Comments on: Crank

By: ron browncloud

ron browncloud — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 14:47:05 +0000

In the early 60′s I bought a 1940 2 door Delux Chevy coup. (For 50.00 dollars!) I was surprised to see that the grill design afforded a hole in which an old fashioned metal crank could be inserted. I lifted the hood, and sure enough, right there in the front of the engine block I could clearly see where the end of the crank would be inserted. I was both pleased and fasinated at the same time. It seemed that it had been 2o years (or so) since the manual crank had been used on cars.

By: nikki miller

nikki miller — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 18:18:13 +0000

i was only needing to know what crack crank on my car means.

By: Joan Jett

Joan Jett — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 20:56:18 +0000

Now I’m REALLY depressed. I didn’t take to kindly to being faced with my 40th birthday, and now I have this to deal with.

I honestly thought this question was asking how the word crank (v) came to be applied to cranking a car, i.e. with a crank (n).

Do you mean to tell me that it is not common knowledge that the first cars had to be cranked? Doesn’t anybody watch “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” anymore?

Wow. I need to go lie down.

By: Deep Candiru

Deep Candiru — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 23:48:45 +0000

How is it I’m just finding your site now? Brilliant stuff!

I am old enough to have a good collection of vinyl LPs and young enough to have a pretty healthy stock of CDs. I refer to them all as “albums,” not from a stubbornness to keep alive an archaic term, but because I view the word “album” as simply meaning “a collection.” The basic definitions supplied by an online search of the American Heritage Dictionary and WordNet, though perhaps not as authoritative as some sources, support this view.