On 3/8/2013 11:29 AM, Bob Whitmire wrote:
> My guess is it refers to what we would call the tractor, sometimes known in
> country songs as bobtail or bobtail rig.
That's what I think, usage transferred from the railroad term for what would be
called a switching engine in the US to
the separate pulling part of a non-railroad truck-trailer(s) combination.
Mistaken usage here, if that is the case, as the concrete mixer truck is all
one piece, not articulated tractor and trailer.
The term donkey engine, BTW, had quite a different meaning in the NW US, still
probably derived from the English
railroad term. It was, in essence, a steam winch, that revolutionized logging
in the late 19th. century.
Etymological Moose
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What if the Hokey Pokey *IS* what it's all about?
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