Broom or brush (to clean the floor)?

[fenixpollo]

However, in western countries, original brooms have disapeared (they remain only in children books: Witch broom.)
Modern brooms are made of large brushes with long handle.
In other words, a modern broom is a brush with a long handle as clearly stated in many English dictionaries.

You have good points, but you're splitting the wrong hairs -- the difference between a broom and a brush is not the length of the bristles or the shape of the object, but rather how it's used, as kentix and the others have said above.

Fuller Brush

"Fuller Brush" is the brand. They sell brooms, brushes, dusters, mops, cleaning solutions, and even hydro-jetting sprayers. The links that you gave are to brooms and broom heads, not to brushes or brush heads; please don't be confused by the presence of "brush" in the brand name into thinking that brooms are brushes. In fact, that company became famous for its hair brushes. Fuller Brush Company - Wikipedia

The link you provided to the Yocada product says "broom brush" in the title, but that product is a broom. Keep in mind that on the internet, the more keywords you have in the title, the more frequently your product will appear in searches. So the web designers added related keywords to the title of the product, resulting in a Frankenstein-like product name:

Yocada Push Broom Brush Stiff Bristles Broom Head Telescopic Heavy-Duty Outdoor Commercial for Cleaning Bathroom Kitchen Patio Garage Deck Concrete Wood Stone Tile Floor

 

[JulianStuart]

That link (in #54) is also to an Indian site and we all know how different Indian English usage can be, so that URL is not really supportive of your "assertion" that the native speakers who have posted to this thread (saying that once you add a long handle to something that looks like a brush, it becomes a broom) are wrong.

 

[Roxxxannne]

How about this?
Soft Bristle Plastic Floor Brush, 1 Pc
I gave several other similar URLs in my previous posts but you continue to ignore them.
You also ignore the statements from the dictionaries.

cross-posted

This is an Indian website, which I deduce from the fact that the price is in rupees and the company is in Kerala, a state in India. So I imagine 'floor brush' is Indian English.

As for your other websites in #51, "Fuller Brush Fiesta Red Kitchen Broom" does not use two words for the same thing. "Fuller Brush" is the name of an American company, founded by a man named, I believe, Alfred Fuller in 1906. As I recall from my childhood, salesmen went from door to door selling all sorts of brushes, brooms, and household cleaning supplies.

Earlier you asked for some references. On this Fuller Brush website there are some drop-down menus at the top of the page.
Brooms are under "Floor & Carpet" and brushes are under "Brushes, Scrubbers, & Cloths." This famous company, which has been around for about as long as the Ford Motor Company, differentiates the two. It reflects how Americans differentiate brushes and brooms. I see that the business part of a broom on that site is called a 'broom head,' not a brush, and 'broom heads' are not listed in the 'brush' section.

Before we get into whether a "Heavy Duty Dual Surface Scrub Brush with Adjustable Telescopic Handle" is a broom or a brush, I'm going to argue that it's a scrub brush with a handle, not a broom, and that its name derives from the handleless scrub brush that people use when they scrub things like tile floors, shower stalls, bathtubs, outdoor furniture, etc.

I'm sympathetic with you in your desire for clarity and uniformity. But although dictionaries define 'broom' as 'a tool for sweeping, made up of a brush on a long handle,' Americans really and truly don't call the things depicted in #12 and #24 'long-handled brushes.' What can I say? We use the words that other people around us use. We don't read the dictionary to find out how to speak. In fact, I doubt that many American English speakers have ever looked up the definition of 'broom' in a dictionary.

 

[Jazz007]

You have good points, but you're splitting the wrong hairs -- the difference between a broom and a brush is not the length of the bristles or the shape of the object, but rather how it's used, as kentix and the others have said above.


"Fuller Brush" is the brand. They sell brooms, brushes, dusters, mops, cleaning solutions, and even hydro-jetting sprayers. The links that you gave are to brooms and broom heads, not to brushes or brush heads; please don't be confused by the presence of "brush" in the brand name into thinking that brooms are brushes. In fact, that company became famous for its hair brushes. Fuller Brush Company - Wikipedia

The link you provided to the Yocada product says "broom brush" in the title, but that product is a broom. Keep in mind that on the internet, the more keywords you have in the title, the more frequently your product will appear in searches. So the web designers added related keywords to the title of the product, resulting in a Frankenstein-like product name:

>>the difference between a broom and a brush is not the length of the bristles or the shape of the object, but rather how it's used, as kentix and the others have said above.

I've never stated anywhere that the difference between a broom and brush is the lenghth of the bristles or the shape of the object. So I don't understand why you're making the above remark.

>> The links that you gave are to brooms and broom heads, not to brushes or brush heads

Please give me a definition of "broom" without using the word broom in the definition.
Please kindly include an online reference to the definition.
I don't need your personal definition - please include a URL to some online reference.

 

[Loob]

How about this?
Soft Bristle Plastic Floor Brush, 1 Pc
I gave several other similar URLs in my previous posts but you continue to ignore them.
You also ignore the statements from the dictionaries.

I'm still struggling to understand what your point is.

If it's that some people use "brush" for the thing that others call "broom", then there's no argument: see post 9.

 

[Jazz007]

cross-posted

This is an Indian website, which I deduce from the fact that the price is in rupees and the company is in Kerala, a state in India. So I imagine 'floor brush' is Indian English.

As for your other websites in #51, "Fuller Brush Fiesta Red Kitchen Broom" does not use two words for the same thing. "Fuller Brush" is the name of an American company, founded by a man named, I believe, Alfred Fuller in 1906. As I recall from my childhood, salesmen went from door to door selling all sorts of brushes, brooms, and household cleaning supplies.

Earlier you asked for some references. On this Fuller Brush website there are some drop-down menus at the top of the page.
Brooms are under "Floor & Carpet" and brushes are under "Brushes, Scrubbers, & Cloths." This famous company, which has been around for about as long as the Ford Motor Company, differentiates the two. It reflects how Americans differentiate brushes and brooms. I see that the business part of a broom on that site is called a 'broom head,' not a brush, and 'broom heads' are not listed in the 'brush' section.

Before we get into whether a "Heavy Duty Dual Surface Scrub Brush with Adjustable Telescopic Handle" is a broom or a brush, I'm going to argue that it's a scrub brush with a handle, not a broom, and that its name derives from the handleless scrub brush that people use when they scrub things like tile floors, shower stalls, bathtubs, outdoor furniture, etc.

I'm sympathetic with you in your desire for clarity and uniformity. But although dictionaries define 'broom' as 'a tool for sweeping, made up of a brush on a long handle,' Americans really and truly don't call the things depicted in #12 and #24 'long-handled brushes.' What can I say? We use the words that other people around us use. We don't read the dictionary to find out how to speak. In fact, doubt that many Americans have ever looked up the definition of 'broom' in a dictionary.

>>'floor brush' is Indian English.

In areas (such as India, Africa, etc.) where the original broom is still used, people tend to keep the word "broom" for the original form of broom and they use the word "floor brush" for the modern form of broom. This makes sense because those people know the difference. However, this nuance is not present in western countries where the original broom has disappeared from the daily environment.

>>I'm sympathetic with you in your desire for clarity and uniformity. But although dictionaries define 'broom' as 'a tool for sweeping, made up of a brush on a long handle,' Americans really and truly don't call the things depicted in #12 and #24 'long-handled brushes.

I said from the beginning that you can call this ustensil "broom" and I have nothing against that. The only thing I added was that this ustensil could legimitely also be named "floor sweeping brush" and I cited several online references. Maybe not in US, but English is not spoken only in US.

 

[heypresto]

Maybe not in US

Or the UK.

 

[Jazz007]

I'm still struggling to understand what your point is.

If it's that some people use "brush" for the thing that others call "broom", then there's no argument: see post 9.

https://faculty.atu.edu/cbrucker/Engl2053/Samples/ccl13.pdf

You will probably come back to me saying that the above content is not US or UK based. Doesn't matter. It proves my point that the modern broom is essentialy a brush with a long handle. You may personaly not agree, but it does not invalidate all evidence I cited in this forum.

 

[Tegs]

this ustensil could legimitely also be named "floor sweeping brush" and I cited several online references. Maybe not in US, but English is not spoken only in US.

I'm from Ireland and I've never heard of this either. (I'm sure it could be called that, but it's not anywhere I've lived.)

 

[Loob]

The only thing I added was that this ustensil could legimitely also be named "floor sweeping brush"

I call it a "brush" (see post 5). Is that good enough?

 

[Jazz007]

Ooops...sorry, I missed your post #5:

LOL!

 

[Jazz007]

So why are you wasting your time asking some individuals in this thread? Go read some dictionaries and you’ll be all set. You clearly know that the way to master a language is to read dictionaries rather than bother with the trifling opinions of lowly native speakers.

My first post (#23) was an attempt to answer the original question raised in this forum. I was not asking any question. But, being myself a learner of English in a non-English speaking country, I'm grateful to discuss with native speakers. Unfortunately, the exchange was not as smooth as I had expected it. If this was my fault, then please accept my sincere apologies.

 

[Cagey]

This thread has wandered into issues this forum is not equipped to settle.
It is now closed.

Cagey, moderator