My sister has been in town, and she said she needed to go to the "time machine." I wondered if she wanted to go into the 22nd century or something! Instead, she wanted some cash from an ATM; they call it "Tyme Machine" in her area. I call it "Cash Station." A friend in San Antonio calls it "Pulse Machine." That's a good one!
Originally posted by Kalleh: What do people call the ATM in your area?
Down here in Costa Rica, the initials on the money-phone-booths are ATH -- almost ATM, right? -- meaning A Todas Horas (at all hours), and they're called "ahtayottchay", which is just how you say the letters in Spanish.
According to LEO, in Germany they're called Geldautomat, Bankautomat or Bankomat (Austria) -- but I'll bet a Berliner Weisse mit Schuss that the Berliners, at least, have a clever nickname for them by now. I'd love to find out if there are any regional/dialect nicknames for ATMs in Germany and elsewhere in Europe.
David
Posts: 141 | Location: San Jose, Costa Rica (expat)
We used to say we were going to worship at the Money God's Shrine. Now we just say "the bank" because it's just about the only way we ever do our banking.
******* "Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions. ~Dalai Lama
Sometimes 'cash machine', especially if we don't know where the nearest bank is and we realise we may have to resort to the rip-off merchants in shops and pubs that charge you for withdrawing your own money.
I just say, "ATM." It's amazing how many say, "ATM machine," not realising the redundancy. Too bad they don't have them in Sears stores, since they could call them "Sears Robobucks." (For your non-USA types, the retail store now called Sears was formerly Sears-Roebuck)
Yeah, "hole in the wall" and "cash machine" are probably most popular arround my neck of the woods. We sometimes hear "cashpoint"; that was the name used by one particular bank when they were first introduced. "ATM" is sometimes, but not often, used. I was once asked for the location of the nearest "Link machine" and had to think twice before I realised what he was talking about. "Link" is the name of the network connecting the machines, which enables us to use pretty well any machine, irrespective of whom we bank with.
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Originally posted by Asa Lovejoy: Too bad they don't have them in Sears stores, since they could call them "Sears Robobucks." (For your non-USA types, the retail store now called Sears was formerly Sears-Roebuck)
I'm old enough to remember Sears, Roebuck & Co. (tho not the hyphen) before they "modrenized" their name/logo.
Building on your name suggestion, it could be the "Sears Robobuxbox" ... maybe not: pretty ugly, now that I look at it.
Phroggye
Posts: 141 | Location: San Jose, Costa Rica (expat)
