JEEP again

[Jonathan Lighter]

That's the earliest traceable connection between "jeep" and half-ton payload
"command car." Perhaps the writer confused the two vehicles. A few weeks
later, the _The Courier_ (Waterloo, Ia.) (Apr. 10, 1941), p. 8, describes
the "jeep" as "a half-ton truck fitted as a command car."
JL
On Wed, Sep 22, 2010 at 7:18 PM, Baker, John <JMB at stradley.com> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Baker, John" <JMB at STRADLEY.COM>
> Subject:      Re: JEEP again
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>        Note that the actual date of the first reference to the "Jeep"
> in Thimble Theatre (as comics aficionados call it, though the strip at
> this time usually ran under the title used today, Popeye) was on March
> 16, 1936, when the mysterious creature was referred to in a teaser
> panel.
>
>        Eugene the Jeep was extremely popular, and even if the vehicle's
> name had some other origin (which does not seem particularly likely on
> the evidence), it inevitably would suggest the cartoon character.  Most
> early accounts of the jeep do not mention Popeye, but this one, from
> shortly after the jeep's introduction, does.  This is from the Abilene
> Reporter-News, Mar. 2, 1941, in an article titled "'Jeep,' Army Car,
> Reminiscent of Teddy Roosevelt:  It's Rough Rider":
>
>        <<The army has a peculiar looking vehicle that it has dubbed
> "The Jeep."
>
>        Now there ain't no such animal as a Jeep, except in the Popeye
> comic strip.  Nevertheless, the army has a whole flock of Jeeps, that is
> provided one may refer to a fleet of motor buggies as a flock.
>
>        . . . .
>
>        Official name of the Jeep is "command car.  [sic:  no closing
> quotes]  It was built just for that purpose and it is used almost
> exclusively by officers in field maneuvers, and in following or leading
> modern armies into action.
>
>        . . . .
>
>        The Jeep is a four wheel drive contraption with tremendous
> power.  "Put a pair of mud chains on her and she'll go through mud up to
> her bottom," say army admirers of the vehicle.  "Just a shade rough
> except on paved roads but the Geep will take you anywhere you want to
> go," the army boys say.>>
>
>
>
>        So the article does not actually provide any direct evidence of
> the word's etymology, but it does show the close connection made by
> early users of the term.  I don't know what to make of the one-time
> spelling "Geep."
>
>
> John Baker
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
> Of Garson O'Toole
> Sent: Monday, September 20, 2010 6:33 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: JEEP again
>
> Here is a link to the January 1998 letters section of the Atlantic
> containing a response from J. E. Lighter about the etymology of Jeep:
>
> http://www.theatlantic.com/past/issues/98jan/9801lett.htm
>
> J. E. Lighter replies:
> The word jeep made its debut in Elzie Segar's comic strip Thimble
> Theatre Starring Popeyeon March 3, 1936, as the cry of a small,
> odd-looking creature soon identified as "Eugene the Jeep."
>
> Acknowledging Segar, the Halliburton Oil Well Cementing Company built
> a "Jeep" truck in 1937. Army command cars and heavy gun tractors were
> called "jeeps" in 1940-1941, as were raw recruits. ...
>
> There is more information about Jeep on the webpage at the Atlantic
> website (Scroll to near the bottom). Of course there may be one or
> more additional articles in the Atlantic that are relevant.
>
> Garson
>
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