dock or pier? / jetty

[herut]

What's this called?

http://www.jokkis-laiturit.fi/images/Ranta_laituri_asennettuna.jpg

That is, a 'dock' used mostly for swimming purposes, not a place for ships per se. I'm having a hard time figuring out if the size of the structure has a bearing on the word I should use... Thanks.

 

[cyberpedant]

In my opinion, a pier is the larger structure. I would indeed call the object in your picture a dock. But docks are used for boats as well.

 

[herut]

Yes, that makes sense. Thank you.

 

[liliput]

I would call it a jetty.

Edit: I notice that the word reference dictionary has a rather different definition of jetty so I'm including the definition from OED online:

jetty


• noun (pl. jetties) 1 a landing stage or small pier. 2 a construction built out into the water to protect a harbour, riverbank, etc.

 

[Loob]

Like liliput, I'd call it a jetty. But Wiki wouldn't agree with us

 

[liliput]

Like liliput, I'd call it a jetty. But Wiki wouldn't agree with us

Although the Wiki article concentrates more on larger sea-defence-type structures its basic definition doesn't exclude the item in the picture.

Don't worry Loob, I agree with you and so do the OED and Cambridge. I have a feeling that there may be an another AE/BE difference here.

 

[panjandrum]

I would call that a jetty if it had anything to do with boats.
I might also call it a landing-stage.
It's a bit puny to be called a pier or a dock.

As it seems to be there as a swimming platform of some kind, I might call it a swimming platform.

 

[herut]

Hmm, interesting - thanks. I would appreciate it if a couple AE speakers would chime in, too.

 

[cyberpedant]

When I was a kid living in Brooklyn, New York, USA, I frequented a "beach resort" called "Coney Island." Among other things, there were several structures which penetrated the water: one, a large, long and tall wooden structure, was called "the pier"; others, lower and made of rocks, were called "jetties." The purpose of the pier was to allow fishermen and sightseers access to deeper water. The jetties were ostensibly for protection of the beach from tidal erosion, although we played on them and harvested mussels therefrom. They had nothing to do with boats, and might have presented a danger to them. The words were not interchangeable.

 

[sdgraham]

I have a similar structure in my small lake. I call it a dock. Definitely not a "pier."

Mine is supported by flotation devices I purchased on the Internet under the category "dock floats."

I've never heard the term "landing-stage" in AE.

Good luck

 

[lizzeymac]

I think there is an AE/BE difference.

I would call that a dock - I can't tell from the photo if it's a floating dock or on pilings.
It might be referred to as a landing if there was a boat there - you can't really have a landing without boats.
I would particularly call that a dock if it is on a lake or a river and not on an ocean, bay, sound, or harbor.

Jetty would more often be used to describe a solid structure, and to describe a large breakwater or "sea-defense-type thing."
http://picasaweb.google.com/jmpawli88/2006AndEarlier/photo#5172111817456567298
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/intro/images/jetty-image1.jpg

A pier would be larger and the platform is well above the surface of the water.
It is large enough for a large boat or ship,
http://www.travel-destination-pictures.com/data/media/66/pier-17_887.jpg
there may be warehouses built on the pier, http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/thumb_8/111112853991ud3h.jpg
or an amusement park, like the Santa Monica Pier.
http://www.inetours.com/Los_Angeles/Images/Snt_Mon/SM_Pier_E_7184.jpg
http://www.gleeclub.com/gallery/albums/calif_sites/The_Santa_Monica_pier.jpg

 

[blue_jewel]

I'd say its a dock

 

[Wilma_Sweden]

Perhaps one could just call it a swimming dock, or a swimming pier, either of which defines its use most definitely. Swimming dock was by far the most common combination on Google images, so maybe we could agree that herut's structure would qualify as a swimming dock, while this larger one is definitely a swimming pier:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Bjarred1.jpg

/Wilma

 

[jokaec]

<This discussion has been added to a previous thread on the same topic. Cagey, moderator >

If there is a short boardwalk get out of beach into the sea where people are fishing on it, should I call it a 'dock' or 'pier'? Thank you!

 

[Hildy1]

If it is like what I imagine from your description, it is a pier.

Do boats land there? If not, then I think it is not a dock.

 

[dermott]

This is a pier from which you might fish:

As Hildy says, a dock is more boat-related. A place where boats dock.

 

[PaulQ]

I would call it a jetty or perhaps a pier but in BE a pier is usually a far grander structure:

​

A jetty:

 

[dermott]

I wouldn't disagree, although piers of that nature are a bit of a UK specialty.

 

[jokaec]

This is a pier from which you might fish:

As Hildy says, a dock is more boat-related. A place where boats dock.

Something likes that. Is it common to be called a pier in AmE?

 

[dojibear]

In AE this can be called a jetty or a pier. But I think "jetty" is the best word for this type (fairly narrow, just wide enough for walkers). When I typed "jetty pictures" in google, all the pictures looked like this.

When I typed "pier pictures" some looked like this, and some were much larger, like the first picture in post #4 above. "Pier" is used in AE for these larger structures, that have whole buildings on them. There are several famous ones in the US, including the Pier at the Atlantic City boardwalk.

 

[GreenWhiteBlue]

My form of AE (which is the same as that of cyberpedant) would never call that a jetty.

The stone structure on which the surfer is standing is a jetty:

Around here, jetties are solid structures of stone (although they could be concrete) that serve as barriers to the flow of water. The term "breakwater" is almost synonymous.

These are piers on the North River (also known as the Hudson) in New York:

This, to me, is a dock; it is too small to be a pier, and it is certainly not a jetty as I use that word:

 

[RM1(SS)]

These are piers on the North River (also known as the Hudson) in New York:

Early in my time in the Navy I was taught that the structures built out into the water are piers, and that docks are the water between them.