Martin Harris - Moderator Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 I've been a member of this forum from the early days and almost since the beginning I've been aware of what is seemingly a common keystroke (quite an apt term) error - the use of the terms 2 stoke and 4 stoke when referring to the number of strokes in the IC cycle...but this is the only place that I'm aware of seeing it regularly. Is it just a frequent typing error, play on words or is the deliberate misuse of the term common in some parts of the country? It's not one I've heard used at my club in the Herts/Beds area, for instance. Related to this terminology is that our friends across the pond invariably use the term cycle which makes little sense to me as surely the cycle is the complete intake to exhaust process - i.e. there are 2 or 4 strokes in a cycle. So - mini poll - do you use 4 stroke or 4 stoke in normal conversation and if you use 4 stoke, what part of the country are you from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon H Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 err....come again? :\ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Crook Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 Martin, I suspect it may be when people input from a phone or tablet with predictive text turned on. If you don't read it through after typing all sorts of odd words appear. It drove me mad on mine so I've turned it off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Privett Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 Always stroke as far as I'm concerned. I can't say I'd even noticed it referred to here (or anywhere) as stoke. To me Stoke is a place somewhere in the Midlands, or something you do to a fire. As for 2-cycle or 4-cycle, yes it does seem a bit wrong, but I guess they know what they mean! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Harris - Moderator Posted October 15, 2014 Author Share Posted October 15, 2014 I've wondered that, Trevor... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Harris - Moderator Posted October 15, 2014 Author Share Posted October 15, 2014 Try searching for stoke in all topics, John - you won't even need to drill down into the threads to see some examples! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barrie Dav 2 Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 Trevor that predictive text feature is a blooming pain and a bit Micky Mouse. I can't see how to kill it on my iPad in spite of searching through the settings menu. Any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Skilbeck Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 It's stroke, I sure Peter Miller will be along soon to confirm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 Oh yes! It is of course "Stroke". You stoke steam engines by shovelling coal into the firebox . I don't know where that cover on the book in your link comes from! A lower case first letter and an upper case second letter! four-Stroke !!! I suspect that a lot of it could be Typonese, something which I am often guilty of too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dai Fledermaus Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 I did it earlier this week in the title of my thread "Electric Starting A Four Stoke Engine". A typo I'm afraid, so I'm standing at the back of the class. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prop Nut Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 It would make for an interesting Poll to ask who uses the Spell Check on here, or any other forum. Judging by many submissions, very few. It also seems that a lot of people just type and send without re-reading what they've written - which can turn out to be close to gibberish. But a word of caution; be very careful when attempting to correct wrong spelling or English - it brings out the troll in those who resent having the error of their ways pointed out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mowerman Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 Being hopeless at spelling my self I would never correct others mistakes(but I might have a quiet chuckle) I am often shocked at just how bad some people's spelling is. Edited By Mowerman on 16/10/2014 10:36:06 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bouncebounce crunch Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 4 stoke = 4 blokes standing around a fire taking turns throwing a log on. 2 stoke= 2 blokes went home or only 2 turned up in the first place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Harris - Moderator Posted October 16, 2014 Author Share Posted October 16, 2014 Posted by Colin Ashman on 16/10/2014 09:09:33: I did it earlier this week in the title of my thread "Electric Starting A Four Stoke Engine". A typo I'm afraid, so I'm standing at the back of the class. That's the sort of response that helps though. It just intrigued me as it seems so common. Another typo that tended to leap out was the mis-spelt word "teh" for "the" which seems less common recently - probably due to the proliferation of automatic spell checking - in fact I struggled to get my iPad to allow me to post it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Cotsford Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 guilty as charged on 'teh' - seems to be a timing issue between left and right hands, another one is where I ge tthe inter letter space out of place. As for the cousins use of 'cycle, I imagine it is a contraction of '4 stroke cycle', come to that so is '4 stroke' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Crook Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 Barrie, re. your iPad, I'm sorry but I'm an Android user so I can't help, but I'm sure someone on here can. Failing that, ask a passing teenager! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Chambers Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 A Wankel engine is a four cycle engine, well you can hardly call it a four stroke! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 4 stroke: suck, squeeze, bang, blow 2stroke: suck and squeeze, bang and blow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Olsen 1 Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 The four stroke cycle is more properly called the Otto cycle...although it seems that he may not have been the first to describe it. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Harris - Moderator Posted October 17, 2014 Author Share Posted October 17, 2014 Gents - could I respectfully point out that you're wandering from my OP a bit...the 4 stroke (or 2 stroke) cycle is well understood by most of us. What I'm trying to establish is whether the term 4 stoke is simply a common typing error or a deliberately used alternative term (or deliberate pun maybe) for the IC cycle. So far, the only indication is from one brave responder who has admitted to a typing error. As I advised JP, a simple search for the word "stoke" in the forum search gives several examples in thread titles and I'm sure that if anyone could be bothered to look further that many examples would be seen in the postings. Edited By Martin Harris on 17/10/2014 01:09:38 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 An engine stroke, I have learned, is one piston movement from BCD toTDC. The four stroke engine needs four movements or strokes to complete a power cycle. A two stroke only two. Also known as a four cycle engine Someone correct me if I'm wrong please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Marsh Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 A 4 stroke or stoke is not a 2 stroke or stoke, unless you have a wankel, and that is neither.! I suggest going to the model shop and buying a 2 and 4 stroke and see the difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Posted by Martin Harris on 17/10/2014 01:02:05: Gents - could I respectfully point out that you're wandering from my OP a bit...the 4 stroke (or 2 stroke) cycle is well understood by most of us. What I'm trying to establish is whether the term 4 stoke is simply a common typing error or a deliberately used alternative term (or deliberate pun maybe) for the IC cycle. So far, the only indication is from one brave responder who has admitted to a typing error. As I advised JP, a simple search for the word "stoke" in the forum search gives several examples in thread titles and I'm sure that if anyone could be bothered to look further that many examples would be seen in the postings. Edited By Martin Harris on 17/10/2014 01:09:38 Hi Martin, I don't think they read your last post (This quoted one) as they seem to just carry on with their discussion which seems to go round and round. I would say that "Stoke" is a typo even if they will not admit it. I know that I have a lot of regualr typos. My left brain and right brain seem to work at different speeds. I also plead guilty to not rereading my posts often enough and not using the spell checker on a regular basis I don't think I have ever been guilty of the "Stoke" typo though. Anyway, they all seem so happy going round and round and up and down with their discussion on what is a four stroke so just ignore them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prop Nut Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 I think, Martin, the answer to your question is that 'stoke' is a keyboard error. Perhaps the keys for 't' and 'r' being adjacent make it easier for some to miss the latter when typing. Unfortunately for me, I continually pick up on misspellings in publications, TV sub-titles and message boards, but stroke and stoke are not something that I ever remember noticing as being confused, so maybe I'm not the born proof-reader I thought. Bought and brought, then and than, and their, there and they're, however, are very commonly confused. Also, couldn't of, as a corruption of couldn't've. Edited By Prop Nut on 17/10/2014 09:11:30 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wright Stuff Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 To be fair, I think people see the thread title (which itself was a deliberate play on words), and then post replies to the most recent posts without reading the whole thread from the beginning. I opened the thread all fired up to start posting abusive comments along the lines of "Google it"! I agree, though, that it can be difficult sometimes to tell typos from slang! It's more embarrassing the other way around, when you assume it's a typo and correct it, and then it transpires it wasn't a typo after all!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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