Beaver car

[Wilson Gray]

"We bought a '34 wagon and we call it a 'woodie.'"

-Jan & Dean
"Surf City"

-Wilson

On Sat, Aug 9, 2008 at 7:02 PM, Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at ix.netcom.com> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Beaver car
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> There's are comments at http://www.flickr.com/photos/oybay/2231349232/
> about a Ford Country Squire where one person says they used to call it
> a woody and the other a beaver. As can be seen in the photo and at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Country_Squire
> , the word "woody" probably comes from the wood siding. I wonder if
> "beaver" is a play on that?
>
> There's also a comment about a Mustang at http://forum.teamxbox.com/archive/index.php/t-232874.html
> , where fausenbaug says "yeah, its gonna be a pretty kick angry beaver
> car. I like the stylings of the ealier models." I think "beaver" here
> either means "woman-getter" or is else just random.
>
> Wikipedia mentions a few other Beaver vehicles at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaver_%28disambiguation%29
> .
>
> BB
>
> On Aug 9, 2008, at 1:41 PM, Barbara Need wrote:
>
>> Is anyone else familiar with this term? It refers to a station wagon
>> with wood (veneer) sides. A game we played on trips when I was a
>> child (1960s) was to be the first to spot a "beaver car". I do not
>> know how the phrase originated (I will ask my mom when I next speak
>> to her). It is possible it has something to do with visits we made to
>> friends in Beaver Falls, PA (from near Cleveland), but I don't know.
>>
>> I tried to do a Google search, but what seemed to be getting was car
>> dealerships in places with Beaver as (part of) the name.
>
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All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
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 -Sam'l Clemens

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