Wiktionary

jalopy

English

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Etymology

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Unknown. Perhaps from Jalapa, Mexico (now Xalapa), to whose scrapyards used cars were often sent from New Orleans starting in the 1920s. First recorded written use in 1924.[1][2]

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /d͡ʒəˈlɒ.pi/
  • Audio (US):(file)

Noun

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jalopy (plural jalopies)

  1. (US, dated) An old, dilapidated or unpretentious automobile.
    Synonyms: banger, beater; see also Thesaurus:old car
    • 1957, Jack Kerouac, chapter 1, in On the Road, Viking Press, →OCLC:
      Dean is the perfect guy for the road because he was actually born on the road, when his parents were passing through Salt Lake City in 1926, in a jalopy, on their way to Los Angeles.
    • 2003, Terrance Dicks, Barry Letts, chapter 22, in Deadly Reunion:
      There's only a rough track and I doubt if that jalopy of yours will make it.
    • 2009 November 20, Stephen King, “Raymond Carver’s Life and Stories”, in The New York Times‎[1], →ISSN:
      Through most of those early years of restless travel, he dragged his two children and his long-suffering wife, Maryann […] behind him like tin cans tied to the bumper of a jalopy that no car dealer in his right mind would take in trade.
  2. (US, dated, slang) A hip, cool, groovy automobile.
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Translations

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References

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  1. ^ Michael Quinion (1996–2024) “Jalopy”, in World Wide Words.
  2. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “jalopy”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Further reading

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