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Car Lingo You Hate

TAKerry

By TAKerry
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John_S_in_Penna 25,000+ Points

John_S_in_Penna

Posted
Posted

So we can all picture an ad like this:

 

"BUICK FOR SALE:  I'm thinking of selling my all-original

1928 Buick sedan.  Expertly repainted, rechromed, rebuilt tranny.

A perfect gangster car.  Very rare, wow!  A real Classic.  Bullet-proof

mechanically, with just the right amount of patina.

 

Remember, they're only original once.  Add your own Tommy gun

to get attention at shows.  A great investment at only $25,000.

Will trade for a 1969-70 deuce-and-a-quarter 'vert."

 

So how much does such a wordy ad actually tell the buyer?

Perhaps it's like fingers on a blackboard, as Bernie described.   😄

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Bhigdog 25,000+ Points

Bhigdog

Posted
Posted (edited)

How about "balls to the wall" as in going as fast as you can?

I suspect most folks make a testicular association but my guess is it actually has it's roots in aviation. The throttle levers in an airplane typically have a ball shaped handle and pushing them forward, towards the firewall, opens the throttles.

Gotta love this forum. It wasn't for it I would actually have to be doing some work....Bob

Edited by Bhigdog (see edit history)
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CarlLaFong 10,000+ Points

CarlLaFong

Posted
Posted (edited)
39 minutes ago, Bhigdog said:

How about "balls to the wall" as in going as fast as you can?

I suspect most folks make a testicular association but my guess is it actually has it's roots in aviation. The throttle levers in an airplane typically have a ball shaped handle and pushing them forward, towards the firewall, opens the throttles.

Gotta love this forum. It wasn't for it I would actually have to be doing some work....Bob

One story that I heard was, it came from the flyball governors as used in steam engines. When the balls were all the way out or "to the wall" the engine was at full speed

Edited by CarlLaFong (see edit history)
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Bhigdog 25,000+ Points

Bhigdog

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16 minutes ago, CarlLaFong said:

One story that I heard was, it came from the flyball governors as used in steam engines. When the balls were all the way out or "to the wall" the engine was at full speed

I could buy that story too................Bob

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bryankazmer 10,000+ Points

bryankazmer

Posted
Posted
17 minutes ago, CarlLaFong said:

One story that I heard was, it came from the flyball governors as used in steam engines. When the balls were all the way out or "to the wall" the engine was at full speed

The flyball governor was the basis for "going balls out" - the balls would be slid the furthest from the center at maximum speed

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Bhigdog 25,000+ Points

Bhigdog

Posted
Posted (edited)
14 minutes ago, bryankazmer said:

The flyball governor was the basis for "going balls out" - the balls would be slid the furthest from the center at maximum speed

Possibly "balls out" for steam and "balls to the wall" for aviation?... Possible.... There are a few others possibilities that might get the moderators "b**ls in an uproar" if I mentioned..................Bob

Edited by Bhigdog (see edit history)
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JACK M 25,000+ Points

JACK M

Posted
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1 hour ago, Bhigdog said:

Possibly "balls out" for steam and "balls to the wall" for aviation?...

This is how I always knew these terms.

Not related but kind of mean the same thing.

 

I get mine in an uproar on occasion. (not really)

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CarlLaFong 10,000+ Points

CarlLaFong

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So many of these terms just came about for no particular reason. I think it might have been on The HAMB a few years ago, somone wondered about :Three on the Tree'. One expert opined that in the 50s and 60s people called the steering column "the Tree". I said that was nonsense. I was there and we called it a steering column. Three on the tree came from a silly response to people bragging or commenting that their car had "four on the Floor. OH Yeah?? I got three on the tree. I think my Model T had two on the shoe

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jensenracing77 1,000+ Points

jensenracing77

Posted
Posted

I just hate it when I misspell something or not use the proper grammar and someone jumps all over it like they are so superior. I am 47 years old and can't spell to save my life. Maybe 5th grade level. Some people are good at some things and other people are good at other things. I always wanted to see one of their restorations and start making fun of them on the flaws. 

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coachJC 2,500+ Points

coachJC

Posted
Posted (edited)

I have a lady a work that would come and let me know that she drove her "classic" in to work today, Its a 1977 Chevy PU. I cringe every time she says it. I have also thought about correcting her on her terminology but I just don't think it is worth my time. She is very proud of her truck so I let it be.

Edited by coachJC (see edit history)
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avgwarhawk 25,000+ Points

avgwarhawk

Posted
Posted
On 8/7/2021 at 11:45 AM, Bhigdog said:

Not actually a "term" but hearing it gets old. Spectator while looking at my red 57 Buick convertible: " My father had one just like this only his was a Ford and it was blue."

Or: "Boy that's when they made real cars. Those big old Buicks rode like a dream."

Sorry. No they didn't unless you liked under/over steer, bias ply tire wander, and just adequate brakes............Bob

 

Or, these cars are great in a crash.  Real steel.  Actually, these cars are horrible in a crash and I advise the person same. Nothing like a steering column that does not collapse or a nice chrome door handle that penetrates one's thigh as the are projected forward in to said impaling steering column.      My daily driver has 8 air bags and crumple zones.  No sir, the older cars are killers.     

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alsancle 25,000+ Points

alsancle

Posted
Posted
8 minutes ago, avgwarhawk said:

 

Or, these cars are great in a crash.  Real steel.  Actually, these cars are horrible in a crash and I advise the person same. Nothing like a steering column that does not collapse or a nice chrome door handle that penetrates one's thigh as the are projected forward in to said impaling steering column.      My daily driver has 8 air bags and crumple zones.  No sir, the older cars are killers.     


I will be the last guy fighting the Classic battle.  Although I typically save my energy for car people.  Civilians can’t tell or care and think we are all insane anyways.

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Steve_Mack_CT 25,000+ Points

Steve_Mack_CT

Posted
Posted (edited)
21 minutes ago, alsancle said:


I will be the last guy fighting the Classic battle.  Although I typically save my energy for car people.  Civilians can’t tell or care and think we are all insane anyways.

Why would anyone think that about us? 

FB_IMG_1597259498873.jpg

Edited by Steve_Mack_CT (see edit history)
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CHuDWah 5,000+ Points

CHuDWah

Posted
Posted
On 8/6/2021 at 8:57 PM, Matt Harwood said:

"Gangster car." Enough already. Gangsters needed cars, too. They took what was available. All cars of the era were potentially gangster cars.

 

Hearse:

A-1959-Cadillac-Hearse-1200x573.jpg

 

Hurst:
3e3ae22af542d69a97d3526080b6f5c5.jpg

 

Get it right. Please.

 

So...what's a hearse with a Hurst?  😁

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CHuDWah 5,000+ Points

CHuDWah

Posted
Posted
On 8/7/2021 at 12:04 PM, Frank DuVal said:

Hmm, seems a phobia is coming out here. 😉   I like spiders when they are smaller, keep other insects at bay. The ones with the 2"+ leg span do not belong IN the house. I'll take spiders over tomato horn worms any day. Those are butt-ugly and need to be steeped on after removing them from the plant. GROSS!🤬

 

As the owner of several Corvair Spyders, I like them too!😁

 

You soak your tomato worms??!!  🤣

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CHuDWah 5,000+ Points

CHuDWah

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Steve_Mack_CT said:

Why would anyone think that about us? 

FB_IMG_1597259498873.jpg

 

Lessee, Model A roadster - 28-29 from the looks of the cowl and the instrument panel.  Yeah, bring on the net and straitjacket.  🤣

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CHuDWah 5,000+ Points

CHuDWah

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Posted

Like most special interest groups, car people have their own jargon and definitions vary even within the group.  So it doesn't bother me when "civilians" misuse terms.  But I do have some peeves about car-for-sale ads:

 

1.  Only one sentence and it describes little or nothing about the car.  Even worse when combined with a whole page detailing the history of the marque back to when it was horse-drawn.

 

2.  I just chalk terms like rare, barn find, survivor, etc up to sales "puffing."  But a car with roll-up windows, more than one row of seat(s), and even a fixed roof is not a roadster, and a 2-door may have two doors but that doesn't make it a coupe.  Then there is the ultra-rare 1935 Model T Ford.  Or the one that's identified as a marque it's not - jeez, the name usually is plastered all over it in shiny chrome.  If one is selling a car, at least know what it is.

 

3. Only a few out of focus pix or worse, none at all.

 

4. "Call for price" - it's so overpriced the seller is ashamed to even state it.

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Billy Kingsley 5,000+ Points

Billy Kingsley

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Posted
26 minutes ago, CHuDWah said:

 

 

2.  I just chalk terms like rare, barn find, survivor, etc up to sales "puffing."  But a car with roll-up windows, more than one row of seat(s), and even a fixed roof is not a roadster, and a 2-door may have two doors but that doesn't make it a coupe.  Then there is the ultra-rare 1935 Model T Ford.  Or the one that's identified as a marque it's not - jeez, the name usually is plastered all over it in shiny chrome.  If one is selling a car, at least know what it is.

 

 

Like the dealer in Hemmings who advertises having literature for 1970s and 80s Edsels.

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cahartley 10,000+ Points

cahartley

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Posted
13 hours ago, Fox H. said:

Anytime someone says "gangster car," quotes the Godfather cannoli scene, or anything remotely about a Thompson. Yes, I agree that some cars can look sinister, but let's just leave it at that.

 

When I first got the '24 Dodge Brothers sedan I had my wife named it the "Gangster Car" about 3 minutes after it rolled off of the trailer it came on....... :rolleyes:

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CarlLaFong 10,000+ Points

CarlLaFong

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1 hour ago, Steve9 said:

My number one stupid term is “3/4 cam”. What the hell is that? Three quarters of what for gods sake? Every time I see that written I know that guy has no clue!

It's an old term fom the 40s and 50s. Cam grinders offered cams in half, 3/4 or full rage. Half was a good street grind, 3/4 was for the guy looking for s lot more power but still somewhat streetable. The grinders usually recommended multiple carburetors and a hotter ignition with the 3/4 grind and was pretty much required for the full race cam. 3/4 was a perfectly good term in it's day but is obsolete now.

 

 

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Steve9 2,500+ Points

Steve9

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4 minutes ago, CarlLaFong said:

It's an old term fom the 40s and 50s. Cam grinders offered cams in half, 3/4 or full rage. Half was a good street grind, 3/4 was for the guy looking for s lot more power but still somewhat streetable. The grinders usually recommended multiple carburetors and a hotter ignition with the 3/4 grind and was pretty much required for the full race cam. 3/4 was a perfectly good term in it's day but is obsolete now.

 

 

Right. It’s like when I hear a sports announcer say “The New York Football Giants”.

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