Another take on Jeep.

[Bill Palmer]

Sometimes I dive in and post somethng that has already been noted, so I hope
that's not the case this time, but if so, mes regrettes.

I have read most of the posts on this topic, but haven't come across one
that mentions "Jeep" as the pronunciation of _G.P._, "general purpose"
vehicle, which I've always understood to be the origin.

In WW2, the US Navy had a fleet of small, multi-purpose escort carriers,
nicknamed "jeep carriers", not because they carried jeeps, but because of
their general versatility.  Also, for their cheap construction and
vulnerability, called "floating coffins".  Several were sunk either by a
single torpedo hit, or by kamikaze attack (kamikazes inflicted thousands of
casualties and lots of damage, but didn't sink too many ships)

Bill P
----- Original Message -----
From: "David Barnhart" <dbarnhart at HIGHLANDS.COM>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Saturday, July 17, 2010 10:55 AM
Subject: Another take on Jeep.


> ---------------------- Information from the mail
> header -----------------------
> 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
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org


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