Quote:
Originally Posted by CamaroSkooter
Can someone explain the "Shooting Brake" phrase?  |
You have wiki...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting-brake
You have the Free Dictionary online...
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/shooting+brake
And you have Jalopnik's... (basically a 2-door station wagon)
http://jalopnik.com/5872197/why-is-i...-station-wagon
"
Shooting brake has a more interesting etymology. In my head, since shooting brakes tend to be fast, 2-door sportscar/wagon hybrids, I assumed "shooting" was a reference to speed. It's not. It's more a reference to things like formal, ritual fox slaughter, as "shooting" refers to a car to carry shooting parties. As in groups of upper class folks with rifles, out for a jaunty day of killing things. The "break" or "brake" part comes from a particular sort of carriage chassis used to "break" willful horses. The French use of "break" for a station wagon is basically the same, coming from the French term break de chasse, or "hunting break."