land yacht
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Noun edit
land yacht (plural land yachts)
- A vehicle used in land sailing, consisting of little more than a carriage and a sail.
- Synonyms: sail wagon, sand yacht
- (colloquial) A long, heavy, luxurious automobile, providing a comfortable ride but poor handling characteristics.
- 1978 October, Michael Lamm, “Driving the '79 General Motors Cars”, in Popular Mechanics:
- For example, will the traditional Eldorado buyer willingly step from his 5052-pound, 19-foot-long 1978 land yacht into a 1979 version weighing 1155 pounds less and measuring nearly two feet shorter? Is he willing to pay the same or more cash for this smaller, lighter car?
- 2013, Greta Olson, Criminals as Animals from Shakespeare to Lombroso:
- A frequently cited example is a “land yacht” to describe an SUV: this blend creates a structure out of the ideas behind it, suggesting that the large car moves on the road like a yacht over water
- 2017, Robert Lashley, The Mind Full:
- She owned a land yacht of a car called a Chevrolet Monte Carlo. It had the softest suspension of any car he had ridden in.
Usage notes edit
- The automotive sense is most often, but not exclusively, applied to full-size sedans and coupes of the 1960s and 1970s.