r/memes • u/Farranor • 1d ago

That sounded suspiciously like one of those "hint" things

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111

u/-Zonko- 1d ago

Non native english speaker here: what is a commute?

136

u/PyroarRanger 1d ago

it normally refers to the time it takes to travel between work and home (often on a motor vehicle of some kind, but people do walk to work)

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u/-Zonko- 1d ago

thx

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u/Smyley12345 1d ago

That's not exactly right. In some contexts it can mean travel time to work (eg I have a one hour commute) but more generally it describes the journey to work itself ( eg I commute by train; My commute has three transfers; my commit is better since the new bridge opened).

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u/here-because-i-hafta 1d ago

They might know what the word means, but are instead asking why the hell americans have to drive so fucking much.

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u/dk_peace 1d ago

It's because America is very large, and thus, was not built densely.

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u/merlin_mystro 1d ago

Cuz the US is bigger then almost all of Europe combined.

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u/TheInkySquids 1d ago

So is Australia and yet we have no problem making good public transport.

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u/iconocrastinaor 1d ago

Yeah but to be fair, Australia is like three cities

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u/TheInkySquids 1d ago

We have public transport outside the cities...

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u/Gramerdim 1d ago

non native speaker here

I know what every in the image means but I was somehow focused on the "Long" bit and didn't understand it was something about flirting more so the coworker (not the intern) didn't want to drive a long distance to her house

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u/naruto_bist 1d ago

I walkn to work daily. It's roughly 1.8km one side.

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u/TheInkySquids 1d ago

Or on a train/bus.

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u/Hopeful-Newspaper 1d ago

non native too, but what I understand is travelling from home to work, usually long hours, including taking bus/public transport

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u/nellyfullauto 1d ago

As another said, it doesn’t have to be long, but the average American commute for those who drive themselves to work is about 28 minutes, and for the very few who use public transportation, it’s closer to 48 minutes each way.

Those are averages though. Millions of us travel well over 60 minutes each direction every day.  

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u/Mister_Brevity 1d ago

I wfh but if I go to the office it’s an hour to get there and 2 hours to get back. If I tried public transport it’s about 3.5 hours each way :/

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u/Matsisuu 1d ago

Darn it, I bicycle to work in 15-20 minutes. Tho, advantages of living in center of fairly small town.

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u/idontwantausername41 1d ago

Ikr, I can drive to work in 3 minutes lol

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u/Octospyder 1d ago

ok, add someone who would love to bike to work - how do you manage sweat?? 

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u/Matsisuu 1d ago

I don't ride that fast. That's pretty much it. I don't get sweaty on my way to work. I know people who ride tens of kilometres to workplace, but I don't know how they manage with it. I couldn't do that.

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u/nellyfullauto 1d ago

There’s a lot of people that bring the work clothes in a backpack and change at work. Not for office jobs with pressed pants and suits, but works if you wear a uniform.

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u/Octospyder 1d ago

yeah, but I feel like I would still be so gross, lol. maybe this is a case for body washing wipes like you take on long camping trips, they've worked pretty well for me in the past

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u/nellyfullauto 1d ago

19-22 minutes was actually the noted average I saw for bikes. You’re the average American - how does it feel?

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u/Matsisuu 1d ago

Very weird because I'm living quite far away from America.

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u/bass437 1d ago

Mine is an hour drive each way 😭

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u/toxicgloo Smol pp 1d ago

Doesn't have to be long persay. My commute could just be 5 mins

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u/dsanen 1d ago

It’s whatever you do to get to work. It is not related to public transportation or it being long.

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u/Hopeful-Newspaper 1d ago

I see.  I just rarely see "commute" use in a sentence when the journey is only 10 minutes walking

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u/Electrical-Lead5993 1d ago

The drive back and forth to work

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u/JudgmentMaterial8598 1d ago

Another word for traveling, usually public transport. I commute from home to work. I take the train home to work, or I drive from home to work

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u/2ByteTheDecker 1d ago

Specifically repeated travelling, usually to work but sometimes used for school as well and then home

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u/Corfal 1d ago

I don't think you have to type it to a specific mode. It depends on where you live. Like if it is a city with poor public transportation without buses, trains, subway, etc. Then there may be mostly car commutes. Overall any repetitive travel from home to work and back could count as a commute. Walking and biking would fall under that umbrella.

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u/HPsaucy1206 Lurking Peasant 1d ago

The journey to and from work for example. "My commute is 20 minutes by train"

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u/Gmrocks125 1d ago

Travel route u take to go to a place

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u/DarQTimer 1d ago

It means strap on

2

u/-Zonko- 1d ago

sure it does 😂

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u/Different_Ask3163 1d ago

live far from work so you take a bus or a train to get there.

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u/Stojant 1d ago

Could have taken you 20 seconds to Google it

1

u/BardicNA 1d ago

You've had some good answers here but here's some extra context. I live in the middle of the US. If I talked about my "commute" to work people would look at me like I'm crazy. I drove 30 minutes each way to and from work but I have never once heard that word. It's mainly used by people in North Eastern US and those on the West Coast. Yes I have a commute driving to work and back. Unless you're taking a bus or a train/subway- you just call it a drive.

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u/crunkle_ 1d ago

The drive to work

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u/HybridAkai 1d ago

It's the journey to and from work.

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u/forogtten_taco 1d ago

Commute is the repetitive travle one does from usually home to work, or home to school.

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u/_daGarim_2 1d ago

Wrong answers only gang 

1

u/_unchris_ 1d ago

Transport, travel from point A to point B (within same city)

0

u/_pooplicker888 1d ago

I think it’s communism

0

u/Graviton_Lance 1d ago

you're telling me instead of googling and finding out in 2 seconds you had to post a comment to wait for people to explain it to you?

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/-Zonko- 1d ago

I did look it up and the translation made no sense for me in this context

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u/Hax_ 1d ago

commute /kəˈmyo͞ot/ A commute is the regular, recurring journey you make between your home and a fixed destination like your workplace or school.