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Joined: Oct 2000
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among professional truckers.. the term "tractor-unit" is fairly common, and this is sometimes abbrev'ed to "tractor." Professionals, shmofessionals, mate. I'm taking a common or garden as-much-of-an-ignoramus-as-me perspective here.  I'm sure I've heard the front bit of an artic called something else. "Rig" is it? >a wagon is always pulled by a horse or a team of horses..
or a railway locomotiveOh yes, as in a "goods wagon". I suppose not so much rail transportation of goods happens these days in the UK.  >>Brits wouldn't have a clue what a panel truck was.
now, I have to disagree with that one, except that we say panel van..better known among commercial drivers and operators than the gen.pubAs I said above regarding professionals...  Actually I can see there is a distinction between an old-fashioned standard (car-sized) van and, say, a Ford Transit van. The latter is more likely to have a door in the side as well as back doors, for one thing. a truck is more likely to mean a hand cart with four wheels over here Hmmm, I would tend to think working lorry, as in tow truck, having said which I can't think of any other examples..  Rarely hand cart, but I wonder if this is a North-South thing? It's a rich area, this, sure enough!
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
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just got an older one of these; good for the hilly dirt roads where we live, and the copious snow in the winter-time...Ah, now I see, eta. Thanks. Very much the same area as the Land Rover Freelander, I think: http://www.landrover.com/gb/en/Products/Vehicle_Range/FreelanderSo an SUV is like a mini RV, a sorty of semi-off-roader? Your case excepted, I reckon this is often in the same territory as people buying mountain bikes and never taking them off-road, and mothers dropping their kids at school with a gleaming 2/4-wheel drive that's never been in 4-wheel drive mode. I suppose we have a river nearby that occasionally floods, so a high wheel-base is useful. But!
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
well, I wouldn't say an SUV is a mini-RV; RV's are for camping-SUV's ostensibly capable of off-roading, though most of them wouldn't stand up to it. all the major car-makers build them, but definitely the Land Rover paved the way.(bass-ackwards pun, there...) the idea, I think, was to appeal to the macho American driver while making sure there was somethin' there for the missus': a Jeep with all the comforts of home. up here in Vermont, 4X4's get used, a fairly essential vehicle. the silliest SUV's I've ever seen are the stretch limo SUV's you see in NYC. laughable...  the Land Rover's are very cool, I think I'd want a Defender though, seems more like the real thing!
formerly known as etaoin...
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
veteran
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346 |
the Land Rover's are very cool, I think I'd want a Defender though, seems more like the real thing!Agreement and Respect! There was a really good Simpsons where Marge gets a Canyonero [sp?], or rather Homer gets one, only to be told that it's meant for lady drivers.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
Marge gets a Canyonero
The song (edit: about the Canyonero)has become a catch-phrase in our house, every time we see someone driving a giant, monstrous SUV, who clearly has no chance of ever taking it off-road but is merely driving it to look cool.
Along the same lines...I always say "Malibu Stacy, with NEW HAT!!!*" whenever we run across some product which is just a clever re-packaging of an older product, with no improvement in performance.
* Referring to the Simpsons episode where Lisa helps design a non-sexist Barbie-type doll, and when it first goes on sale, it is promptly upstaged by a stack of "new" Malibu Stacy dolls (the "mainstream" Barbie-type doll in the Simpsons Universe) which are identical to the "old" Malibu Stacy dolls but have a new hat. And so the little girls rush to buy the Malibu Stacy doll, sexist comments and everything, just because she has a new hat, and better marketers. It is one of my all-time favourite Simpsons episodes.
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 131
member
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Joined: Aug 2001
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I love the Simpsons. Here are the lyrics to the song from that episode.
Canyonero
22nd February 1998
Can you name the truck with four wheel drive,
Smells like a steak, and seats thirty five?
Canyonero! Canyonero!
Well, it goes real slow with the hammer down
It's the country-fried truck endorsed by a clown
Canyonero! Canyonero!
Hey, hey!
Twelve yards long, two lanes wide,
Sixty five tons of American pride!
Canyonero! Canyonero!
Top of the line in utility sports,
Unexplained fires are a matter for the courts!
Canyonero! Canyonero!
She blinds everybody with her super high beams
She's a squirrel-squashin', deer-smackin' drivin' machine
Canyonero! Canyonero! Canyonero!
Whoa, Canyonero! Whoa!
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Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 742
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 742 |
I'm not sure how legal this is, but someone else obviously shared my enjoyment of Dave Barry's take on SUVs http://www.psych.upenn.edu/~mims/suv.html
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