Flume?

[Thatsjusthowitisyeah]

Do you call it a flume anywhere else in the UK? In Scotland a big twisty slide in a swimming pool is called a flume but someone looked at me funny when I said it today and had never heard the word. They are English.

I’m not understanding what that means about her education or verbal sophistication. I assumed it was a regional difference.

I like to call them water slides so people know what I mean, but they are mostly called flumes. Bedford has the “flume of doom”. The first one I went down was called an Aquazoom.

I like the ones which are completely dark inside.

I somehow nearly flung myself over the side of a half pipe flume as a kid so they do freak me out

It's interesting that some people are making a distinction based on whether it is open or closed when a log flume is both definitely a flume, and open. No particular point to this post, I just like the linguistic variance

I was trying to be polite about saying she might be a bit thick… Is this person usually pretty articulate?

I say flume. To me it's a particular type of waterslide(like a tube or a half tube if its open). At Hafan y mor Haven(we go there a lot). They have water slides(flat slides) and flumes(tubes).

See I would agree with that, after thinking more about it.

For me it is the fact it is half a tube. Therefore it is a flume.

So a flume is a tube, in my world at least.

She’s very bright. She just hasn’t heard this particular word before

If it is a tube (even a half tube) then it is a flume to me. A completely open one is a slide.

The word flume now sounds ridiculous jn my head because i've read it so many times!

😂

OK. When someone has never heard a pretty standard English word before (if it’s someone English) then I tend to assume a lack of something 🤷‍♀️.

I remember it being a flume in the 80s when I was a kid, in London and Wales, Ireland where I holidayed.

Maybe water slide sounds a bit more glamorous. Was the person quite young?

I can see why people would use WS as it's a bit more descriptive as well. Flume has a funny sound and is a bit of an odd word really?! When you think about it.

Yep, definitely a flume. SW England.

East mids - Slide.

I've only ever used flume following the words log or chimney.

Oh well! I spun round backwards, came out headfirst on back screaming please God no!!! As I rammed in to the pool last year 😭🤣. I'm an atheist 😂

NW England. I'd call it a water slide. I've heard of a log flume but wouldn't call a slide in a pool a flume.

Bristol here too. Fun fares are the only places I've heard the word "flume" used, and then only relating to a log flume. Everything else is a slider!

This!!

Flume is a normal word.

Yes that's my understanding.

East Midlands it’s a flume.

What? It's a chimney flue. Not flume...

Flume used only in 'log flume' by me. I think we called the enclosed waterslides near us 'tubes' when I was young. If someone talked of 'flumes' to refer to enclosed waterslides I don't think it would jar, it just wouldn't be what I'd say.