The retitled Vancouver thread

[Wyatt Earp]

The retitled Vancouver thread

Worn Old Motorbike wrote:

Oh, and when the fuck did they start referring to bobsled as bobsleigh?

It's always been called bobsleigh here, I think.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

The retitled Vancouver thread

Definitely always been a "sleigh" in the UK, as witnessed by the lyric in Slade's "Merry Xmas Everybody" that ends "you know, when you've been 'sleighed'..."

[jason voorhees]

The retitled Vancouver thread

Thanks for the pics. Nice swag indeed.

My favorite is the C.

[ursus arctos]

The retitled Vancouver thread

The international federation uses "bobsleigh", in part because it works in both English and French (like many international sports federations FIBT's official name is in French).

"Bobsled" has traditionally been a strictly North American term, and is still used by the US federation, although its Canadian counterpart has gone to "bobsleigh" (again, I think, for billingual reasons).

[Reed John]

The retitled Vancouver thread

Alright then, who's Bob?

[WOM]

The retitled Vancouver thread

Apparently that refers to the foreshortened runners (they were bobbed). A regular sleigh would have had long ones, but the ones used for the sport were derived from logging sleds which had two sets of shorter runners to make it easier to navigate uneven terrain.

[Heliotrope]

The retitled Vancouver thread

I really wish I had paid attention to the women's bobsledding, because a very familiar name jumped out of the results the following day--mine.

[WOM]

The retitled Vancouver thread

Ooo...and they're from England.