JALOPY

bus, jalopy, heap

(noun) a car that is old and unreliable; “the fenders had fallen off that old bus”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Apparently all dictionaries say that the etymology is unknown. Perhaps from Jalapa, Mexico, to whose scrap yards used cars were often sent from New Orleans starting in the 1920s. First recorded written use in 1924.

Noun

jalopy (plural jalopies)

(US, dated) An old, dilapidated or unpretentious automobile.

(US, dated, slang) A hip, cool, groovy automobile.

Synonyms

• banger, beater, bucket of bolts, clunker, crate, flivver, hooptie, junker, rattletrap, rustbucket, tin Lizzie,lemon

Source: Wiktionary



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Word of the Day

2 April 2025

COVERT

(adjective) secret or hidden; not openly practiced or engaged in or shown or avowed; “covert actions by the CIA”; “covert funding for the rebels”


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Coffee Trivia

The word “coffee” entered the English language in 1582 via the Dutch “koffie,” borrowed from the Ottoman Turkish “kahve,” borrowed in turn from the Arabic “qahwah.” The Arabic word qahwah was traditionally held to refer to a type of wine.

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