Is it bus or buss?

[RoadrunnerOZ]

On a related note, last century I attended a technical lecture where the speaker ( not English) complained volubly about the many different pronunciations of the letters 'ough'

Rough
Through
Thorough
Plough

There may be others.

Cheers

Ian

Imagine trying to get your head around the original olde English - the alphabet was a bit different too:

 

[k brown]

Buss fuses come from Bussman Cooper, a company who made the fuses - and may have used 'Buss' as an American brand name(?) - and who were, until quite recently were based in Frome, Somerset.I don't know why they moved; perhaps as part of a takeover.

I found it interesting that the Cooper Industries Wikipedia page doesn't explain the origin of the word 'Bussman'; was it somebody's name?

 

[RoadrunnerOZ]

I found it interesting that the Cooper Industries Wikipedia page doesn't explain the origin of the word 'Bussman'; was it somebody's name?

The origins of the Bussmann brand date back to 1833, when Cooper Industries was founded in Ohio (USA). It soon became one of America's largest electrical and energy companies. One of Cooper Industries' brands was Bussmann, a subsidiary specialising in the production of installation protection solutions for the power, electrical and transport industries. In 2013, Cooper (including Bussmann) was merged into the Eaton corporation.
Eaton’s Bussmann business turns 100 this year. It can be traced to Bussmann's very early beginnings in the basement of a small house in St. Louis back in 1914. There, the five Bussmann brothers created what was then Bussmann Manufacturing. The non-renewable cartridge fuse became Bussmann's first product, launching a success story that has endured for a century.

 

[rock soderstrom]

I found it interesting that the Cooper Industries Wikipedia page doesn't explain the origin of the word 'Bussman'; was it somebody's name?

Some information from the website of the German Bussmann distributor:

"The BUSSMANN company was founded in 1914 by the five Bussmann brothers in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Today the company is part of EATON Corporation and before that it was part of Cooper Industries Inc.

BUSSMANN is one of the market leaders for protection in electrical circuits. BUSSMANN has registered more than 3,000 patents, many of which are still under patent protection today."

The double n in Bussmann testifies to its original German origin. So there were many emigrants over the years. They often lose an n over time and mann becomes man ;-)

Edit: @RoadrunnerOZ was faster, he carries his name rightly...meek meek

 

[abbey road d enfer]

The origins of English as spoken today really stem from the Norman conquest. The Norman rulers spoke French, all documents, including the bible, were written in Latin. English was only spoken by the common folk who had been enslaved by the French (and yes, I expect the French to take the knee and apologise to my ancestors ).

Hence English was an everyday language created and modified by ordinary folk. The result was a very dynamic language subject to continuous modification. So with that in mind, buss may strictly be incorrect but if enough people use it then it will become part of the language. (I suspect tis is true of most languages).

Cheers

Ian

That's because you are blessed with not having the equivalent of the "Académie Française", which main task seems to be making spelling difficult.
It's a french academician who invented the stupid "hellenistic" spelling, such as in physics, where ph is a substitute for f, y (upsilon) a substitute for i, and que for k. The Greeks themselves write it with a "phi" (our f), a iota (our i), and a k.
P+H has no meaning in Greek and they use upsilon for the sound that most English find unpronounceable and Germans write as ü.
As for telephone, the Spanish and Italians write it right: telefono.

 

[AlgoRhythms]

PS: Another peeve is phase and polarity.

Technically, both are correct. "Polarity" is a specific amount of phase change. A polarity swap is always a change of phase but a phase change isn't necessarily a polarity swap.

But I call that button on a console a "polarity" button because that's what it does: change the phase by 180 degrees.

 

[S.Samuelsson]

Hi.

There was an advert a long time ago about "mike" being your friend or something similar

^This.

IIRC it was an very early RCA ad, a cartoonlike 77 (or 44?) assuring people that a microphone is nothing to be afraid of.

I've tried to Google that ad -even before Google became an advertizing platform- but no such luck so far .
Perhaps one day... .

Regards,
Sam

 

[JohnRoberts]

Technically, both are correct. "Polarity" is a specific amount of phase change. A polarity swap is always a change of phase but a phase change isn't necessarily a polarity swap.

But I call that button on a console a "polarity" button because that's what it does: change the phase by 180 degrees.

Both are correct like bus and buss are both correct words but with two different meanings.

As I have shared these are very old peeves of mine. When labelling console switches space is at a premium, and confusion undesirable.

When in doubt do it right.

JR

 

[abbey road d enfer]

Technically, both are correct. "Polarity" is a specific amount of phase change. A polarity swap is always a change of phase but a phase change isn't necessarily a polarity swap.

But I call that button on a console a "polarity" button because that's what it does: change the phase by 180 degrees.

It changes phase only in the context of a steady-state single-tone sinewave.
In most recording situations it just reverses polarity.

 

[Electrobumps]

So with that in mind, buss may strictly be incorrect but if enough people use it then it will become part of the language. (I suspect tis is true of most languages).

Thought I’d check in with the Oxford English Dictionary. Neither bus or buss is listed in the context of audio. They add new words every year to the dictionary.

in the context of the vigorous kiss it can also be spelt both bus and buss.

 

[JohnRoberts]

I did a deep dive into bus/buss decades ago. I decided to check how professional engineers in other industries treat the concept.

Other major users were the computer industry with digital data buses, and power industry with bus bars and the like. The only industry I could find with the "ss" affectation was audio/music.

JR

 

[Electrobumps]

I did a deep dive into bus/buss decades ago. I decided to check how professional engineers in other industries treat the concept.

Other major users were the computer industry with digital data buses, and power industry with bus bars and the like. The only industry I could find with the "ss" affectation was audio/music.

JR

i’m trying to remember why Buss is stamped in my brain. I did a city in guilds audio engineering course in the late 90’s run by a former Neve Engineer. Then I did a short SAE dimploma in London, then worked at Metropolis studios. I don’t know where I picked it up, but the first time my spelling was questioned was on this forum.

 

[Gold]

But I call that button on a console a "polarity" button because that's what it does: change the phase by 180 degrees.

I do too but sometimes I slip up because most people call it a phase switch. If anyone corrects me it’s 10 demotion points.

 

[CalavoBob]

I agree with the use of bus and mic here in the US, but Germany, from which we have gotten many of our finest audio innovations uses the word "mikrofon" which may give a little credence to the use of "mike" as a nickname. American schematics do often use a "K" for cathode which came from the German "Kathode".

 

[Matt Nolan]

On a related note, last century I attended a technical lecture where the speaker ( not English) complained volubly about the many different pronunciations of the letters 'ough'

Rough
Through
Thorough
Plough

There may be others.

Cheers

Ian

Cough
Thought
Hiccough
and
Lough - though that's strictly an Irish English thing.

 

[pucho812]

I’ve always known it as bus.
Buss as I was told comes from a U.S. fuse company called bussmann fuses.

Then again bus is a mode of transportation
Buss is the verb of the mode of transportation.

Makes a person go hmmmmm

 

[JohnRoberts]

I’ve always known it as bus.
Buss as I was told comes from a U.S. fuse company called bussmann fuses.

Then again bus is a mode of transportation
Buss is the verb of the mode of transportation.

Makes a person go hmmmmm

I think it has already been shared but the word 'bus' is derived from "omnibus" (a motor vehicle for transporting people). The verb is still "bus" with only one 's'.

It has been widely misspelled for decades so there are lots of examples of that misspelling (including from me ) .

JR

 

[ruffrecords]

Both are correct like bus and buss are both correct words but with two different meanings.

As I have shared these are very old peeves of mine. When labelling console switches space is at a premium, and confusion undesirable.

When in doubt do it right.

JR

These days Icons seem to have replaced text near switches in almost all walks of life from computer devices to home appliances.

Cheers

Ian

 

[pucho812]

I think it has already been shared but the word 'bus' is derived from "omnibus" (a motor vehicle for transporting people). The verb is still "bus" with only one 's'.

It has been widely misspelled for decades so there are lots of examples of that misspelling (including from me ) .

JR

Buss as a verb with 2 x S is British spelling. So even more confusing

 

[JohnRoberts]

To buss a young lass is a verb.
===
I got a tongue lashing from a British editor for suggesting that 'buss' was the British spelling for 'bus'.

JR