Date:  Tue, 16 Jan 1996 07:11:01 -0600

From:  "Salikoko S. Mufwene" <s-mufwene[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UCHICAGO.EDU>

Subject: Re: Bank machines



> In England (I know this is the American dialect society, but what

> the hell) I have never heard anyone refer to bank machines as "ATM"s,

> although I understood the abbreviation when I read it. They are most

> commonly, in my experience, referred to as "cash machines" or "cash

> points", or as the "hole in the wall". I think this latter term may be

> dialectal (Lancashire), although I am not entirely sure, and people

> from my area would pronounce it "'ole i' t'wall". (...)

> Are any of these terms (especially the latter) used in America

> (or other parts of England, if there's any other British

> subscribers)?



  The term "cash station" is commonly used in Chicago. I think it is used

both as a trade mark, like Cirrus (?), and a generic term for any ATM

machine. Never paid much attention to it, but your question helped me think

of this.



Sali.

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Salikoko S. Mufwene        s-mufwene[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]uchicago.edu

University of Chicago       312-702-8531; FAX: 312-702-9861

Department of Linguistics

1010 East 59th Street

Chicago, IL 60637

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