[Tagging] As the crow flies

John F. Eldredge john at jfeldredge.com
Sat Feb 23 01:52:01 UTC 2013


Jo <winfixit at gmail.com> wrote:

> pad is Dutch for path. (It also means toad in Dutch, but that is, of
> course, unrelated)
> 
> In English I only knew pad as something to jot on. Like a notepad.
> 
> Maybe you should add those other meanings to Wiktionary.org,
> 
> Jo
> 
> 2013/2/22 Steve Bennett <stevagewp at gmail.com>
> 
> > On Sat, Feb 23, 2013 at 3:29 AM, John F. Eldredge
> <john at jfeldredge.com>
> > wrote:
> > > Footpath, not footpad.  A footpad is a type of robber.  If I saw a
> path
> > marked as highway=footpad, it would suggest that the path is through
> a
> > high-crime area, and you are likely to be mugged.
> >
> > Hmm, it must be a fairly uncommonly used Australian term.
> >
> > http://www.mthotham.com.au/mountain/summer/bushwalking_trails/
> >
> >
> http://rollick.com.au/2012/the-australian-alps-walking-track/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-australian-alps-walking-track
> >
> > Search for 'pad' in those pages. It has the meaning of an
> > unmaintained, low usage walking track with a natural surface -
> whereas
> > "footpath" implies much more maintenance, use of gravel etc.
> >
> > But yeah. Not a good word for an OSM tag if it's so obscure.
> >
> > Steve
> >
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> >
> 
> 
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The meaning is already in Wiktionary.org as definition 3: (archaic) a thief on foot who robs travelers.  My Rand-McNally dictionary states that the earliest usage of footpad to mean a robber dates from 1678.

-- 
John F. Eldredge -- john at jfeldredge.com
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria



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