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Is it appropriate to say 'Heavy Traffic'? I am referring to traffic as in roads and vehicles in this context.

Is using 'lot of traffic' more appropriate?

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Elton John has a song titled "Heavy Traffic". He does not, however, have a song titled "Lot of Traffic". That should totally close the case once and for all. (^_^) – RegDwighт♦ Dec 21 '10 at 11:20
There is an American movie named 'Heavy Traffic' too :) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_Traffic – Sairam Dec 21 '10 at 11:25
@RegDwight: Your profile disclaimer aside, I am not surprised someone with your screen name would have an exhaustive knowledge of Elton John's catalog. :) – Robusto Dec 21 '10 at 13:03
@Robusto: indeed, there have been countless occasions on which I could have quoted Sir Elton, but this is the very first time I have actually done so, and only after previously quoting Zager & Evans, Sting, Simon & Garfunkel, and a children's song. I do try to be diverse. – RegDwighт♦ Dec 21 '10 at 13:12
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@RegDwight: Zager & Evans, b'god! I didn't expect to hear a reference to that group for another 515 years! – Robusto Dec 21 '10 at 13:17

3 Answers

up vote 5 down vote accepted

I think "Heavy Traffic" is quite commonly used and is totally appropriate

EDIT : On 2nd thoughts, i think they are both inter-changeble but it might depend on the formulation of the sentence - where one might suit better (depending on the overall style) as compared to the other.

Example:

I was delayed for my meeting due to heavy traffic on the M1

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' There is lot of traffic on the M1 ' or ' There is heavy traffic on the M1 ' ? – Sairam Dec 21 '10 at 11:15
Either. Both sound fine to me at least. – InSane Dec 21 '10 at 11:16
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@Sairam: It needs to be "a lot of traffic", not "lot of traffic". – Brian Nixon Dec 21 '10 at 11:27
@Brian - I will keep that in mind as I am unable to edit my comment. – Sairam Dec 21 '10 at 11:35
up vote 3 down vote

Both "heavy traffic" and "a lot of traffic" are commonly used in the UK.

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up vote 2 down vote

As a traffic engineer, we use "heavy traffic" and "increased traffic volumes"

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