Comments on: Fair & Virginia

By: Rod Johnson

Rod Johnson — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 16:25:22 +0000

Yeah, I meant “centered on Milwaukee.” When you see a distribution like that, centered on a large city, chances are there’s some local reason for that city and things spread from there. For another example, in the famous soda vs. pop controversy, “soda” is a largely east coast (and California) thing, except there are clusters of “soda” users centered on St. Louis and Milwaukee; the usual reason is that it has to do with the brewing industry in those cities (somehow).

In the case of “bubbler,” it appears that the reason is actually… ta da!… the Kohler Company, which is headquartered in Kohler, Wisconsin, outside Sheboygan, not Milwaukee.

OK, sorry for derailing the discussion! Back to… whatever we were talking about.

By: Vivienne Armentrout

Vivienne Armentrout — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 14:57:44 +0000

Looking at the map supplied in (4), I would posit that “bubbler” is a southern Wisconsin term, not just Milwaukee. I spent 7 years in Madison, which is probably where I picked it up.

By: Vivienne Armentrout

Vivienne Armentrout — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 14:54:30 +0000

I stopped to take the picture after observing a human taking a drink. The term “bubbler”, which I use rarely (I grew up with “water fountain”) seemed appropriate to the means of water supply here, which is literally a little bubble of water above the supply post. Also, when one is submitting posts on Twitter, a one word term beats a two word term.

By: Rod Johnson

Rod Johnson — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 14:39:05 +0000

“Bubbler” (for humans) is definitely not in common use worldwide. The Cambridge Survey of World Englishes has zero uses outside the US.

By: cosmonıcan

cosmonıcan — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 14:30:29 +0000

According to this Bubbler was a, now expired, trademark of Kohler, in common use worldwide. I defy you to get a good drink out of them. If the water isn’t too warm, the thing is clogged and not working, or some kid has his mouth around it sucking the water out—no thanks, I’ll find a cold faucet and cup my hands any day. I suppose my dogs would like it, if the basin can fill up.

By: Rod Johnson

Rod Johnson — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 14:19:33 +0000

Oop--looks like there a big nest of "bubbler" users around Milwaukee too--see this map.

By: Rod Johnson

Rod Johnson — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 14:17:59 +0000

Interesting–the use of “bubbler” for water fountain is usually thought to be restricted to Rhode Island and vicinity. Is it in more general use for “doggie bubblers”?

By: TJ

TJ — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 19:20:49 +0000

All the doggie bubblers work that way, as far as I know (the human assist button, that is. Not sure about funding.)

By: Vivienne Armentrout

Vivienne Armentrout — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 23:54:51 +0000

I’m wondering if this bubbler is supported by an endowment. It is a nifty item with serious design and functionality. Also, a little-known fact is that public uses are no longer supported as a public good by the Water Utilities department. Under the guidance of Sue McCormick, a chargeback was instituted for everything. I’m sure this bubbler is being billed to someone.