[Ads-l] U-turn (1907)

[Amy West]

On 10/18/22 00:00, ADS-L automatic digest system wrote:
> Date:    Mon, 17 Oct 2022 20:27:27 -0400
> From:    Ben Zimmer<bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject: U-turn (1907)
>
> OED3 has "U-turn" from 1915 (entry updated in Mar. 2021).
>
> ---
> https://books.google.com/books?id=M4lCAAAAYAAJ
> Claude Goodman Johnson, _Roads Made Easy by Picture and Pen, Vol. 1_ (1907)
> p. 136:
> And the Maidstone Road is easily joined by proceeding on leaving either
> hotel in the same direction as that of arrival there for a few yards, then
> making a U turn to the left and bearing right down a narrow leafy lane.
> p. 143:
> At the bottom where there is a triangular shrub enclosure take a U turn.


<snip>


>
> Previously known as a "U-shaped turn" (at least in the "hairpin turn"
> road-racing sense):
>
> ---
> https://www.newspapers.com/clip/111483119/u-shaped-turn/
> New York Times, Nov. 27, 1903, p. 1, col. 3
> The road is almost straight until about a quarter of a mile from the start,
> where there is a short double curve followed at the extreme top by a
> U-shaped turn which proves very trying to all ascending vehicles.
> ---
>

Neat! Did not realize that there was this semantic shift. Now we've got 
"U-turn" to refer specifically to the turn made by a car within a 
roadway to reverse direction on that roadway (and seems to be done by 
mostly stupid drivers in Worcester on busy multi-lane roads) and 
"hairpin turn" to refer to the turn that a roadway itself makes to 
reverse direction. In MA, there's a really nice "↶ hairpin turn" sign on 
Rte. 2 just above (literally) North Adams.

---Amy West

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