[Ads-l] "Towed truck"

[Peter Reitan]

When I was 4, I was afraid of being grabbed by the under-toad.
________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Sammy Dean <sammydean at MYPOSTOFFICE.CO.UK>
Sent: Tuesday, December 8, 2020 10:01:08 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: "Towed truck"

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Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Poster:       Sammy Dean <sammydean at MYPOSTOFFICE.CO.UK>
Subject:      Re: "Towed truck"
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That reminds me of a good old  howler from the Ministry of Defence: "toad g=
un" for "towed gun".=20
----- Original Message -----
From: Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Sent: Sun, 22 Nov 2020 02:01:21 -0000 (GMT)
Subject: Re: "Towed truck"

> On Nov 21, 2020, at 7:30 PM, Herbert F. Stahlke <hfwstahlke at GMAIL.COM> wr=
ote:
>=20
> The first instance of a counter ice-cream phrase?

I was thinking a possible hypercorrection as the motivation, but there=E2=
=80=99s not enough evidence to be sure.  Here=E2=80=99s one more clear inst=
ance of =E2=80=9Ctowed truck =3D =E2=80=99tow truck':

https://intensetowingrecovery.com/towed-truck-clinton-maryland/

Other apparent instances seem to involve actual trucks that are being towed=
 or other irrelevancies.

LH

>=20
> On November 21, 2020, at 12:31 PM, Randy Alexander <strangeguitars at gmail.=
com> wrote:
>=20
> But, a towed towed truck should be something that a truck truck truck tow=
s,
> so a towed truck should be something that a truck truck tows.
>=20
> On Sun, Nov 22, 2020, 00:09 Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
>=20
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>> Subject:      "Towed truck"
>>=20
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------=
-------
>>=20
>> =3D46rom a notice today on our local Nextdoor Whitneyville neighborhood =
=3D
>> e-mail list:
>>=20
>> TOWED TRUCK. Anyone with towed truck or Triple AAA? I need to bring my =
=3D
>> car to the junk yard please I will pay whoever does me the favor please
>>=20
>> [Just noticed the =3DE2=3D80=3D9CTriple AAA=3DE2=3D80=3D9D, which I gues=
s goes in =3D
>> the "ATM machine=3DE2=3D80=3D9D bin.]
>> Pretty sure I=3DE2=3D80=3D99ve never seen =3DE2=3D80=3D9Ctowed truck=3DE=
2=3D80=3D9D before =3D
>> (other than for trucks that were towed), but we=3DE2=3D80=3D99ve encount=
ered =3D
>> similar reanalyses. Given the iteration, it=3DE2=3D80=3D99s unlikely to =
be a =3D
>> typo.
>>=20
>> LH=3D
>>=20
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>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>=20
>=20
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>=20
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