Here he gets a tryout as a back-seat driver on a hook and ladder truck at St. "When New York pitcher Vernon Gomez retires as a smokeballer he wants to become a smoke eater. The first reference I can find to someone being called a 'back-seat driver' refers to that literal usage and is from the Daily Kennebec Journal (Augusta, USA), May 1914:
It emerged in the USA in early 20th century, as motoring was becoming widespread.īefore the phrase took on its figurative 'unwanted adviser' meaning it had been used as a literal reference to people who drove vehicles from the back seat. The annoying habit of some people of giving unwanted advice to vehicle drivers.
What's the origin of the phrase 'Back seat driver'? Unfortunately, it’s not an accurate correlation, since shifting gears alters a vehicle’s speed, not its direction.Who criticizes from the sidelines.
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“Shifting gears”: In spite of the drastic decline in manual transmissions, this phrase will endure as an allusion to when a topic of discussion is abruptly changed. The phrase refers to someone who obsessively thinks about only one single thing, like a train that’s on a track that doesn’t diverge elsewhere. “One track mind”: While this phrase actually originated in the 1920s referring to trains rather than automobiles, it’s still inspired by transportation. We now use the phrase in reference to activities we do with rapid speed. “Pedal to the metal”: Synonymous with “flooring it,” this phrase originated in the 1970s and directly refers to a vehicle’s gas pedal being pushed so far, it touches the floor. Thanks to a VW advertising campaign in the 1960s, the term is associated most with automobiles. “A lemon”: We now call junk cars “lemons,” and the term was used previously for a defective product obtained in a hustle (causing the pucker-face reaction). It means that someone looks very ugly, particularly in the face. “Face like the backend of a bus”: A British phrase that has been around for half-a-century and doesn’t have a determined origin. “Get the show on the road”: Meaning an effort to get a plan underway, this idiom has ties to the early 20th century travelling circus. The phrase refers to a quick, un-thorough way to inspect something.
“Kick the tires”: According to the Chicago Tribune, there are many possible origins to this phrase, most notably the use of a tire billy club in early automotive days to hit and check the inflation of a vehicle’s tires. Originally, though, the phrase probably wasn’t meant negatively and instead referred to some vehicles which had both front- and rear-positioned steering wheels. “Backseat driver”: As early as the first automobiles at the onset of the 20th century, we’ve had people giving unwanted driving advice. The exact origin is unknown, but it may have to do with the tiny size of the coin similarly, some Brits use the phrase “stop on a sixpence.” “Stop on a dime”: Used to refer to vehicles that have good brakes and the ability to come to a rapid stop from fast speeds. “Grease monkey”: While this term is now used to refer to a mechanic working in a garage, it may have originally referred to children who worked in British factories who’d climb onto factory engines to grease the axles.
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How to Know You’re Getting the Best: Tips for getting the most out of your vehicle test driveġ0 Automotive-Themed Phrases You Use on a Daily Basis Let’s examine how some of these automotive-related idioms and terms came to be, and what they’re used for now. Their presence has not only led to the formation of a dictionary’s-worth of original vocabulary, but also has infected unrelated expressions we use on a daily basis. Since their invention a century ago, automobiles have become an integral part of our lives, not just in transportation and culture, but even in language. Decrease Font Size Increase Font Size Text Size Print This Page Send by Email
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