Around where I live: Architecture, Parks, Nightlife, Food, Wildlife! Garages

[Jerome Marot]

 

[Jerome Marot]

 

[Asher Kelman]

A good start to a series. I like this!

Let’s see how it grows!

Asher

 

[Jerome Marot]

I am afraid I will only be able to post 3 images in that series. They were taken in France and I go back to Munich this week.
This is the third picture:

 

[Asher Kelman]

A bit more modern!

Asher

 

[Jerome Marot]

The ones I photographed were car repair shops. Your picture is a private car park.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Jérôme,

Does the sense of “garage” to you mean place to park and protect a car or place to repair a car?

For us in thr USA, at least, a garage is where one parks one’s car to protect it from the elements, theft and vandalism!

….. and in time, also the place one stores excess “stuff” one accumulates, that won’t fit in any other place in the house, but one doesn’t want to throw out yet!

Asher

 

[Doug Kerr]

Asher,

True enough, but in fact years ago (when I was just a kid), here in the US, the term "garage" was common to mean an auto repair shop (e.g., "My car is in the garage having the spark plugs changed").

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Asher Kelman]

Interesting how that term has evolved, Doug!

Asher

 

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Asher,

Interesting how that term has evolved, Doug!

Asher

Indeed!

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Robert Watcher]

I never really considered the different inferences of the word garage in different countries. Both a place to park your car and and a mechanics shop have been understood all my life here in Canada.

But AI helped me have a more complete understanding:: and then related to music as well


While the universal core meaning is a sheltered space to park a vehicle, the word garage carries distinctly different primary connotations, everyday uses, and even pronunciations depending on the region.


1. United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia & New Zealand

• Auto Repair Shop / Mechanic: If someone says "My car is at the garage," they almost always mean it is being serviced or repaired by a mechanic, not simply parked.
• Petrol / Service Station: In the UK and Ireland, a "garage" frequently refers to a petrol station, often with an attached convenience shop ("Pop into the garage for milk").
• Residential Parking: While a home garage exists, the commercial repair and fueling meanings are just as common in daily conversation.
• Pronunciation: Typically pronounced GA-rahzh or GA-rij (stress on the first syllable).

2. United States & Canada

• Residential Structure First: The immediate association is almost always the physical structure attached to or detached from a home used to store cars, tools, lawnmowers, and clutter.
• Commercial Parking Deck: Multi-level public parking structures are routinely called parking garages (unlike the British "multi-storey car park").
• Repair Shops: While independent repair businesses might include "Garage" in their trade name (e.g., Joe's Garage), people usually say "taking the car to the shop" or "to the mechanic" rather than "to the garage."
• Pronunciation: Almost universally pronounced guh-RAHZH (stress on the second syllable).

3. France & French-Speaking Regions (Origins)

• Derived from the French verb garer (to shelter, dock, or stow).
• Automotive Dealership & Repair: In France, un garage most commonly refers to a commercial auto mechanic workshop or car dealership (garagiste is the mechanic).
• Storage / Parking: At a home, it serves as the vehicle storage box, but historically it also referred to sidings or docks where trains and boats were moored.

4. Cultural & Subcultural Nuance

• Music Genre (UK Garage / US Garage Rock):
  • In the UK, "Garage" (often pronounced GA-rij) refers to a 1990s electronic dance and club music genre with syncopated 4/4 beats and chopped vocals.
  • In the US, "Garage Rock" evokes raw, energetic 1960s rock bands rehearsing literally inside suburban home garages.
• Start-Up Lore (Silicon Valley / Global): Particularly in North American tech culture, the term has become a metaphor for humble, scrappy entrepreneurial beginnings (e.g., Apple, HP, or Amazon starting "in a garage").

 

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Rob,

Nicely done. Kudos to your 'bot.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Jerome Marot]

Jérôme,

Does the sense of “garage” to you mean place to park and protect a car or place to repair a car?

Both, as explained by Robert Watcher. The first two have the word "garage" painted on the front...

 

[Asher Kelman]

I seem to recall that, in the distant past, in thr UK, “Garage” might have referred to a car repair shop.

Not as bad as being told, in my US driving test, to “drive on the pavement”, finding the Americans used that term for the pedestrian sidewalk!

Asher