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Fri 22 Jun, 2012 08:14 pm
The definition of washing: garments or white goods that can be cleaned by laundering.
When being hung on the line, the garments have been cleaned, not to be cleaned.
Context:
It is a bright, brilliant morning. Washing hangs on the line in the front yard of the family home; shoes are neatly stacked; there is a satellite dish; sparrows flit past a trailing vine.
@oristarA,
It is correct, but here we would normally say the laundry is on the line or laundry hangs on the line.
@oristarA,
It's not a relatively common usage, but it's used correctly.
See this definition:
Quote:wash·ing (wshng, wôshng)
n.
1. The act or process of one that washes.
2. Articles washed or intended to be washed at one time: the week's washing.
3. The residue after an ore or other material has been washed.
4. The liquid used to wash something. Often used in the plural.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/washing
@Ceili,
Ceili wrote:here we would normally say the laundry is on the line or laundry hangs on the line.
I don't know where "here" is, but in British English it is absolutely standard to call it "washing". The line is called a "washing line". It was often done on Mondays which were called "washing day".
I note that, as usual, OristarA omitted to declare the provenance of the quotation - The Guardian, a British newspaper: "Dagestan: My daughter the terrorist - What made village schoolteacher Mariam Sharipova blow up herself and 26 others on the Moscow metro?"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/19/dagestan-suicide-bombers-terrorism-russia
@contrex,
Contrex is absolutely correct, no surprise there.
Note also, here in the UK at least, "white goods" is a term used particularly for domestic machinery (washing machines, dishwashers, fridges and the like) and not for "washing" also called laundry.
There was a hit song in Britain during the 1939-40 "phoney war", which went "We're going to hang out the washing on the Siegfried Line", and carelessly or spitefully revealing a shameful family or business secret is sometimes described as "hanging out the dirty washing".
@McTag,
McTag wrote:Contrex is absolutely correct, no surprise there.
Flattery will get you everywhere. We don't say "No tickee, no washing" however.
@contrex,
contrex wrote:and carelessly or spitefully revealing a shameful family or business secret is sometimes described as "hanging out the dirty washing".
We call it 'hanging out the dirty linen' down my way.
@izzythepush,
izzythepush wrote:We call it 'hanging out the dirty linen' down my way.
I've also heard it called "washing dirty linen in public". Linen is a material formerly much used for undergarments, which might have marks and stains you wouldn't want the neighbours to see.
@contrex,
contrex wrote:
Ceili wrote:here we would normally say the laundry is on the line or laundry hangs on the line.
I don't know where "here" is
"here" is Canada - where we call it laundry - not washing
@izzythepush,
izzythepush wrote:
contrex wrote:and carelessly or spitefully revealing a shameful family or business secret is sometimes described as "hanging out the dirty washing".
We call it 'hanging out the dirty linen' down my way.
laundry is used in this example as well when you're in Canada
I suspect that "laundry" would be understood and not considered out of place in every English speaking country, even if "washing" is common in the more "British" leaning parts of the English speaking world.
In the US one would say "the wash".
@contrex,
Contrex, I'm pretty sure Ori knows I'm Canadian. Just as I know you live in Spain and he lives in China. Should I preface everything?
@InfraBlue,
InfraBlue wrote:In the US one would say "the wash".
Depending on what part of the US you're from. I'd say "the laundry."
It comes as a major surprise to me that there are differences in the English spoken around the world.
@Ceili,
Ceili wrote:Should I preface everything?
No, just don't force us to guess or research to find out where "here" might be.
@contrex,
Ironically, the post wasn't meant for you.
We should take a survey:
I'll start.
Connecticut and parts of Upper Manhattan, USA
Dirty clothes that will be cleaned: The Wash or The Laundry.
"I'm doing the laundry tonight."
"I'm doing the wash tonight."
Clothes which have been through the washer: The Wash or The Laundry
"I wanted to put the wash in two dryers, but there was only one."
"I wanted to put the laundry in two dryers, but there was only one."
If a rope is used, wet laundry is hung on a clothesline to dry.
Parts of the wash are "The Whites"= white or beige clothes.
Sometimes also known as "The Lights or "Light"
Dark colored clothes,
"The Darks" or "The Colors" or "The Coloreds"
Clothes which need extra care- lingerie, undergarments are
" The Delicates"
"I've got everything separated, lights, darks and delicates. "
"I've got everything sorted, whites, colors and delicates."
Some people go farther, separating out the in-between colors : light colored blues, greens, pinks, yellows. My girlfriend, who is from Connecticut, calls them 'Tweeners".. I have never called them any such thing.
Joe(She also uses Laundry Soap, I use (same product) Detergent)Nation
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