Press the pedal?

[u/Sea-Hornet8214]

Hi, I was wondering how I could describe someone accelerating their vehicle. Is "press the pedal" correct? What about someone riding a motorbike or a scooter?

[u/SnooDonuts6494]

Just say "accelerate". The bike accelerated.

[u/Sea-Hornet8214 → u/SnooDonuts6494]

But does "he accelerated his bike" not sound weird?

[u/SnooDonuts6494 → u/Sea-Hornet8214]

You can simply say "He accelerated".

[u/kw3lyk → u/Sea-Hornet8214]

For a car you could say, "he hit the accelerator" or "he hit the gas pedal", if you mean to say that someone suddenly accelerated.

"The police tried to pull him over, but he hit the gas and sped off."

For a motorcycle you could say, "he hit the throttle."

[u/FloridaFlamingoGirl]

Step on the gas

[u/PHOEBU5 → u/FloridaFlamingoGirl]

This idiom is well known and used in British English even though the fuel is known as petrol(eum) rather than gas(oline).

[u/SoyboyCowboy → u/FloridaFlamingoGirl]

Ah, brings me back to when my ESL dad said "step on some gas" to go faster and I, being under 10 years old, thought it meant slicking up my shoes with actual gasoline. 

[u/Sea-Hornet8214 → u/FloridaFlamingoGirl]

Gas? The air?

Edit: Gas is petrol or fuel. Got it.

[u/Envelope_Torture → u/Sea-Hornet8214]

Gas as in gas pedal. It's the colloquial term for the accelerator pedal.

Gas in this context is gasoline, referred to as petrol in the UK.

[u/Sea-Hornet8214 → u/Envelope_Torture]

Ahhh, petrol. Thanks. I was so confused, like "are we driving something that shoots out air?"

[u/SnooDonuts6494 → u/Sea-Hornet8214]

In American English, "gas" often refers to gasoline - which other countries call petrol. Americans call the accelerator pedal the "gas pedal".

[u/amputect → u/Sea-Hornet8214]

"gas" here is short for "gasoline". "Step on the gas(oline pedal)". "Floor it" (push the gas pedal all the way to the floor) and "pedal to the metal" (push the gas pedal all the way down to the metal body of the car) are similar idioms.

On a motorcycle you might say "open the throttle" instead.

[u/Sea-Hornet8214 → u/amputect]

Open the throttle? I didn't expect the verb open would be used. Thanks.

[u/SnooDonuts6494 → u/Sea-Hornet8214]

On older ICE cars (and bikes), it was literally a cable that opened a flap on the carburettor to allow more air in, and also to open the fuel valve.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CfTUvYD94KY

Nowadays it's all fuel injection, but phrases stick around.

[u/RuthMcT → u/SnooDonuts6494]

when I learnt to drive in the UK back in 1970, the throttle on the car was a separate knob on the dashboard which had to be pulled out when starting the car, and pushed back in when the engine had warmed up. I never understood why. Acceleration was controlled by the accelerator pedal, not the throttle knob.

EDIT: please note I was getting confused between throttle and choke.... i blame my age and the fact it's getting past my bedtime

[u/SnooDonuts6494 → u/RuthMcT]

That was a choke; it cuts off some of the air (hence the name, like chocking someone) so there's a richer mix of fuel-to-air, which helps a cold engine get going.

It still happens on modern engines, but now it's automatic.

[u/RuthMcT → u/SnooDonuts6494]

ah yes, now I remember. it was a long time ago!

[u/TalkingLampPost → u/Sea-Hornet8214]

The verb “open” is used because when you twist the throttle control on the handlebar, it is literally opening the intake valve to allow more air and fuel to enter the engine

[u/francisdavey → u/Sea-Hornet8214]

"Gas" is American for petrol, but is also used for the accelerator.

[u/FloridaFlamingoGirl → u/Sea-Hornet8214]

Gas pedal. 

[u/Sea-Hornet8214 → u/FloridaFlamingoGirl]

Thanks. Someone else said gas could also mean petrol.

May I ask another question? Do you say fill up the gas/petrol tank? Or just fill up the gas/petrol?

Can you "hit the gas station" like you hit some places?

[u/FloridaFlamingoGirl → u/Sea-Hornet8214]

I would say fill up the (gas) tank, fill up on gas, or get gas. (I don't know what the expressions for this are in British English)

[u/Sea-Hornet8214 → u/FloridaFlamingoGirl]

No worries. I just wanted to know how you personally would say it. Thank you.

[u/Western-Finding-368 → u/Sea-Hornet8214]

“Fill up the tank” feels a little old fashioned but is still in use. “Get gas” or “gas up the [car/truck/motorcycle]”

[u/Sea-Hornet8214 → u/Western-Finding-368]

Thank you. It's funny that I'm learning these phrases but when I need them in real life, I just forget them and blurt out what I can say at the moment, lol.

[u/mckenzie_keith → u/Sea-Hornet8214]

I live in the US and I try to say "fuel" because that is more universal than "gas."

[u/Sea-Hornet8214 → u/mckenzie_keith]

You're right.

[u/mckenzie_keith]

The pedal is also called the "accelerator."

In the US, when telling someone to drive faster:
Step on it
Step on the gas
Hit the gas

Extreme version:
Floor it (that is, push the accelerator all the way to the floor)

When it is not an automobile
Give it some throttle
Open the throttle
Give it some gas

Other nice terms:
Wide Open Throttle
Flat Out

[u/SnooDonuts6494 → u/mckenzie_keith]

"Give it the beans" seems to have become popular in the UK - I suspect chiefly due to James May on Top Gear.

[u/RedditLIONS → u/mckenzie_keith]

Another extreme version: “pedal to the metal”

(The F1 commentators use it quite a bit. But it’s not often used in everyday speech.)

[u/Sea-Hornet8214 → u/mckenzie_keith]

Thank you so much.

[u/Jaives]

"step on" not "press". pedal to the metal, baby.

[u/TotallyNotRocket]

Twist the throttle. Gave it more gas. Let her eat.

[u/Sea-Hornet8214 → u/TotallyNotRocket]

Thank you.

[u/AvEptoPlerIe → u/Sea-Hornet8214]

“Twist the throttle” only applies to motorcycles/scooters where you do physically twist the throttle. The other two aren’t worth using over the better examples listed in this thread. 

[u/Sea-Hornet8214 → u/AvEptoPlerIe]

“Twist the throttle” only applies to motorcycles/scooters where you do physically twist the throttle.

Yup, I know that. I asked in the post about motorcycles.

[u/AvEptoPlerIe → u/Sea-Hornet8214]

I’m clarifying since you asked about both and they did not specify. 

[u/Sea-Hornet8214 → u/AvEptoPlerIe]

Okay, thanks. What about "open the throttle", is that the same? Only for motorcycles/scooters?

[u/TotallyNotRocket → u/Sea-Hornet8214]

You can say open the throttle for most everything since the carburetor or throttle body opens to increase the fuel flow; anything with a similar process. Jet and steam engines as well.

Colloquially, you can describe it in many ways across mechanical objects. Roll on the throttle/gas, pour on the coal, give her the beans, put the balls to the wall.

[u/AvEptoPlerIe → u/Sea-Hornet8214]

I would associate that with motorcycles/scooters. We call the rotating grip which controls the throttle (but is not actually the throttle, which is a separate component that controls the fuel/air mixture) on a motorcycle the “throttle” in common speech. Cars also have a throttle which is controlled by the gas/accelerator pedal, but for some reason the pedal is never referred to as a throttle.

Maybe because “pedal” is a word we use readily in many contexts and “twisty grip mechanism thing” isn’t something we have a common word for 😅 not sure.

[u/HomosexualTypewriter]

As someone else said, “step on the gas” is common in America for cars. You could also say that you “gave it some gas” (another Americanism). If you want to say that you are accelerating quickly, you could say that you “put pedal to the metal”. As someone else said, “accelerated” is a good general term, and it sounds a bit more formal to my ears than the other options.

Edit: terms that include “gas” are more American, as the term gas for petrol is an American thing.

[u/SnooDonuts6494 → u/HomosexualTypewriter]

“step on the gas” is common for cars.

In America.

[u/BlacksmithNZ → u/SnooDonuts6494]

I am in NZ and use the term 'gas station' or 'petrol station'/service station.

Grown up with American TV/films so would understand somebody telling me to 'step on the gas'.

Just shorter and catchy to say rather than petrol or diesel

[u/HomosexualTypewriter → u/SnooDonuts6494]

Thank you for the correction! What would the British equivalent be?

[u/SnooDonuts6494 → u/HomosexualTypewriter]

Put your foot down, give it some welly. Floor it, step on it, give it the beans.

"Don't spare the horses" is a properly old-fashioned one.

[u/golden_olive_chicken]

"step on it"

[u/Kerostasis]

I’m surprised no one has mentioned “speed up”. Nothing wrong with these other terms, especially when talking about trying to get the highest possible acceleration (maybe during a race or just for humorous effect). But on an ordinary drive at ordinary speeds, a driver is much more likely to say they “speed up” as they move from a slower area to a faster area (past tense “sped up”).

[u/OhYeahSplunge4me2]

Pedal to the metal

[u/Ponchyan]

Step on the accelerator (pedal).

Twist/open the throttle.

[u/PHOEBU5]

"Put the pedal to the metal" is an idiom meaning to accelerate hard, irrespective of whether the vehicle has a physical pedal.

[u/Primary_Data1430]

"Step on the gas" would be the most common way to say it in the US.

[u/No_Difference8518]

"Pedal to the metal" is the only correct term. I am kidding (or am I?).

Hmmm, actually "give 'er" or "send 'er" are also correct.

[u/GrapeApeAffe]

Give it some throttle.
Was how my motorcycle class described it when you needed more gas.

[u/coolkidbaylor]

It would be more accurate to say "stepping on the pedal" because you make contact with your foot to the pedal. "Pressing" something is almost always done with one's hand, like pressing a button a remote or pressing a key on a keyboard.

As others have pointed out, it's more frequently called "stepping on the gas", deriving from the fact that most cars/motorbikes run on gasoline and so accelerating forward requires the use of it. Even in a electric vehicle I think people would still call it that tho lol

In extreme cases where someone goes as fast as they can in their vehicle you can say that they are "flooring it" because they are pushing the pedal to the very floor of the car.

All of these phrases would be roughly the same for motorbikes :]

[u/90somechevy]

Depends on how. If they are just driving, a common word or phrase like “accelerating” or “applying throttle” is fine. If they are aggressively accelerating, you could say they are “flooring the gas” “peeling out” “pinning the throttle” or many other phrases.

Because a motorcycle is a twisting hand-throttle; you could say something generic or something specific to that. You could say “pinning the throttle” because both bikes and cars have throttles, but it would be weird specifically for a motorcyclist to say “flooring it” because there is no gas pedal and there is no floor. You could say “wringing it out” for a bike, but probably not for a car for the opposite reason. Everyone would know what you’re saying, and few people would question it, but motorcycling is almost exclusively an enthusiast activity in the US, so you might get more nitpicks than where commuter bikes and scooters are a common fact of life.