On Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:51:04 +0200 (CEST), Barbara Bailey
wrote:

mm wrote in
:

Is there another word for a come-along? That word sounds like slang
or vernacular.

If you're talking about the winch-type thing that exerts steady, slow
pressure on a cable, strap, or chain in order to move an item or object
attached to the other end of the chain. strap, or cable, the other word is
"winch".

As someone else pointed out, "winch" is a little too general; it
includes those electrically driven winches on the front of Land
Rovers, for instance. A pipefitter can't go to the tool checkout
and requisiton a "winch"; it doesn't tell the attendant what he
really wants. He will get just what he wants if he writes
"come-a-long" on the requistion form.

But you've been involved in this group long enough to know that context is
often very helpful.

The whole point of using the term "come-a-long" in the field is
to avoid long discussions of context. "A ratchet driven
non-rotating hand operated winch" is just too much. No one in the
field in an occupation using come-a-longs needs andy context to
understand the term.

--
************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *