Why Are They Called Brown Outs?

[Jollygoodfellow]

I think that the brown out is a word for a voltage drop.....there is power but not 100%..Black out no power at all...

You are correct in almost every country except the Philippines. In the Philippines when there is no power at all its still called a brown out, why? Maybe they don't like the word black.

Or have never known any difference in the wording,passed down generation to generation with out a thought.Oh that's the generation that had electricity thats is but you know what I mean.

[daisy]

I was thought in our little barrio that if there is no power at day time, it is brown out; when at night is blackout....that's what I can recall growing up when electricity was so new to us...I think that was late 60's or early 70's...yah we really don't know the difference, is that a sin? :thumbsup:

Edited March 2, 2012 by daisy

[Dave Hounddriver]

I'd rather have a blackout or brownout than a whiteout any day.To be honest, I thought brownouts was just a colloquial name. Like calling a toilet a CR or a refrigerator a ref or a lawnmower a grass cutter. What does it hurt if people call it a brown out? Everyone knows what is meant. If I wanted to really make a difference I would change:Celebrity Carwash: to a place that is either run by celebrities, owned by same, or at least has customers who are.Tricycles: to children's toys with 3 wheels and pedals.Multicabs: to vehicles that have more than one cabs.But they are all just names that local people use to describe objects so other local people know what they mean. Learn the local slang and you'll be less stressed.

[Curley]

I'd rather have a blackout or brownout than a whiteout any day.To be honest, I thought brownouts was just a colloquial name. Like calling a toilet a CR or a refrigerator a ref or a lawnmower a grass cutter. What does it hurt if people call it a brown out? Everyone knows what is meant. If I wanted to really make a difference I would change:Celebrity Carwash: to a place that is either run by celebrities, owned by same, or at least has customers who are.Tricycles: to children's toys with 3 wheels and pedals.Multicabs: to vehicles that have more than one cabs.But they are all just names that local people use to describe objects so other local people know what they mean. Learn the local slang and you'll be less stressed.

Crackers but oh so true.... go with the flow

[i am bob]

A true brown-out is actually observable... Watch the lights at night. If you can still see and the light is really dim, you are experiencing a brown-out. This is where the term truly came from. A black-out means no light at night and it's dark - like the black of the night. Why do they use this term in the Philippines? A Filipino friend told me that the black-outs were originally suppose to be brown-outs only in theory but the power companies figured it was easier in practise to just shut everything down to the selected areas.