Bits and Bobs and Odds and Sods 4

Architectural terms can be odd anywhere. I don’t know if these are particularly British or not, but I haven’t seen them before. And they just sound funny...

Knob Shank: the cylindrical base of a door knob or lever which receives the spindle... or something x-rated?

Granolithic: a topping finish on concrete that contains cement, granite chippings and sand. Psychedelic, man.

Double Bullnose External Return On Edge or Bullnose Double Stretcher On Flat: special absurdly long named brick types. Not jumps in figure skating, fancy sandwiches or mixed drinks.

Spatter dash: Cement and sand in a very wet mix flicked onto walls in small blobs with an applicator. This is as opposed to pebble dash (pebbles), dry dash (aggregate), or the Hungarian 350 meter dash with hurdles (I just made that one up).

Valley Gutter: where two separate pieces of sloped roof join to form what I would just call a valley. Perhaps not that funny on its own, but I still remember the first time someone with a northern accent mentioned it at work. It sounded like Vah-ee-ger, and I thought it was a completely new word for me. Eventually I figured out it was just 'valley gutter' said very quickly and without the T’s. Valley Guh Er. Right.

Quantity Surveyor: a much fancier way of saying cost estimator.

Overlords: permissions, authorities, etc. Despite its insinuation that our work is influenced by dark forces beyond our control, this is in our file structure just like any old folder such as ‘construction’ or ‘meetings’ or 'drawing issue sheets'.

And for you American architects, a tender is a bid, a brief is a program and a program(me) is a construction schedule, but a schedule is a schedule (but probably pronounced shedule).

Finally, here are some phrases from emails I’ve received at work. Happy translating:

The City are happy for [Contractor A] to put in a price for the [project]. If they think it is good they may be able to proceed without having to go to tender – so tell them to be keen.
.....
As you can see from the email below, we may not have to tender the job – as long as you sharpen your pencil! How is your diary for a meeting Friday next?
....
Wording from quite simply the most polite tender/bid proposal I’ve ever seen:
We thank you for your kind enquiry and have much pleasure in quoting you BUDGET prices for the supply and delivery of the counters all as follows ....
We trust this is of interest to you and look forward to your valued order....
Assuring you of our best attention at all times....
Yours faithfully,