Robert Lieblich
Guest
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| Posted: Sat May 28, 2005 7:02 am
Post subject: Re: Etymology of "TAXI" |
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James Silverton wrote:
| Quote: |
Hello, All!
There has been a rather extended discussion in rec.travel.europe
on the etymology of the word "taxi" that might interest people
in this ng. The thread was entitled "Where does the word TAXI
come from" and seems to have ended somewhat unresolved. One
source proposed was "taximetre cabriolet" but the originator and
country are disputed and the other is the German hereditary mail
monopoly of the Thurn und Taxis family.
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The authoritative online sources are unanimous in opting for
"taximeter" or "taxicab." The German thing is an after-the-fact
invention. There's a lot of this false retro-etymology going around.
Here's an excellent summary from the Online Etymological Dictionary
<http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?l=t&p=4>:
taxi 1907, shortening of taximeter cab (introduced in London in March
1907), from taximeter "automatic meter to record the distance and
fare" (1898), from Fr. taximètre, from Ger. Taxameter (1890), coined
from M.L. taxa "tax, charge." An earlier Eng. form was taxameter
(1894), used in horse-drawn cabs. The verb is first recorded 1911,
from earlier noun use as slang for "aircraft." Taxicab is also first
attested 1907. Taxi dancer "woman whose services may be hired at a
dance hall" is recorded from 1930. Taxi squad in U.S. football is
1966, from a former Cleveland Browns owner who gave his reserves jobs
with his taxicab company to keep them paid and available ["Dictionary
of American Slang"], but other explanations (short-term hire or
shuttling back and forth from the main team) seem possible.
If that doesn't do it, some of you guys need to rethink your
epistemological methodology.
--
Bob Lieblich
No fan of Travis Bickle |
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Don Phillipson
Guest
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| Posted: Sat May 28, 2005 7:15 am
Post subject: Re: Etymology of "TAXI" |
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"James Silverton" <not.jim.silverton@erols.com> wrote in message
news:mKqdndL2EczJJwrfRVn-2Q@comcast.com...
| Quote: | The thread was entitled "Where does the word TAXI
come from" and seems to have ended somewhat unresolved. One
source proposed was "taximetre cabriolet" but the originator and
country are disputed and the other is the German hereditary mail
monopoly of the Thurn und Taxis family.
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The latter was not supported by earliest OED traces, to
Taxameter invented in Germany in 1890, introduced in
Britain in 1898 (cf. tax = tariff, fee etc.) The point is
that this was the first gadget that calculated the amount
payable automatically (by time and/or mileage) rather
than by prior negotiation between cabman and client.
--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)
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Scout
Guest
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| Posted: Sat May 28, 2005 3:34 pm
Post subject: Re: Etymology of "TAXI" |
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"James Silverton" <not.jim.silverton@erols.com> wrote in message
news:mKqdndL2EczJJwrfRVn-2Q@comcast.com...
| Quote: | Hello, All!
There has been a rather extended discussion in rec.travel.europe on the
etymology of the word "taxi" that might interest people in this ng. The
thread was entitled "Where does the word TAXI come from" and seems to have
ended somewhat unresolved. One source proposed was "taximetre cabriolet"
but the originator and country are disputed and the other is the German
hereditary mail monopoly of the Thurn und Taxis family.
James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland, USA
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from The AHD:
"Taxi" is much easier to yell into the traffic than taximeter cabriolet, the
form from which taxi has ultimately been shortened. Taximeter comes from the
French word taximètre, ultimately derived from Medieval Latin tax³re, "to
tax," and the French combining form -metre. Taximètre originally meant, as
did its English companion, "a device for measuring distance traveled," but
this device was soon adapted to measure waiting time and compute and
indicate the fare as well. Taximeter, first recorded in English in 1898 (an
earlier form, taxameter, borrowed through French from German, was recorded
in 1894), joined forces with cab, a shortening (1827) of cabriolet, "a
two-wheeled, one-horse carriage." This word, first found in English in 1766,
came from French cabriolet, of the same meaning, which in turn was derived
from cabriole, "caper," because the vehicle moves along with a springing
motion. Cab, the shortened form, was applied to other vehicles as well,
including eventually public conveyances. Fitted with a taximeter, such a
vehicle, first horse-drawn and then motorized, was known as a taxameter cab
(1899), a taximeter cab (1907), and a taxicab (1907), among other names,
including taxi (1907), a shortening of either taximeter or taxicab.
Interestingly enough, the fullest form possible, taximeter cabriolet, is not
recorded until 1959.
Scout |
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