stackyFACTS
Transport

Your car's name comes from an ancient war chariot

HERE’S THE INTERESTING PART

Next time you're stuck in your Prius, just pretend you're a fearsome Celtic warrior. The word 'car' is derived from the Latin 'carrus,' which itself was stolen from the Gaulish 'karros,' literally meaning a chariot or wagon. So functionally, your boring morning commute to your mid-level corporate accounting job shares a direct linguistic lineage with ancient barbarians rolling into bloody combat.

Your car's name comes from an ancient war chariot
STACKY / Transport
One discovery leads to another.

Keep exploring facts in this topic.

Transport →
STACKY FOR IPHONE

A bigger world.
One discovery
at a time.

Keep discovering with Stacky. Interesting facts in an app that is always within reach.

Download on the App Store
ONE MORE DISCOVERY?

Keep exploring

All in this topic →
Automobile safety regulations require modern cars to be incredibly massive compared to their older counterparts to cram in all the heavy protective roll cages and impact crumple zones.
Transport

Automobile safety regulations require modern cars to be incredibly massive compared to their older counterparts to cram in all the heavy protective roll cages and impact crumple zones.

Automobile safety regulations require modern cars to be incredibly massive compared to their older counterparts to cram in all the heavy protective roll cages…

Discover more
The first car race came almost as soon as cars did
Transport

The first car race came almost as soon as cars did

It is a fundamental law of human nature that as soon as two people own the same thing, they must immediately figure out whose is better. In 1895, a handful of…

Discover more
Why your dashboard icons look the way they do
Transport

Why your dashboard icons look the way they do

Those cryptic little icons glowing on your dashboard aren’t just random doodles dreamed up by designers—they actually carry the DNA of the industrial…

Discover more
Tarmac was once a brand name
Transport

Tarmac was once a brand name

Just like Kleenex or Dumpster, 'Tarmac' is a victim of its own success. Short for tarmacadam, it was patented in 1901 by Edgar Hooley, who realized that…

Discover more
Why has the blaring sound of a car alarm become almost entirely useless at preventing vehicle theft today?
Transport

Why has the blaring sound of a car alarm become almost entirely useless at preventing vehicle theft today?

Why has the blaring sound of a car alarm become almost entirely useless at preventing vehicle theft today?

Discover more
Personal automobiles remain completely stationary and parked for roughly ninety-five percent of their operational lifespan, making them one of the most inefficient capital investments a human being can make.
Transport

Personal automobiles remain completely stationary and parked for roughly ninety-five percent of their operational lifespan, making them one of the most inefficient capital investments a human being can make.

Personal automobiles remain completely stationary and parked for roughly ninety-five percent of their operational lifespan, making them one of the most…

Discover more
StackyMore discoveries in the app
Download on the App Store