Froggie needing help with English

Ultimate Etapes
Ultimate Etapes Posts: 2
edited January 2017 in Road general
Dear all,

I'm currently translating an English book about cycling. I have a question about terminology.

How do you understand "clicks" in this sentence :

"Three kilometres from the pass, the road ramps up savagely, or
at least it is likely to feel that way after 20 clicks of upward effort".

Thanks in anticipation.
Mat

Comments

  • imposter2.0
    imposter2.0 Posts: 12,028
    'Click' is slang for kilometre. Not being funny, but 10 seconds on google will tell you that.

    Either that, or the guy's bottom bracket needs changing.
  • I don't think slang translates very well, hence the question.

    No need to be arsey about it.
    Advocate of disc brakes.
  • imposter2.0
    imposter2.0 Posts: 12,028
    I don't think slang translates very well, hence the question.

    No need to be arsey about it.

    Pointing out a more expeditious way of finding an answer is hardly being 'arsey', hence why I qualified my comment first. Slang obviously doesn't translate very well. But it still takes 10 seconds on google to find the answer, slang or not.
  • Garry H
    Garry H Posts: 6,639
    Froggie, the sentence works ok.
  • If I google "Not being funny", it says "UK way of letting someone know you're about to say something that might sound weird or insulting, and you mean it. Also used to display general impatience/frustration."
  • ben@31
    ben@31 Posts: 2,327
    A click is military slang for 1 kilometre.
    There's different rumours on its origins...
    - if you adjusted an artillery guns elevation by 1 click, the shell would land 1km further away
    - it was a phonetic saying, to make radio conversation or talking with allied nations easier.
    - a vehicles odometer made a clicking noise everytime the odometer does another km.
    "The Prince of Wales is now the King of France" - Calton Kirby
  • gethinceri
    gethinceri Posts: 1,510
    First option above is nonsense.
  • imposter2.0
    imposter2.0 Posts: 12,028
    If I google "Not being funny", it says "UK way of letting someone know you're about to say something that might sound weird or insulting, and you mean it. Also used to display general impatience/frustration."

    Seems google has several different definitions (as you might expect from a phrase which is so evidently open to interpretation) - this one more closely resembles my intended usage...

    http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/i ... -funny-but
  • lakesluddite
    lakesluddite Posts: 1,337
    Most of my understanding of this comes from watching Vietnam war films, and as they were always US films, I'd always assumed it was slang for 'mile' (as the US seem to use Km even less than we Brits do). Now I learn it's Km!

    Every day is a school day! :D
  • bianchimoon
    bianchimoon Posts: 3,942
    as it's kilometre we're talking about shirley it's a Klick not a Click
    All lies and jest..still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest....
  • pinno
    pinno Posts: 51,199
    as it's kilometre we're talking about shirley it's a Klick not a Click

    You won't get much mileage out of that joke.

    Anyway, fire away Froggie bloke - ignore the curmudgeonly pedantic pedalling proletariat (Les Rost Biff).
    seanoconn - gruagach craic!
  • cal_stewart
    cal_stewart Posts: 1,840
    ben@31 wrote:
    A click is military slang for 1 kilometre.
    There's different rumours on its origins...
    - if you adjusted an artillery guns elevation by 1 click, the shell would land 1km further away
    - it was a phonetic saying, to make radio conversation or talking with allied nations easier.
    - a vehicles odometer made a clicking noise everytime the odometer does another km.

    Not heard clicks in years, k's now.
    Most of my understanding of this comes from watching Vietnam war films, and as they were always US films, I'd always assumed it was slang for 'mile' (as the US seem to use Km even less than we Brits do). Now I learn it's Km!

    Every day is a school day! :D

    Map reading is far easier in metric, anyone who's used a 1" to 1 mile scale map will agree
    eating parmos since 1981

    Canyon Ultimate CF SLX Aero 09
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