I think it reveals something about the background of many Australian writers and probably also their editors and publishers that they do not know the difference between concrete and cement.
When I was a child, I often said things like ‘The floor was made of cement’. My father used to sigh at such statements, and say, slowly, ‘Cement is a grey powder. You mix it with sand, water and aggregate to make concrete.’ (Aggregate is a term for the little stones that are . . . err, mixed with sand, water and cement to form concrete!)
Now you know: cement is a powder, and just one of the ingredients of the final product (concrete).
Cement
. . . and concrete
We also use both cement and concrete as verbs: to cement something means to glue or stick it to something else. This meaning goes back to my father’s definition, as cement is the glue in the mix that forms concrete (note: if you mix cement, sand and water, you will make mortar, which is used to cement bricks or other types of building materials together). To concrete something in or to set something in concrete means to make something set firmly or hard. I must concrete these differences into my brain.
As for those trucks you might be calling ‘cement mixers’? Sorry but that’s wrong too: they are concrete agitators (or you can probably call them concrete mixers or concrete pumpers, since my dad won’t hear you).
A concrete agitator or concrete pump truck
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