After having been discussed for several years, free delivery was extended to rural areas in 1896. Free rural delivery brought newspapers, magazines, and mail-order catalogs to farm families, breaking their isolation and "urbanizing" the outlook of rural America.
Rural Free Delivery, RFD, 1892; used in discussions four years
before it went into effect. mail order business, 1875; mail order catalog, 1883; mail order house,1906. The mail order business mushroomed after RFD was
introduced; Sears Roebuck entered the mail order business in1895.
And last, but not least, people have been playing and giggling about the kissing game post office since 1851, just four years after they began "kissing" those new lick-and-stick adhesive stamps. [10. p.535 ]
2.6. Indians
The word Indian comes from the most celebrated mistake in history. When Columbus discovered the Western Hemisphere he thought he had reached the Indies of Asia; hence the Caribbean Islands were called the West Indies and their inhabitants Indians. The word then spread to include all the aboriginal peoples of the Americas. [9. p.195 ]
The Indian words Americans still use include: (1) thousands of place names; (2) scores of words about Indians used in our history and mythology; and (3) hundreds of names of plants, animals, and landscapes which have become part of American everyday speech. [9. p.196 ]
The words Americans use in talking about Indians include some real Indian words plus others from our conceptions and misconceptions of Indians, words from American history and from American fiction:
brave (the French word for an Indian warrior), has had wide American use since 1819. Before then we usually used the term Indian warrior.
firewater, 1817 is the earliest recorded use of this "Indian talk" word for whiskey. It may be a translation of the Algonquian scoutiouabou, "fire water."
Honest Indian?, "is it true?" 1851; Honest Injun "on my honor," 1892, originally sarcastic use, because Indians were considered dishonest.
Indian country, 1664; Indian land, 1658; Indian territory, 1677; Indian Territory, 1828, the territory, now Oklahoma, set aside by the government for the Five Civilized Tribes.
Indian nation, a tribe, 1622. Tribe is a 13th century English word, used to refer to the tribes of Israel and to Roman tribes long before it was used to refer to aboriginal groups in Africa and the Americas. The earliest settlers usually spoke of an Indian nation rather than an Indian tribe.
paleface, 1822. James Fenimore Cooper put this term for White man into the mouths of his Indian characters. He probably invented it.
papoose (Algonquian for baby, child). Colonists were calling Indian babies this by 1633.
peace pipe, 1760; earlier it was called a pipe of peace, 1705. This long, decorated ceremonial pipe was first called a calumet, in 1678 (via Canadian French from French calumeau, reed, any plant with straw suitable for a pipe stem). Calumet is also a place name for a river, county, village, etc., in Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan, indicating places where such reeds grew. [9. p.197 ]
Indian words for plants, animals, and landscapes began to appear in American language as soon as the colonists landed and began to ask the Indians "What's that?" Most answers were in Algonquian, the most widespread family of Indian languages, spoken by most Indians of the eastern half of the U.S. Since the Indians hadn't yet invented writing, and since each local tribe might have its own pronunciation of any given word, the colonists had a hard time trying to spell and pronounce Indian words. Often they shortened the Indian word or phrase (as quatas quash became "squash"), tried to pronounce the parts of the word like familiar English words (a process called folk etymology, making wejack or otchig into "woodchuck"), or took a whole Indian sentence or clause and made one word out of it. Virginia's Captain John Smith introduced many such words into English, beginning with his written description of Virginia in 1608. If you had been in Jamestown, Plymouth, or on the Kentucky frontier, or had crossed the prairie in a covered wagon, you would have heard your fellow Americans using a good many Indian words. Today about 130 Algonquian words, mainly for plants and animals, are still in use, plus a sprinkling of words from other Indian language families. [9. p.201 ]
The most frequently heard include:
bayou (via French from Choctaw bayuk, stream, creek), 1766
caribou (via Canadian French from Micmae khalibu or something that sounded like maccaribpoo, "he who paws the snow"), 1610.
catalpa tree (Creek kutuhlpa, "winged head," referring to the flowers), 1730; shortened to catalpa, 1785.
hickory (Algonquian pawcohiccora, a dish of pounded hickory nuts and water), as pocketxhicory, pokahickory, 1618, modern spelling, 1670. Hickory nut, 1670. Hickory switch, 1734, for whipping children, later called a hickory stick. Hickory was used to mean firm, unyielding by 1800, giving us such nicknames as "Old Hickory" for Andrew Jackson and such terms as hickory cloth and hickory shirt in the 1840s, referring to a strong cotton fabric. By 1848 hickory also meant a hickory walking stick and by 1900 was used to mean a baseball bat.
hominy, 1629; pone, 1612; samp, 1643; succotash, 1751. Many of our "corn" words come from the Indians; these words are discussed in detail at the entry Corn.
poke means several different plants to us because it is our final pronunciation of several different Indian words. Poke originally was a name for the tobacco plant (from Algonquian uppoivoc) which we spelled apooke in 1618. Other poke plants get their name from a Virginian Indian word puccoon, a plant they used for dyeing. Thus we have pokeroot by 1687; pokeweed, 1751; pokeberr,. By 1778 poke also meant the skunk cabbage. Poke greens was first recorded in 1848 and poke salad in 1880.
skunk (Algonquian skekakwa, squnck, "mammal who urinates" or sprays), 1588 by explorers, 1634 by colonists. It has also been called a polecat in America since the 1600s, after a related European animal. Skunk cabbage, 1751. Skunk was used to mean a contemptible person by 1840. To skunk, to defeat completely, keep an opponent from scoring, appeared in 1843.
squash (Narragansett asquatasquash, "eaten raw"), 1642. Winter squash, summer squash, 1750s; crook-neck squash, 1818, from its shape; Hubbard squash, late 1860s, from Mrs. Elizabeth Hub-bard of Massachusetts, who first cultivated it; zucchini squashy
toboggan (via Canadian French from Algonquian tabakun, drag, hand sled), 1829; tobogganing, as a sport, 1855; toboggan slide, a playground slide for children, 1890s; toboggan cap, a stocking cap, especially with ends to wrap around the neck as a muffler, 1902.
wapiti, the North American elk, named in 1806 by the American physician and naturalist Benjamin Barton (using the Shawnee word for the animal, literally meaning "white rump"). This word never replaced the less precise word elk, which had been used in America since 1635.
whiskey-jack (Cree wisketjan), the Canadian jay. This name was first recorded by John J. Audubon, in 1839.
woodchuck (Algonquian wejack, Chippewa otchig, Cree otchek, the fisher), 1674. This is a prime example of folk etymology, of pronouncing strange words to resemble familiar words or word elements; it has nothing to do with "wood" or "chuck" except in sound. [9. p.202 ]
In addition to the above, most Americans know about 50 names for Indian tribes from Algonquin to Zuni, plus such Indian words or words associated with Indians as caucus (1773, probably from Algonqman caucauasu, counselor), mackinaw (1820s as a blanket, 1902 as a jacket, from Ojibway mitchimakinak, "great turtle," which became the name of the strait between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, an island on this strait, and a trading post where this heavy wool, plaid blanket, was common), pemmican (1791, Cree pimikkan from pimii, fat, grease), and podunk (Mohe-gan for "neck of land," used as a place name by Indians in Connecticut and Massachusetts, as recorded in 1666, then used by Whites to mean a small or insignificant town or rural region by 1841). Such words as potato and tobacco are West Indies Indian words and tomato and chocolate are Aztec Indian words.[9. p.203]
2.7. Car
Americans thank Julius Caesar for the word car. He personally borrowed a Celtic word sounding something like "karra" to name his chariots, and from that and its Latinized carrus/carra, which came to mean wagon, cart, Americans get the English words chariot, carriage, and car. The colonists knew car only as a poetic word meaning chariot, as in the "Cars of the Gods." It wasn't until the 1820s and 30s that common people talked much about cars, by which they then meant railroad cars, horsecars and, by the 1860s, streetcars. Since about 1900, however, car has had one chief meaning to most Americans: an automobile.
The word automobile (Greek auto-, self + mobile, moving) arrived in the 1870s with the appearance of the steam automobile, also called a steamer (the British had called it a steam carriage since its beginnings in the 1830s). The Stanley Steamer, also known as the flying teapot, was manufactured from 1896 to 1925 by the Stanley twins, Francis and Freelan, and was the most talked-about automobile of the late 1890s. Various electric automobiles, going 25-40 miles at 15 mph on a battery charge, were also widely talked about at the time, but the gasoline automobile, first successfully built in the U.S. by the Duryea brothers in 1893, had few supporters-most people remembered that the famous Electrobat had beaten a Duryea gasoline automobile in a much-discussed 1895 race. But be it driven by electricity, steam, or gasoline, automobile was the word generally used in the late 1890s, and was already shortened to auto. Some of the over 50 inventors-designers-manufacturers of automobiles in 1898 were, however, using other terms, including
autopher, autovic, autobat, automotive, diamote, motorfly, self motor, and locomotive car. [9. p.75 ]
The first definition of motor-car appeared in the 1890 edition of the Century Dictionary: "Motor-car ... a car which carries its own propelling mechanism, as an electric motor. . . ." Motor-car waj soon shortened to car and by 1910 car had replaced automobile a the more common word, though automobile, motorcar, and another early word for it, machine, were favored by some people well into the 1930s.
By 1900 the car was replacing the bicycle as a fad, and enthusiasts willingly donned veils and the clothes-protecting driving smocks called dusters (words used with a special meaning by auto- mobile buffs since the 1870s) and goggles (which came in the 1890s). Since before 1890 driver had become the accepted word for one who could manipulate a car, although chauffeur was also in use (from French chauffer, to heat, originally meaning a stoker and then humorously applied to the driver of a steam automobile). By the end of the 1890s new names and words having to do with cars came thick and fast, and talking about cars became one of America's favorite pastimes—today new "car" words still appear every year and we still talk about cars avidly. It's been a long love affair. A sampling of some car names heard over and over in America includes:
Packard. In 1898 James Ward Packard was so disgusted when the new car he purchased from Alexander Winton, "bicycle and automobile manufacturer," broke down as he drove it home, that he decided to build his own. His 1899 car was a buggy-type, one-cylinder, 12-horsepower single-seater with a steering tiller.
Buick, famous since 1902 when bathtub maker David Dunbar Buick built the first car having a water-cooled, valve-in-head engine.
Cadillac, first built in 1902 by perfectionist Henry M, Leland and named after the French explorer.
Studebaker, first appeared in 1904, when only one of the five famous Studebaker brothers was still living. They had built a blacksmith shop into one of the country's largest wagon and harness businesses, which had been a major supplier of the Union army during the Civil War.
General Motors, established by William C. Durant around 1909 from Oldsmobile, Buick, Cadillac, and many smaller companies.
The Model T, introduced as Henry Ford's ninth model in 1909 (the first Ford was built in 1903), it sold for $850 "In any color you choose as long as it's black." In 1914 Ford introduced the electric conveyor belt for the assembly of cars, and by 1926 mass production had lowered the price of a Model T to $350. Over 15 million Model Ts had been sold by 1927, when the Model A replaced it.
Chevrolet, introduced in 1911 as the first six-cylinder touring car, both the car and the Chevrolet Motor Company being named after and designed by former racing car driver Louis Chevrolet.
Cord. E. L. Cord produced his L-29 in 1929 and the classic^ 810 in 1937, introducing new designs, superchargers, and the disappearance of the running board.
Tucker. In 1947 the Tucker Corporation displayed pilot models of its rear-engine, three-headlight (the middle one turned with the steering wheel) Tucker Torpedo, later called the Tucker 48, Due to legal involvements, widely thought to have been initiated by "the big three" car manufacturers (Ford, GM, and Chrysler) supported by some government agencies, the car was never sold.
Edsel, introduced with much fanfare by the Ford Motor Company in 1957, it was one of the most talked-about, joked-about flops in automobile history. Named after Edsel Ford, 1893-1943, son of Henry. [9. p.76 ]
In addition to talking about specific cars, Americans have constantly talked about parts of cars, types and styles of cars, and words for things associated with cars, using terms such as:
automobile tire, 1877 (wagon tires date from the 15th century); jack, 1877; tread, 1877, retread, 1890; blowout, 1915; balloon tire, early 1920s; tubeless tire, introduced by B. F. Goodrich, 1948; radial ply tire, 1967.
automobile accident, 1882; car crash, 1915; hit-and-run, 1920s.
fender, 1883; hood, 1906; running board, 1923; rumble seat, 1931.
crank, 1883; self-starter, 1894.
runabout, 1891; touring car, 1903; station wagon, 1 904; roadster, 1908; coupe, 1918; sedan, 1920; sports car, 1925.
American Automobile Association, AAA, 1900.
license plate, 1901, when they were first issued by New York State.
garage, for housing an automobile, 1902. [9. p.77 ]
road hog, early 1900s, had been applied first to bicyclists in the 1890s.
gas, 1905, from the 1865 word gasoline, which was originally considered merely a dangerous by-product in the making of kerosene.
spark plug, 1908, used to mean an energetic leader by the 1930s.
give her the gas, 1912; step on the gas, tramp on the gas, 1916; step on it, 1922; give it the gas, 1942. These replaced the older "don't spare the horses."
motorcade, 1912.
flivver, 1914 (the word originally meant a failure in the 1900s); heap, 1915; tin lizzie, 1915, originally meant only the Model T (Lizzie is from the common name for a Black maid who, like the car, worked hard all week and prettied up on Sundays); crate, 1920, following the World War I use for an airplane; jalopy, 1924; gas buggy, 1925; rattletrap, 1929.
traffic cop, 1915; ticket, 1930.
filling station, 1915; service station, 1922.