shade tree mechanics

[Amy West]

I've heard it used on Car Talk. I can't recall if the Magliozzi (sp?)
brothers used it or if it was used only by callers. This might give
someone an excuse to check their archives.

You got shade-tree mechanics in CT. You just didn't know what they
were called. :-) (Oh, don't that smack of linguistic determinism....)

---Amy West

>I obviously had plumb forgot that thread, and hadn't checked Barry's
>site.  Is the idea that you're doing the car-repair, or engineering,
>or philosophizing in the comfort of your old shade-tree?  Since there
>seem to be no dictionary entries, it's hard to get a bead on the
>etymology.  Or, for that matter, the relevant isogloss--it is really
>localized to Texan and points west, or found elsewhere in the south?
>We need to get us some shade-tree mechanics in Connecticut!
>
>LH

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