clunker, junker (1936)

[Benjamin Zimmer]

My latest Word Routes column is on automotive "clunkers" and "junkers":

http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/1849/

I mention this antedating for both "clunker" (HDAS 1942) and "junker"
(HDAS 1948):

1936 Walter Winchell ("On Broadway" syndicated column) _Wisconsin
State Journal_ 23 Apr. 4/7 Regarding the word "jollopy" which a Mirror
editorial writer recently wondered about. He said: "What's it really
mean?" A Detroit man says jollopy means an old car, junkers, old
hacks, rattlers, clunkers. They are the headaches of the auto dealer.


--Ben Zimmer

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