK / Ireland - Strimmer, Grass trimmer or brushcutters

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_trimmer

I think "weed-whacker" is what we use when we identify it as the source
of an annoying mechanical noise in our vicinity. But from earlier days I
remember "weed-eater", which was apparently the first name bestowed by
the inventor, George Ballas, of Houston TX.

[Peter T. Daniels]

That makes it what we call an "edger." I don't know what B&D calls it
in its US marketing.

[lar3ryca]

On 2023-05-25 05:23, Ross Clark wrote:
> On 25/05/2023 10:01 p.m., Hibou wrote:
>> Le 25/05/2023 à 09:43, Ken Blake a écrit :
>>>
>>> At first I had thought it may have been a typo because it's not in the
>>> typical (Am)English dictionary; but it's in multiple (Br)English
>>> articles.
>>> https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/strimming => not a word [...]
>>
>> Comparative Ngrams:
>>
>> <https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=strimmer%3Aeng_us_2019%2Cstrimmer%3Aeng_gb_2019&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=en-2019&smoothing=3>
>>
>> Early examples (~1973) of 'strimmer' and 'strimming' in Google Books
>> are mis-scans of 'swimmer' and 'swimming' (strimming pool, strimming
>> instructor...).
>>
>> The OED says 'strimmer' comes from 'string' and 'trimmer', and that
>> 'Strimmer' is a proprietary name, apparently belonging to Black and
>> Decker.
>>
>
> Wikipedia mentions "Weedwacker, Weed Eater and Whipper Snipper" as trade
> names, and also regionally:
>
> South Africa — Line trimmer or brushcutter
> Australia and Canada — whipper snippers

Canada: I have only heard weed-whacker and weed-eater in conversation.

> UK / Ireland - Strimmer, Grass trimmer or brushcutters
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_trimmer
>
> I think "weed-whacker" is what we use when we identify it as the source
> of an annoying mechanical noise in our vicinity. But from earlier days I
> remember "weed-eater", which was apparently the first name bestowed by
> the inventor, George Ballas, of Houston TX.

--
The voices in my head may not be real,
but they have some good ideas!

[Sam Plusnet]

On 25-May-23 12:23, Ross Clark wrote:

> South Africa — Line trimmer or brushcutter
> Australia and Canada — whipper snippers
> UK / Ireland - Strimmer, Grass trimmer or brushcutters
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_trimmer

At one time or another, I have owned both a Strimmer and a Brush cutter.

The latter is a strimmer which can mount a metal blade instead of the
more common nylon 'string'. It needs a motive source with a bit more
"Oomph".

--
Sam Plusnet

[Ross Clark]

Hm. I remember "edger" as a no-moving-parts garden tool, useful for
making a vertical cut into turf -- very different from what a strimmer
does. I see they are still around:

https://clearancewarehouse.co.nz/product/garden-edging-tool

https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/garden/lawn-care/edgers/66781-radius-ergonomic-stainless-steel-edger?item=PG100

[Jerry Friedman]

The edgers of my youth were hand-powered and had one moving part,
a sharp or maybe toothed vertical wheel (on a pole) that cut the edge as
you wheeled along next to the driveway or sidewalk. However, it seems
that one can get edger attachments for weed-eaters these days.

--
Jerry Friedman

[Jerry Friedman]

On Thursday, May 25, 2023 at 2:25:26 PM UTC-6, Jerry Friedman wrote:
> On Thursday, May 25, 2023 at 2:02:39 PM UTC-6, Ross Clark wrote:
> > On 26/05/2023 1:57 a.m., Peter T. Daniels wrote:
> > > On Thursday, May 25, 2023 at 6:01:28 AM UTC-4, Hibou wrote:

...

> > >> The OED says 'strimmer' comes from 'string' and 'trimmer', and that
> > >> 'Strimmer' is a proprietary name, apparently belonging to Black and Decker.
> > >
> > > That makes it what we call an "edger." I don't know what B&D calls it
> > > in its US marketing.
> > >
> > Hm. I remember "edger" as a no-moving-parts garden tool, useful for
> > making a vertical cut into turf -- very different from what a strimmer
> > does. I see they are still around:
> >
> > https://clearancewarehouse.co.nz/product/garden-edging-tool
> >
> > https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/garden/lawn-care/edgers/66781-radius-ergonomic-stainless-steel-edger?item=PG100

> The edgers of my youth were hand-powered and had one moving part,
> a sharp or maybe toothed vertical wheel (on a pole) that cut the edge as
> you wheeled along next to the driveway or sidewalk. However, it seems
> that one can get edger attachments for weed-eaters these days.

Maybe they had two wheels, like this one.

https://www.doitbest.com/shop/lawn-and-garden/lawn-and-garden-tools/edgers-and-scrapers/manual-lawn-edger/tru-tough-48-in-wood-handle-rotary-double-wheel-manual-lawn-edger?SKU=702127

--
Jerry Friedman

[charles]

In article <c929b5e4-0bac-4658...@googlegroups.com>,
Jerry Friedman <jerry.fr...@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Thursday, May 25, 2023 at 2:02:39#PM UTC-6, Ross Clark wrote:
> > On 26/05/2023 1:57 a.m., Peter T. Daniels wrote:

My battery 'strimmer' can have the head turned to cut vertically instead of
horizontally. It certainly cuts overhanging grass, but not too good with
soil.

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England - sent from my RISC OS 4té
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle

[Garrett Wollman]

In article <u4ngf6$3f7k7$1...@dont-email.me>,

Ross Clark <benl...@ihug.co.nz> wrote:

>South Africa — Line trimmer or brushcutter
>Australia and Canada — whipper snippers
>UK / Ireland - Strimmer, Grass trimmer or brushcutters

"Brush cutter" brings to mind a product sold on per-inquiry cable TV
ads in the 1990s.[1] It was a sickle-bar mower advertised as being
specifically good at clearing overgrown brush from unmaintained lots.

-GAWollman

[1] I think by Garden Way, the same company as the Troy-Bilt
rototiller, which also owned the lawn-and-garden store in South
Burlington, Vermont, where my family shopped for plants in the 1980s.
Wikipedia tells me its corporate successor was acquired by Stanley
Black & Decker in 2021.
--
Garrett A. Wollman | "Act to avoid constraining the future; if you can,
wol...@bimajority.org| act to remove constraint from the future. This is
Opinions not shared by| a thing you can do, are able to do, to do together."
my employers. | - Graydon Saunders, _A Succession of Bad Days_ (2015)

[Janet]

In article <u4n73a$15ffo$1...@paganini.bofh.team>,
K...@OneOfMany.com says...

Strimming /strimmer are the usual terms in UK. They
can be petrol or electric, string or a metal blade.

Janet

[Sam Plusnet]

Surely a "weed-eater" should be powered by digesting unwanted plant
matter? (It sounds very 'green')

I recognise that it's a common term in North America, but it sounds very
strange to me.

--
Sam Plusnet

[bil...@shaw.ca]

On Thursday, May 25, 2023 at 1:45:52 AM UTC-7, Ken Blake wrote:
> At first I had thought it may have been a typo because it's not in the
> typical (Am)English dictionary; but it's in multiple (Br)English articles.
> https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/strimming => not a word
>
> Officers were working with strimmers and heavy machinery at the Barragem do
> Arade on Wednesday, around 30 miles from where Madeleine went missing in
> 2007.
>
> https://nypost.com/2023/05/24/informant-reportedly-behind-renewed-maddie-mccann-search-authorities/
> Officers later appeared carrying rakes as strimming work continued near a
> Ford Ranger pick-up parked just above the pre-drought water line.
>
> https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/strim
> to cut (grass) using a Strimmer (no etymology)
>
> https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/strimmer
> an electric tool used for cutting long grass
>
> https://www.wordnik.com/words/strimming
> Sorry, no etymology could be found

No etymology?

>
> Given we might call a weed whacker a string trimmer on this side of the
> pond, perhaps that's the etymology for the British side. What do you think?

Of course that is its etymology. But I don't think that makes it a word. It's a clever brand name
in some parts of the world but not in mine, and it needs a capital letter.

bill

[Peter Moylan]

On 26/05/23 07:21, Garrett Wollman wrote:
> In article <u4ngf6$3f7k7$1...@dont-email.me>, Ross Clark
> <benl...@ihug.co.nz> wrote:
>

>> South Africa — Line trimmer or brushcutter Australia and Canada
>> — whipper snippers UK / Ireland - Strimmer, Grass trimmer or

>> brushcutters
>
> "Brush cutter" brings to mind a product sold on per-inquiry cable TV
> ads in the 1990s.[1] It was a sickle-bar mower advertised as being
> specifically good at clearing overgrown brush from unmaintained
> lots.
>
> -GAWollman
>
> [1] I think by Garden Way, the same company as the Troy-Bilt
> rototiller, which also owned the lawn-and-garden store in South
> Burlington, Vermont, where my family shopped for plants in the
> 1980s. Wikipedia tells me its corporate successor was acquired by
> Stanley Black & Decker in 2021.

I agree with both you and Sam. A brushcutter is the heavy-duty model,
for tougher jobs than can be handled by a mere whippersnapper.

--
Peter Moylan Newcastle, NSW http://www.pmoylan.org

[Oscar Mayer]

On 25 May 2023 11:19:09 GMT, Paul Carmichael wrote:

>> While it's likely not an (Am)English word, logically it seems to be a
>> portmanteau word based on the American use of the weed whacking string
>> trimmer (as far as I can surmise, sans any etymological references).
>
> Wiki tells all:
>
> https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/strim

That Wiktionary is a nice find as it sums quite nicely as two sentiments.

[1] (Britain) string trimmer
[2] Originally a trademark

It doesn't say if the trademark is a British or American trademark though.

[J. J. Lodder]

Sam Plusnet <n...@home.com> wrote:

> On 25-May-23 12:23, Ross Clark wrote:
>
> > South Africa — Line trimmer or brushcutter
> > Australia and Canada — whipper snippers
> > UK / Ireland - Strimmer, Grass trimmer or brushcutters
> >
> > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_trimmer
>
> At one time or another, I have owned both a Strimmer and a Brush cutter.
>
> The latter is a strimmer which can mount a metal blade instead of the
> more common nylon 'string'.

As a matter of fact those things came with a metal blade to begin with.
The nylon wire was invented because stones, fences, and so on
were too hard on the knives.
It was only after that that B&D invented their little toy,
for table cloth sized gardens.

> It needs a motive source with a bit more "Oomph".

More than just Oomph, unfortunately, more like an annoying roar
that can be heard in the countryside for kilometers around,
to spoil the otherwise quiet evening for everybody else.

But there is progress.
I did see (and not hear) a battery powered one. (by Mr. Stihl)
The battery acts as just the right counterweight,
just like that petrol engine.

If only our Eurocrats...

Jan

[charles]

In article <1qbb5um.142r3tc13k49b3N%nos...@de-ster.demon.nl>,

I have a battery one which uses a replaceable plastic blade. I use it for
the edges which my lawn mower can't get at. (the lawn mower, new this
year, is also battery powered)

[lar3ryca]

When we moved into the city (in 2014), I bought a battery powered mower.
Unfortunately it used Ni-CAD batteries, and had only enough capacity for
the front yard and about half the back yard, or vice versa. so we would
mow the front, charge it, and mow the back the next day.

When I saw a mower that had a lithium-ion battery on sale (for less than
I paid for the Ni-CAD one), I bought it. I can now do front and back,
and have about half the capacity left over.

--
I have never killed any one, but I have read some obituary notices
with great satisfaction.
-Clarence Darrow

[Sam Plusnet]

I now have a 2 x 18V Battery powered strimmer.
It replaced a 2-stroke strimmer/brushcutter, which did had the extra
Oomph to drive that metal blade, but I lost patience with the amount of
time I wasted trying to start the thing.

--
Sam Plusnet

[Snidely]

Janet speculated:

Hey, you're back in daylight!

/dps

--
As a colleague once told me about an incoming manager,
"He does very well in a suck-up, kick-down culture."
Bill in Vancouver

[J. J. Lodder]

Sam Plusnet <n...@home.com> wrote:

> On 25-May-23 21:25, Jerry Friedman wrote:

> > On Thursday, May 25, 2023 at 2:02:39?PM UTC-6, Ross Clark wrote:
> >> On 26/05/2023 1:57 a.m., Peter T. Daniels wrote:

Anyone with any experience will known
that all those eaters provided by nature
will eat everything else first,
and weeds only with the greatest reluctance,

Jan