"Flivver" in OED

[Baker, John]

        Well, the adjective form of "automobile" is after all the older form.  "Automobile truck" turns out to be a surprisingly common term in the old days.  Here's the oldest I saw, from 1908 (OED has 1916 for "motor truck"):

        >>In the ultimate analysis there is no difference in principle whether draying is done by horses and wagons, or by automobile trucks; whether grading is done by horses and scrapers, or by traction engines and steam paddies.<<

Wood, Curtis & Co. v. El Dorado Lumber Co., 153 Cal. 230, 94 P. 877 (Cal. Mar 13, 1908).


John Baker


-----Original Message-----
From: Mark A Mandel [mailto:mam at THEWORLD.COM]
Sent: Sunday, June 08, 2003 5:26 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: "Flivver" in OED


"Automobile truck"! There it looks to me as if "automobile" is being
used as an adjective, like "mobile", in a way we wouldn't see
today; = 'self-propelling' rather than 'self-propelling vehicle'.

-- Mark A. Mandel
   Linguistic Data Consortium, University of Pennsylvania