Another take on Jeep.

[Jonathan Lighter]

Sorry. I meant to delete an abortive reply.

Nothing new here, except to observe that the prototype, built by American
Bantam, was evidently not tested till September of 1940.

JL

On Sat, Jul 17, 2010 at 11:18 AM, Jonathan Lighter
<wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Another take on Jeep.
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Sat, Jul 17, 2010 at 10:55 AM, David Barnhart <dbarnhart at highlands.com
> >wrote:
>
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> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       David Barnhart <dbarnhart at HIGHLANDS.COM>
> > Subject:      Another take on Jeep.
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > In the _Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology_ (c. 1988) the following appears
> > (I've truncated some of the already discussed speculations):
> >
> >
> >
> > ".probably coined from the initials _G.P._ . may have been influenced by
> > the
> > name 'Eugene the Jeep' . It has also been claimed that the term is a
> > reduction of 'Jeepers creepers!' the exclamation of Major General George
> > Lynch, chief of infantry of the U.S. Army, on the occasion of his first
> > ride
> > in the prototype of the vehicle at Fort Myer, Virginia in 1939, and
> adopted
> > at the time by Charles H. Payne, the designer of the vehicle."
> >
> >
> >
> > My recollection of this latter speculation is based upon my father's
> > telling
> > of the story that he received (perhaps in the late 1940's or -50's) a
> > Christmas card from the driver of the vehicle at that test in Fort Myer,
> > which relayed that "Lynch" story.   Incidentally, The term _jeep_ did not
> > appear in the 1944 edition of the _Dictionary of United States Army
> Terms_
> > (TM 20-205) for which Clarence Barnhart was the editor-in-chief.  CLB
> felt
> > strongly enough about the "Lynch" connection that is was the first
> > etymology
> > given in the _World Book Dictionary_ (c. 1984, the earliest edition I
> have
> > at hand today).
> >
> >
> >
> > More later as I find information on this.
> >
> >
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > David
> >
> >
> >
> > Barnhart at highlands.com
> >
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>
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