Chrysti The Wordsmith: Automobile Words

Greetings and welcome to Christie the wordsmith. The invention and proliferation of the automobile in the early 20th century required scores of new and retrofitted terms to denominate the technology as the automobile drove its way through the heart of our country. The words it inspired were on the lips of every American. Motel is a word that owes its popularity to the invention of the auto. This word made its linguistic debut in 1925 in San Louis Obispo California where separate cottages with attached garages were offered to the overnight motor guests. This California establishment was the first to be called a motel. The word being a blend of motor and hotel. Jaywalk is another term inspired by the automobile culture. A jay walker crosses busy streets disregarding traffic regulations this term was inspired by the blue jay a bird often associated with rural living. Jay is an early term meaning rustic or hick ignorant of the traffic patterns of busy streets. The visiting country folk are Jay's wandering across thoroughfares imperiling

themselves and motorists. The term dashboard referring to the panel mounted beneath the windshield of a car was originally a plank mounted on the front of a horse drawn carriage to prevent mud from being dashed up from the horse's hooves into the vehicle. The evolution of the term dashboard is an example of an old word accommodating new technology. I'm Christie the wordsmith from Montana State University in Bozeman Christie the wordsmith is sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Zoot enterprises a high tech firm in Bozeman Montana offering challenging careers and innovative solutions for the financial services industry. Zoot web dot com.