The Smokey and the Bandit trucker movies with Burt Reynolds, Every Which Way But Loose and Any Which Way You Can with Clint Eastwood, and Convoy with Kris Kristofferson were all twenty to thirty years ago, but trucker lingo continues.
Here are some terms from an article [link below], quoting a book about freight transportation (John McPhee, Uncommon Carriers, Farrar, Straus and Giroux).
See if you can match the terms up with their meanings.
1. bear
2. bucket
3. gator
4. Idaho tuxedo
5. lollipop
6. speedo
7. surface street
a. bib overalls
b. blown-tire strip in road
c. dump truck
d. interstate-highway mile marker
e. non-interstate highway
f. police officer
g. speeding ticket
Answers after the jump and in the article (courant.com/features/lifestyle/hc-words0829.artaug29,0,1562831.story?coll=hc-headlines-life) [EDIT (5/17/10): dead link].
Answers
1. bear – f. police officer
2. bucket – c. dump truck
3. gator – b. blown-tire strip in road
4. Idaho tuxedo – a. bib overalls
5. lollipop – d. interstate-highway mile marker
6. speedo – g. speeding ticket
7. surface street – e. non-interstate highway