FW: Railroad cart

[Seán Fitzpatrick]

The cover of Gorey's book is digitally immortalized at
http://www.goreydetails.net/show.php?alpha=2429.

We call a person who is dead "immortal" because that is all he has left, or
to put it another way, having died, he cannot die any more, so by
definition, whatever remains of his person is immortal.

Seán Fitzpatrick
Wake up with Freedom Fighters
http://www.logomachon.blogspot.com/

-----Original Message-----
From: Mark A. Mandel [mailto:mamandel at LDC.UPENN.EDU]
Sent: Wednesday, 18 April, 2007 09:06
Subject: Re: Railroad cart


On 4/17/07, Sean Fitzpatrick <grendel.jjf at verizon.net> requested a term for
>                the small, four-wheeled, man-powered
> carts used by railroad maintenance crews.  They often had a two-man
> rocker crank handle, although the one in this picture seems to have a
rotary
> crank handles.

Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU> suggested
>>>>
"Hand-car" is one name for it. OED def: "a light car propelled by
cranks or levers worked by hand, used in the inspection and repairing
of a railway line."

As featured in the movie _O Brother Where Art Thou?_:
http://www.stangarner.com/obrother.html
<<<<

And the immortal Edward Gorey's "The Willowdale Handcar" (hyphen?).

(Why do we call people "immortal" only after they're dead?)

m a m

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