"shade-tree mechanic", not in (some) dictionaries

[Jeff Prucher]

Laurence Horn wrote:

> I haven't lived an entirely sheltered life, having resided in and
> around NYC, upstate NY, MA, CA, MI, WI, and CT, and had never heard
> the term until encountering in the song noted below, which led me to
> suspect that there's a strong regional component to it.  It's also in
> neither AHD4 nor the OED, which led me to suspect it's not all *that*
> widespread, given the fact that (unlike, say, "tractor mechanic")
> it's not entirely transparent.  Perhaps the lexicographers are living
> in the shell with me.  (I also imagine it might be more familiar to
> mechanics like the Car Talk guys than to non-mechanics like me, so
> there would be an argot component as well.)  Is there an etymology
> provided somewhere, either confirming or disconfirming my speculation
> below?

DARE calls it "chiefly Sth, S Midl"; it does not have a pretty map for this term. (It actually has "shade-tree" n. attrib., rather than "shade-tree mechanic", although it does note that it usually occurs in that phrase.

Jeff Prucher

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