5 ms·

In Texas, can confirm. It's also crazy how much they spend on them. Pretty much a second mortgage for a lot of people based on income.. Can fit a lot in my hat

by Rapzid 8y ago

In Texas, can confirm. It's also crazy how much they spend on them. Pretty much a second mortgage for a lot of people based on income.. Can fit a lot in my hatchback and would just do what they do in New Zealand on the odd occasion I need more; rent a truck or van for the day.

_underfl0w_ 8y ago
Also in Texas, can also confirm. My coworker dropped the phrase "Texas Cadillac" the other day. Couldn't cringe hard enough. I hope to be able to afford an electric car for my next car purchase - for now, just a tiny Mazda stick-shift. Kinda having second thoughts after reading that comment about battery production though...
- xnyan 8y ago
  > "Texas Cadillac" Also known as the redneck cadillac.
  - thoughtpalette 8y ago
    I just learned that the term "redneck" actually comes from an old coal miner union strike that showed solidarity by using red kerchiefs hanging around their necks. I can't use that term in the same way ever again, fwiw.
    - SECProto 8y ago
      > I just learned that the term "redneck" actually comes from an old coal miner union strike that showed solidarity by using red kerchiefs hanging around their necks. Curious, I reasearched this. While that was indeed one use of the term (especially re: the West Virginia mine war in 1921), the etymology for the term as we use it is from 1900ish, 20 years earlier. And it refers, more generally, to farmers and working class folk whose necks would be red from sunburn (wikipedia, well cited in the article on redneck). Stereotyping rural or working class or poor people using the term "redneck" is bad in its own right, but I dont think it originates from the strike of a coal miner's union. But thanks for leading me to do some research, it was interesting!
      - tomcam 8y ago
        > Stereotyping rural or working class or poor people using the term "redneck" is bad in its own right Much of my family is made up of these people. And to a person they call themselves… rednecks.
        SECProto 8y ago
        And do these relatives say to urban snobs, "Please, I want you to dismissively refer to me as a redneck"? Because context of usage is important, and changes meaning.
      - thoughtpalette 8y ago
        Ahh thanks for digging deeper and providing insight on this issue. I'll admit, I only heard the description through a documentary and did not do any digging of my own. Now I know :}
- Symbiote 8y ago
  In England "Chelsea tractor" means a jeep-like vehicle that never leaves paved roads. Chelsea is a very fancy area of London. The kind of place Prince Harry went to party.
  - amyjess 8y ago
    I suppose the equivalent US term is "mall crawler".
    - EADGBE 8y ago
      Perhaps in the late-nineties. Do we even have malls anymore?
chrisco255 8y ago
I used to own a Focus hatchback and was always amazed at how much I could fit in it. But everyone shitting on Texans for owning trucks is crazy. This is a huge agricultural, construction, and manufacturing state and there are plenty of non white collar office jobs that demand a solid vehicle that won't get stuck in two inches of dirt. I don't have one of those jobs but I still drive a truck, because this is Texas and also America and I earned it...so quit your whining. Bring on the electric trucks.
- SECProto 8y ago
  > But everyone shitting on Texans for owning trucks is crazy I didnt see anyone do that. I saw someone on a website complain about the price of gas to fill their truck, and someone else ask them if they considered driving something other than a truck. (honestly, "do you NEED the truck?" is a very good question. I drive a Yaris to construction sites. Wouldn't work for every job, but everyone else in my position drives a truck. It's an important question to consider.)
  - lawnchair_larry 8y ago
    There is definitely some shitting going on. It’s the same argument people make when they say people buy Apple products because they are a status symbol. And honestly, NEED is a dumb question. You can ask do you NEED just about anything. No, it’s not strictly a need, and neither is anything else nerds regularly spend their money on. All of what we buy lands somewhere on a spectrum of Need-Convenient-Frivolous, and people who don’t buy something are not going to make the same assessment as people who do. A car owner saying that a truck owner doesn’t need a truck because they get by fine without one is like a bike owner saying that a car owner doesn’t need a car because they get by fine without one.
    - SECProto 8y ago
      > It’s the same argument people make when they say people buy Apple products because they are a status symbol. A more accurate comparison would be: Apple Owner A complains about the price of apple products, Person B comes along and asks if said person has considered if they NEED an apple product. Totally reasonable. It's the initial complaint (about the cost!!!) that makes the question acceptable. Many people don't TRULY consider needs (as you rightly point out, it's a spectrum from need to frivolous). If you consider it and decide you do actually need the truck (or the apple product, or whatever) then that's totally fine. (well, tragedy of the commons global warming stuff excepted, but that's a society-level problem).

by Rapzid 8y ago

_underfl0w_ 8y ago

Also in Texas, can also confirm. My coworker dropped the phrase "Texas Cadillac" the other day. Couldn't cringe hard enough. I hope to be able to afford an electric car for my next car purchase - for now, just a tiny Mazda stick-shift. Kinda having second thoughts after reading that comment about battery production though...

xnyan 8y ago
> "Texas Cadillac" Also known as the redneck cadillac.
- thoughtpalette 8y ago
  I just learned that the term "redneck" actually comes from an old coal miner union strike that showed solidarity by using red kerchiefs hanging around their necks. I can't use that term in the same way ever again, fwiw.
  - SECProto 8y ago
    > I just learned that the term "redneck" actually comes from an old coal miner union strike that showed solidarity by using red kerchiefs hanging around their necks. Curious, I reasearched this. While that was indeed one use of the term (especially re: the West Virginia mine war in 1921), the etymology for the term as we use it is from 1900ish, 20 years earlier. And it refers, more generally, to farmers and working class folk whose necks would be red from sunburn (wikipedia, well cited in the article on redneck). Stereotyping rural or working class or poor people using the term "redneck" is bad in its own right, but I dont think it originates from the strike of a coal miner's union. But thanks for leading me to do some research, it was interesting!
    - tomcam 8y ago
      > Stereotyping rural or working class or poor people using the term "redneck" is bad in its own right Much of my family is made up of these people. And to a person they call themselves… rednecks.
      - SECProto 8y ago
        And do these relatives say to urban snobs, "Please, I want you to dismissively refer to me as a redneck"? Because context of usage is important, and changes meaning.
    - thoughtpalette 8y ago
      Ahh thanks for digging deeper and providing insight on this issue. I'll admit, I only heard the description through a documentary and did not do any digging of my own. Now I know :}
Symbiote 8y ago
In England "Chelsea tractor" means a jeep-like vehicle that never leaves paved roads. Chelsea is a very fancy area of London. The kind of place Prince Harry went to party.
- amyjess 8y ago
  I suppose the equivalent US term is "mall crawler".
  - EADGBE 8y ago
    Perhaps in the late-nineties. Do we even have malls anymore?

chrisco255 8y ago

I used to own a Focus hatchback and was always amazed at how much I could fit in it. But everyone shitting on Texans for owning trucks is crazy. This is a huge agricultural, construction, and manufacturing state and there are plenty of non white collar office jobs that demand a solid vehicle that won't get stuck in two inches of dirt. I don't have one of those jobs but I still drive a truck, because this is Texas and also America and I earned it...so quit your whining. Bring on the electric trucks.

SECProto 8y ago
> But everyone shitting on Texans for owning trucks is crazy I didnt see anyone do that. I saw someone on a website complain about the price of gas to fill their truck, and someone else ask them if they considered driving something other than a truck. (honestly, "do you NEED the truck?" is a very good question. I drive a Yaris to construction sites. Wouldn't work for every job, but everyone else in my position drives a truck. It's an important question to consider.)
- lawnchair_larry 8y ago
  There is definitely some shitting going on. It’s the same argument people make when they say people buy Apple products because they are a status symbol. And honestly, NEED is a dumb question. You can ask do you NEED just about anything. No, it’s not strictly a need, and neither is anything else nerds regularly spend their money on. All of what we buy lands somewhere on a spectrum of Need-Convenient-Frivolous, and people who don’t buy something are not going to make the same assessment as people who do. A car owner saying that a truck owner doesn’t need a truck because they get by fine without one is like a bike owner saying that a car owner doesn’t need a car because they get by fine without one.
  - SECProto 8y ago
    > It’s the same argument people make when they say people buy Apple products because they are a status symbol. A more accurate comparison would be: Apple Owner A complains about the price of apple products, Person B comes along and asks if said person has considered if they NEED an apple product. Totally reasonable. It's the initial complaint (about the cost!!!) that makes the question acceptable. Many people don't TRULY consider needs (as you rightly point out, it's a spectrum from need to frivolous). If you consider it and decide you do actually need the truck (or the apple product, or whatever) then that's totally fine. (well, tragedy of the commons global warming stuff excepted, but that's a society-level problem).