[Ads-l] Obsolete term: "gas pedal" in an electric car =?Windows-1252?Q?=96_?=alternatives "potentiometer" or "accelerator"

[Peter Reitan]

I imagine almost no one knows the origin of pen, so it seems unlikely the reason it is used for inkless "pens."  Yet I still dial my phone.
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From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Thursday, September 26, 2019 6:11:26 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Obsolete term: "gas pedal" in an electric car – alternatives "potentiometer" or "accelerator"

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Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
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Subject:      Re: Obsolete term: "gas pedal" in an electric car
              =?UTF-8?Q?=E2=80=93_?=alternatives "potentiometer" or
              "accelerator"
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Mark Mandel (MAM) wrote:
> Well, we still call the panel in front of the driver a "dashboard", even
> though it no longer is
>
>  A panel at the front of a horse-drawn vehicle that projects up to protec=
t
> the riders from mud, water, or snow kicked up by the horse or horses.
>
> https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=3Ddashboard

Excellent example and good point, MAM. Here is another example, I think.

The word "pen" is still in use, and it is even used for an electronic
stylus. Yet, the Online Etymology Dictionary says "pen" is derived
from: late 13c., from Old French pene "quill pen; feather" (12c.) and
directly from Latin penna "a feather, plume," =E2=80=A6
https://www.etymonline.com/word/pen

Perhaps the etymologies of "pen" and "dashboard" became sufficiently
opaque that their semantics shifted without major resistance. I
suspect that the meaning of "gas" in "gas pedal" is  still relatively
transparent. Hence, it will be more difficult for the semantics to
shift to include the accelerator pedal of an electric car.

Garson

> > A participant in a YouTube video discussion about the engineering of
> > electric cars started to say the phrase "when I step on the gas
> > pedal", but he stopped before saying "gas pedal". After a delay he
> > suggested "potentiometer" (I think), and another participant suggested
> > "accelerator".
> >
> > Website: YouTube
> > Title: Sandy Munro: Model 3 manufacturing, Model Y wiring, and EV
> > competition
> > Date: Aug 19, 2019
> > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Di93VJ1PEp6o
> >
> > Garson
> >
> >
>
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