berry@zinfandel.UUCP (Berry Kercheval) (01/21/85)
In article <13200001@hpfloat.UUCP> steve@hpfloat.UUCP (steve) writes: > > >A usage peculiar to Wisconsin-ites is 'bubbler'. Its more common >>name is water fountain (or drinking fountain or...). > >My wife, who comes from Worcester, Mass., also uses 'bubbler' to refer to >drinking fountains. She assumed it was a regional usage of that area. > Isn't 'Bubbler' what American Standard calls it in their literature? Certainly the McMaster-Carr Industrial supply catalog lists 'Bubblers' with no reference to regionality. Apparently, though, the term 'bubbler' is properly restricted to the device the water comes out of. Large wall- or floor-mounted units are 'water coolers' or 'drinking fountains'. For example, page 824 of catalog 89, "F. Stainless steel wall bracket fountain. Self closing cross handle stop. 2-stream, mound builder bubbler..." (Bubblers built by paleolithic Amerinds?) -- Berry Kercheval Zehntel Inc. (ihnp4!zehntel!zinfandel!berry) (415)932-6900