Answers to age old questions?

I thought this was in interesting question, one I had no idea on how to answer. I did a little research on the etymology of the word 'taxi', and came up with this:

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.
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I added the bold.

From that, two possibilities emerge: One, that the 1911 use of the word as slang for 'aircraft' came was permutated into a verb for 'to operate an aircraft on the ground under it's own power'; and Two, that the brief nature of the ground travel of a rolling aircraft along put people in mind of the brevity and simple utility of taxicab travel

Or, perhaps it's a combination of the two.

Well, that's what I came up with. Any other theories?
 
Why do you park in the driveway and drive on the parkway?
Why are there Interstate Highways in Hawaii?
What exactly is a "jumbo shrimp"?
 
Velocipede said:
Why are there Interstate Highways in Hawaii?
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Any highway built under the auspices of the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 and funded by the federal governent is called an interstate highway, even if it doesn't cross state lines. In fact, there are many local routes that lie entirely within a single state funded by the Act.
Hawaii has three interstates - H1, H2, and H3 - which connect important military facilities on the island of Oahu.
 
Rocketman99 said:
Never thought pilot hats were remotely ugly. AFAIK, they are pretty much a carryover from military officer uniform hats. Professional is not ugly.
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Professional is not ugly, huh? Janet Reno was a professional......But you probably...........Never mind.:D
 
Why is there Braille on a drive through ATM.

There's a list of these that's been going around for years. Good question on the taxi one though. I guess CaptJim has the best answer for that one so far.

The hats are military carry-overs, as are most parts of the uniform. Quite a bit of the language used is Navy terminology...Knots, Port/Starboard, nav light colors, and many many others.
 
Rocketman99 said:
Never thought pilot hats were remotely ugly. AFAIK, they are pretty much a carryover from military officer uniform hats. Professional is not ugly.
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I thought they were a carryover form a ship captain hat, as was the rest of the airline pilot uniform. I read somewhere that Pan Am started the current uniform theme with their Clipper crews.
 
Pilot hats ugly? Ask my boyfriend how ugly he thinks it is when a woman's only clothing is the blazer and the hat!!

Ten-hut!!! :nana2:
 
WildCougar said:
The hats are the best part of the uniform...Just my .02 :p:D
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wildfreightess said:
Pilot hats ugly? Ask my boyfriend how ugly he thinks it is when a woman's only clothing is the blazer and the hat!!

Ten-hut!!! :nana2:
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Very Nice!!:D

Borat-movie-03.jpg
 
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