# tap / faucet



## Katrina8888

Bonjour,

Quelle est la différence entre _tap_ et _faucet_?

Merci!

Katrina


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## edwingill

There is no difference. They have the same meaning. 'faucet' is used chiefly in the United States.


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## Kelly B

They can both mean _robinet_, but I think _faucet _is more widely used in US English. _Tap _has many additional meanings, both as a noun and as a verb.


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## LMorland

edwingill said:


> There is no difference. They have the same meaning. 'faucet' is used chiefly in the United States.


As an American, I would second that, but also add that we _do _use the word _tap _to mean faucet, but more often, I think, as an adjective.  Examples:

_I'm calling the plumber about our leaky faucet._

_Do you want bottled water, or is tap water okay with you? _


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## xtrasystole

LMorland said:


> _is tap water okay with you?_


Hi Laura, 

I presume you never say _"faucet water"_, do you?


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## Suehil

And I have never heard a BE speaker use the word 'faucet'


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## preciouspuppy

They're the same, but it's true that "tap" is used for more things.  Like "Beer on tap". We might well say faucet water, but "water from the faucet" [as opposed to bottled water, for instance] or "tap water" is more common.
On dit "the hot-water tap" ainsi que le "hot-water faucet" .


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## LMorland

preciouspuppy said:


> We might well say faucet water


Really?  I have never heard that in my life.  (In fact, I've never heard the word _faucet _used as an adjective, I don't think.)  I'd be interested in hearing opinions from other Americans.


preciouspuppy said:


> "water from the faucet" [as opposed to bottled water, for instance]....


Yes, I agree (and here it's a noun, not an adjective) that this locution is used.  But it wouldn't be said, I don't believe, in the context I suggested above!


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## cropje_jnr

Suehil said:


> And I have never heard a BE speaker use the word 'faucet'


 
Australians say tap. 'Faucet' may be understood by many through exposure to American television and media, but I don't find it at all improbable that a significant proportion of Australians wouldn't even know what faucet means.


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## Mintaka

As an American, I would never say "faucet water".  I would only say "tap water" in this context.


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## preciouspuppy

Don't forget that there are regional differences in American English.
Comme vous le voyez, Katrina, on n’est pas toujours d’accord sur les questions de langue, même en son propre pays !


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## Mintaka

Are there any native English speakers out there that would say "faucet water"?


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## preciouspuppy

That would be me.


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## francais_espanol

Mintaka said:


> Are there any native English speakers out there that would say "faucet water"?


 
I'm Canadian and I don't think I have ever heard or ever used "faucet water"


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## preciouspuppy

Weird, and I was thinking maybe I got that from my Canadian relatives...!


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## LMorland

Mintaka said:


> Are there any native English speakers out there who would say "faucet water"?


Aside from preciouspuppy, no one!  

As I mentioned above, one might say "Do you want bottled water or water from the faucet?"  But normally one would say "tap water" in that example; much shorter.  

Hmmmm ... now that I think about it, I've never heard "water from the tap", only "tap water".  But I _am _American.

Which leads me to *a question for the British and Irish and Antipodeans out there:  *When you go into a hardware store looking to replace what I would call a "faucet", do you say, _"I've come to buy a new tap for my sink"?_  If you were to say that here, the salesperson would probably reply, _"You mean, a faucet?" 
_


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## wildan1

Mintaka said:


> Are there any native English speakers out there that would say "faucet water"?


 
No, _tap water_ is the "standard" AE term for _eau du robinet_.

In the US South, some will say _branch water_.

In an upscale restaurant they may ask if you would like bottled water. If you just want tap water, you might just say _"I'll just have plain (_or _regular) water."_


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## Tresley

LMorland said:


> Which leads me to *a question for the British and Irish and Antipodeans out there: *When you go into a hardware store looking to replace what I would call a "faucet", do you say, _"I've come to buy a new tap for my sink"?_ If you were to say that here, the salesperson would probably reply, _"You mean, a faucet?" _


 
Yes, we say "I need some new taps for my sink", "I need some new bath taps" etc.

We don't use the word "faucet" in the UK at all! (But we have learnt what it means through watching American programmes and films on the telly).


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## wildan1

_Taps_ is also a musical piece played by the military at funerals and for other official ceremonies. (Nothing to do with plumbing, but just adding this comment to enrich the thread).


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## LMorland

Tresley said:


> Yes, we say "I need some new taps for my sink", "I need some new bath taps" etc.
> 
> We don't use the word "faucet" in the UK at all! (But we have learnt what it means through watching American programmes and films on the telly).


Yes, it's a fact universally acknowledged that that British (et alia) don't say 'faucet'!  

But_ is_ interesting that you used the word _taps_ in the plural, not simply _tap_.  In that instance, is it always in the plural?

[By the way, Tresley, I notice that you are _just_ on the verge of your *3000th post!*  Anticipatory congratulations!  ]



wildan1 said:


> _Taps_ is also a musical piece played by the military at funerals and for other official ceremonies. (Nothing to do with plumbing, but just adding this comment to enrich the thread).


But it's not as unrelated as I, for one, had tought!  According to the link you provided,





> Taps is closely related to Tattoo; the latter is derived from the Dutch word taptoe,* time to close up all the taps *and taverns in the garrisoned towns.





Suehil said:


> No, it can be singular.  There is a cold tap and a hot tap.  Turn on the tap.  I need a new tap for the sink.


Hi, Suehil!
Then its interesting that Tresley used the plural there.


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## Suehil

I hadn't read Tresley's post properly.  'Taps', when referring to the musical piece, is indeed always plural.  A water tap can be singular.


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## LMorland

Suehil said:


> I hadn't read Tresley's post properly.  'Taps', when referring to the musical piece, is indeed always plural.  A water tap can be singular.


Dear Suehil,

I see that you are a Moderator now -- congratulations!  But moderating must keep you _awfully _busy, for you know, Tresley wasn't referring to the musical piece at all. (That was Wildan.)

Tresley used _taps_ in the plural to refer to the _water spigot_:





Tresley said:


> Yes, we say "I need some new taps for my sink", "I need some new bath taps" etc.


And it just occured to me that up 'till now, this thread might as well be located on the English-Only Forum.  Therefore I'll add the fact that _tap_ (BE and restricted sense in AE) and _faucet_ (AE)* translate the French word _robinet.

_____
* _As for provenance, I just happened onto a website from Western Australia that advertises "FAUCETS (TAP WARE)"!


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## bh7

But besides " robinet ", there also exist such colourful words in regional French for the English "tap/faucet" as
_champlure
champleur
chantepleur[e]
_and probably others.

E.g.
passer qch. sous la champlure => [Qué] give sth. a quick wash [rinse] under the kitchen tap

Incidentally, " champlure " was also one of the three types of sin identified (tongue-in-cheek) by Monsignor Jean-François Laflèche in 1873 in his Canadian flock (the other two being " sacrure " and " créature ").  [Swearing, drinking and women, for those unfamiliar with old-style Catholic theology].


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## Tresley

LMorland said:


> Yes, it's a fact universally acknowledged that that British (et alia) don't say 'faucet'!
> 
> But_ is_ interesting that you used the word _taps_ in the plural, not simply _tap_. In that instance, is it always in the plural?


 
Hello LMorland,

'Tap'/'Taps' isn't always used in the plural. 

In post number 18 when I used the following examples ...

"I need some new taps for my sink", "I need some new bath taps" etc.

... I was thinking of a pair of matching taps for the sink/bath. i.e. a hot tap and a cold tap / two separate taps.

I hope this helps.


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## LMorland

bh7 said:


> But besides " robinet ", there also exist such colourful words in regional French for the English "tap/faucet" as
> _champlure, champleur...._


That's fascinating, bh7! I have twice supervised a renovation of a _salle d'eau _in Paris and never heard any word used but *robinet*.  I'm curious whether it's used today in the Hexagone, or just in Quebec. See: 


> *HISTORIQUE* : *Champl(e)ure* et *champleure* sont issus de *chantepleure* à rattacher au français *chanter* (latin *cantare*). *Champl(e)ure* est attesté dans la plupart des parlers de France, notamment dans les dialectes du Nord-Ouest et du Centre, avec l'acception de « robinet d'un tonneau en perce » (FEW, *Cantare* 223b).
> 
> Au Québec *champlure* est attesté dès le Régime français, puisque signalé une première fois dès 1642 (inventaire des biens de Jean Nicolet rédigé par François Marguery au fort de Trois-Rivières). Le mot est bien implanté et reste encore très vivant même si le concurrent français *robinet* gagne du terrain.
> http://www.rabaska.com/super/chroniques/2003/04/champlur_go.htm


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## Punky Zoé

Hi

Champl(e)ure, chantepleure are really colorful, but totally unknown in France (at least by me, or since 1642 ).

"Robinet(s)" is the only one word I know for "tap/faucer".

edit : chantepleure in Le Trésor. (in France not a common tap)


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## PPP

To describe the object itself:

British use "tap"
Americans use "faucet"

"tap" also makes sense to Americans and is used by Americans


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## wildan1

PPP said:


> To describe the object itself:
> 
> British use "tap"
> Americans use "faucet"
> 
> "tap" also makes sense to Americans and is used by Americans


 
You can use both words in AE with no problem. But I would suggest that if I were shopping for a replacement of the_ " robinet "_ on my sink, I would probably be talking about _buying new *sink fixtures*..._


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## Nicomon

Punky Zoé said:


> Champl(e)ure, chantepleure are really colorful, but totally unknown in France (at least by me, or since 1642 ).


 
I assume that _champlure_ (_chantepleure _is much less common) is understood by most Quebecers, and I'm sure it is still used in many families, but I mostly heard it from elder people - and I'm not exactly a spring chicken.  

I just learned that although _champlure_ is derived from _chantepleure_, the former preceded the latter on this side of the Atlantic. 





> *1829* : Le mot chantepleure figure pour la première fois dans un texte (journal La Minerve). Il commence à concurrencer champlure qui avait été apporté au Canada par les premiers colons. Source


 


Qui donc a dit qu'on causait un langage 17e siècle?


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## LMorland

wildan1 said:


> I would suggest that if I were shopping for a replacement of the_ " robinet "_ on my sink, I would probably be talking about _buying new *sink fixtures*..._


Hmmm .... well, I actually had a very pesky _robinet _problem in my kitchen sink in Berkeley that I had to replace every two years.  On my repetitive trips to Home Depot, I always said,_ "I need a new faucet for my sink."_

To me, _sink fixtures _would refer to the whole kit-and-kaboodle, i.e., the _faucet _plus the hot and cold water _handles.  _


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## wildan1

LMorland said:


> To me, _sink fixtures _would refer to the whole kit-and-kaboodle, i.e., the _faucet _plus the hot and cold water _handles. _


 
You are right, _fixtures_ is the whole thing--most of these things come in kits nowadays.

But those _"handles" _are what I believe our BE contributors are calling _"taps"..._


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