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MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Coat Or Jacket…What’s The Difference?

With the cool snap we experienced this past weekend, you may have had to put on a jacket. Or, was it a coat? What’s the real difference between a coat & a jacket, anyway? Well, according to the professionals, there’s actually only one real distinct difference between a coat & a jacket.

A lot of people feel the two terms are interchangeable. Some believe a coat is a heavier garment, while a jacket is thinner and/or lighter. But, according to the outerwear company Lands’ End, it really actually comes down to…length. Jackets usually cut off around your waist or hips, while coats, on the other hand, don’t stop until they’re part way down your legs (some even going all the way down to your ankles). When we laymen say “jackets”, we mostly mean jean jackets, bomber jackets, leather jackets, starter jackets, and suit jackets. And think about it…all of those are short. Trench coats & overcoats, on the other hand, are usually long. Now, of course there are exceptions, like sport coats, which are shorter. The same goes for pea coats.

The level of warmth each one offers actually does matter, though it’s not so much about their thickness and/or heaviness. Think about it, though: coats (which are longer) cover more of you, so they’re generally considered the warmer option based sheerly on the amount of surface area they cover. However, there are so many exceptions to that particular trend that it doesn’t really work as a way to tell the two apart. Plus, there are plenty of jackets that are made from down feathers or other heavy-duty materials, which are much better at keeping you from being cold than, say, a trench coat would be.

Still, in the end, it really shouldn’t matter if you mix up the two terms in casual conversation, calling a jacket a coat or vice versa. Folks generally will know what you’re talking about. But, knowing the real difference might be able to help you narrow down your search the next time you’re shopping online for your next coat or jacket.

Got a Mundane Mystery you’d like solved? Send me a message via social media (@AndyWebbRadioVoice), or shoot me an email at [email protected].

BROUGHT TO YOU BY: Airtron Heating & Air Conditioning

Officer of the Week: Kenneth “Chewy” Anthony

Officer Anthony is a Correctional Officer with the Frederick County Sheriffs Office.  He is a big sports fan, helps coach softball, likes doing yard work and is desperately trying to figure out the Secret Sound!

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Why Some Roads Have Two Names

If you’ve ever had to follow directions while driving, you’ve probably ended up flustered or confused when you come across a road or street that has more than one name. Chestnut Street can become Loblolly Street before going back to being Chestnut Street; Whippoorwill Lane can morph into Hoot Owl Drive; Buckeystown Pike is also Highway 85. It all seems frustrating & overly complicated. So why do street names suddenly change?

Different cities have different criteria for naming their streets, but the most likely explanation for streets that seem to have an identity crisis is that they didn’t start out as one single road. For instance, a Wine Street that turns into Beer Street were each probably, at one time, separate Wine & Beer Streets that were later joined due to development. So, instead of having only one street absorb the name of the other, they each hold on to their original titles.

So, why should changing the name be such a big deal? Well, you have to consider all the people living on Wine Street who would be affected by a new residential address. Instead of imposing a change on dozens or hundreds of folks, municipalities consider it more practical to simply let the merged roadways keep their separate names.

Another explanation involves changing street names to honor individuals. Say that a road was renamed in honor of Abraham Lincoln; it might be changed for just a specific stretch before it would revert back to, say, Millard Fillmore Avenue.

So, if you’ve ever thought about petitioning for a particular road to get a name change, you might want to first get the support of the residents who’d be affected by the change. Oh, and have your checkbook handy, too, because, for a lot of places, anyone applying for a new street name has to pay for the new signs.

Got a Mundane Mystery you’d like solved? Send me a message via social media (@AndyWebbRadioVoice), or shoot me an email at [email protected].

BROUGHT TO YOU BY: Airtron Heating & Air Conditioning

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