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Is a truck a car?
Over coffee this morning, my 8-year-old daughter and I have been engaged in a raucous, all-consuming debate. She’s convinced that a truck is a car—they’re both on four wheels, they both carry things, etc. I think she’s clearly nuts, as a truck is **a truck** and a car is **a car**...right? Is a truck a car?
Jason Tushinski · Updated on
Reviewed by Shannon Martin, Licensed Insurance Agent.
We all love an intellectual morning rumble over a hot cup of joe, but we’re sorry to inform you that, in this case, you’ve been bested by your second-grader—technically speaking, a truck is a car, as car is a broad term short for carriage, itself derived from the word carry, which is what both cars and trucks do, whether it’s carrying people or goods. So technically, yes—a truck is a car.
As cars became more commonplace in early 20th century America, they started to replace horsedrawn carriages (how we miss you, fine equines), and cars simply became a short form, or slang, to refer to these new kinds of motorized carriages.
With time, cars became more common, and eventually, subcategories of cars popped up—trucks, much bigger “carriages” designed to carry goods rather than people, became a familiar sight, as did other wheeled devices built to carry all sorts of things in different ways (vans, SUVs, convertibles, etc). All unique and all different modes of vehicles. But at their core? Cars, just moving things and people in different ways.
Clearly, your 8-year-old has been studying her etymology—what exactly have you been doing all this time? Working?
Whatever it is you are doing, remember to protect your car or truck (which is really a bigger car), with a robust
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