Why is it called a yard?

A yard was originally the length of a man's belt or girdle. In the 12th century, King Henry I of England fixed the yard as the distance from his nose to the thumb of his outstretched arm. A yardstick is equal to one yard or 3 feet.

Why is a garden called a yard?

Because in the US garden is a cultivated patch of flowers or food crops, and yard is generally a grassy lawn or an uncultivated expanse.

What does yard mean in UK slang?

It may also be worth noting that yard can sometimes loosely mean home, or the area you are from, in British street slang but I don't think it's particularly common outside London.

What is the origin of the word yard?

From Middle English yerd, yard, ȝerd, ȝeard, from Old English ġeard (“yard, garden, fence, enclosure”), from Proto-West Germanic *gard, from Proto-Germanic *gardaz (“enclosure, yard”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰórdʰos, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰerdʰ- (“to enclose”).

What is the British name for yard?

In British English, these areas would usually be described as a garden, similarly subdivided into a front garden and a back garden.

WHAT IS SCOTLAND YARD?

Is a yard called a garden in England?

In British English, a garden is a piece of land next to a house, with flowers, vegetables, other plants, and often grass. In American English, the usual word is yard, and a garden refers only to land which is used for growing flowers and vegetables.

Does garden mean yard in England?

In the UK, a garden is what's called a yard in the US — any bit of land just outside of a house. The phrase "garden variety" means "ordinary:" "Oh he's just a garden variety mixed-breed dog, nothing fancy."

Is a yard exactly 3 feet?

Yards and Feet Definition

The symbol of yard is “yd”. It is equal to 3 feet or 36 inches. If converted into meters, 1 yard is equal to 0.9144 meters. This unit is used in both the imperial and US customary systems of measurement.

What is the difference between a yard and a lawn?

A yard is an enclosed area outdoors usually surrounded by fence or shrubs. Since it is the area that surrounds the house, it can be mulch beds, trees, bushes, pool, garden or a grass lawn, while a lawn is specifically the grass area within the yard. A yard outside your house can be completely a lawn area.

Is a yard longer than a meter?

A meter is longer than a yard. A meter is the standard metric unit of measurement and is equal to 3.2 feet. A yard is equal to 3 feet.

Why is a yard a billion?

The term 'Yard' in finance refers to one billion. The origin of the term is 'milliard' from European languages, which is equal to one billion in American English. For example, a person purchasing an item for one billion U.S. dollars is said to be purchasing it for a yard of U.S. dollars.

Why is a billion called a yard?

The term is derived from the term "milliard," which is used in some European languages and is equivalent to the number one billion used in American English. A yard is equal to 10y—10 to the ninth power—or the number one followed by nine zeros, which is written out as 1,000,000,000.

Why do British use the term grass?

GRASS - to squeal or inform. "This word is derived from Cockney rhyming slang 'grasshopper,' meaning 'copper,' i.e., 'policeman. ' 'Grass' sometimes appears as a noun, meaning both 'informer' or 'stool pigeon' and the 'act of informing' itself.

What do British people call the front yard?

On a residential area, a front yard (United States, Canada, Australia) or front garden (United Kingdom, Europe) is the portion of land between the street and the front of the house. If it is covered in grass, it may be referred to as a front lawn.

What do Europeans call yards?

The British call it a garden. What is a “yard” in the UK? It is a paved, enclosed, utility area outside a building. Industrial terraced houses had a 'back yard' where clothes were hung, and where the outside privy and coal shed were located.

Is lawn British or American?

Etymology. Lawn is a cognate of Welsh llan which is derived from the Common Brittonic word landa (Old French: lande) that originally meant heath, barren land, or clearing.

Does yard mean grass?

Yards might have grass, trees, bushes, play structures, gardens, patios, and decks. A completely different kind of yard is the unit of measurement that equals three feet. This three-foot yard comes from a Germanic root meaning "rod or staff," while the yard behind your house has a root that means "to enclose."

Is a yard bigger than a garden?

A yard is everything else beyond the borders of the vegetable garden. Below the Mason-Dixon line, it can also be shorthand for "the lawn" or for "grass," as in "I'm going out to mow the yard."

Should you have grass in your garden?

If left unmown, grasses will produce flowers and seeds which are important for many animals, including insects and birds. Grasses can also add structure, movement and colour to your garden. Consider sowing a wildflower lawn seed mix with a blend of different native grass species to add more variety to your lawn.

Is a football field really 100 yards?

When the "football field" is used as unit of measurement, it is usually understood to mean 100 yards (91.44 m), although technically the full length of the official field, including the end zones, is 120 yards (109.7 m).

Are the yards on a football field actually a yard?

The football field is divided into 98 yard lines, each marking one yard. The yard lines start at each end zone and extend all the way across the field. Field numbers are placed every 10 yards, starting from 10 and increasing up to 50 in the middle of the field, then decreasing to 10 approaching the opposing goal lines.

Why are football fields measured in yards?

Field Of Play

Initially, football fields were measured in feet. It became easier to track everything in yards rather than feet through the years. These numbers come from (360 feet divided by 3, which equals 120 yards, and 160 feet divided by 3, which equals 53.3 yards.

Why do British people say garden instead of backyard?

It is just difference in definition that has changed in America over 250 years. In the UK a Garden is an area close to or around the house, mainly of open soil that can be growing anything from simply lawn to fully cultivated flower and vegetable plots.

Do British houses have backyards?

What are British houses like? British houses vary a lot in their appearance but many British houses have gardens, with both front and back outdoor spaces. Gardens can range from small courtyards to large plots of land with landscaping, lawns, and outdoor living areas.

Do houses in England have backyards?

While buildings opening directly onto a street may not have a front garden, most will have some space at the back, however small; the exception being back-to-back houses found in northern industrial towns in England such as Leeds, but now mostly demolished.