I'm prepared to be flamed but I get very irritated by people referring to "the floor" when they mean the ground.

[Salmotrutta]

Go on.

Roast me.

I don't care.

I hear people referring to "the floor" all the blooming time when they mean "the ground".

For example:- "I was walking along the road and I dropped my purse on the floor

No you didn't - you dropped it on the ground.

Yes, I know I'm being horrible but I can't help it.

Ah, now, see a pelvic floor is internal.

The muscles aren't external are they?

Yup a floor is inside, it's the lower level of a room or whatever, the ground is well, the ground, it's outside. If you drop something on the pavement you can't say you dropped in on the floor, it's either ground or well the pavement,,😂

Ps I've never heard anyone say that, I'd think they were bonkers if I did.

Yanbu, this irritates me so much. I'm always correcting people on tv, drives DH mad.

What about a forest floor or a sea floor- they're not internal!

I'm northern and I would say floor, dp is from London and would say ground

Punjana - you are blessed if you have genuinely never heard this.

I hear it on TV, Radio, read it in articles etc.

So it proves your point, I think.

You wouldn't say pelvic ground.

Don't be pedantic MrsBungle.

Forest floor = internal to forest
Sea floor = internal to sea

Ditto steps and stairs.

And isn't it sea bed?

Agree. And also people who say roof when they mean ceiling, which is even less analogous that floor/ground.

And don't get me started on the ridiculous number of people who can't seem to see the difference between bought and brought.....

Floor/ ground - strange you should bring this up as I am always correcting myself. I never notice other people making this error but I make it often. I always correct myself.

I've probably just never noticed and now I know about I'll hear it everywhere. You will be blamed

I think it can be said as sea floor as well as sea bed!

Floor - man-made internal thing

Ground - the ground.

Garden decking is often sold under a label of "flooring" though.... (I thought fancy paving slab sets for gardens were as well, but maybe not)

OP:

Me too. How ignorant must they be? Ground is external and floor is internal. So hard to get your head round that.

When used in conjunction with sea or forest, floor is meant as separate entity to the actual ground. It means all-the-shit-on-top-of-the-ground

Flooring = stuff you put on the ground.

Is it just me, or is the word GROUND starting to sound a bit weird

Garden decking is often sold under a label of "flooring" though

Thats because it is flooring that you put down to cover the ground. It's just outdoor flooring. It's not "grounding".

I get annoyed when people refer to the ceiling as the roof. My mother was telling me she was going to get her roof wallpapered and got all arsey when I pointed out that the roof was the outside.

You're putting the cart before the horse. Language is about conveying meaning. You know what they mean when they say floor. There. It's done it's purpose. You do realise we pop into existence as a species with ready made queens English?

I remember being astounded by this when I was in Infant School. The same people muddled ceiling and roof, red and orange. A strange habit of imprecision.

It's done it's purpose.
It has not done its purpose. See what I did there.

Anyway, floor or ground gives context. If someone tells me they dropped their purse on the floor, I think they must be inside a building. If it dropped on the ground, they are outside and the whole thing is highly inconvenient as there is the possibility of mud. So the language does not convey meaning if floor can also mean ground.