Motors?

[Will Owen <nashwill@domain.elided>]

In #975, Jean Denis said:

"...on naked engines (please, "motors" are Electric!)"

Okay, let's whip that dead horse one more time: an
ENGINE is any sort of mechanical device. A MOTOR is
any ENGINE that creates motion. Over the last hundred
years or so, it has become common to refer to internal
or external combustion motors as "engines," and to
reserve "motor" for the electrical variety, but that
is still merely convention: not incorrect, but not
uniquely correct either.

Will Owen
Cranky Guardian of the King's English...
and don't get me started on "gender!"
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