Jeff Wisnia wrote:

Leo Lichtman wrote:
"Jeff Wisnia" wrote: OK, so what's the etemology? Did they hold fenders
on, or fend off denting?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
It's the same etymology, Jeff. Fenders on a car are so named because
they
fend off other cars, or possibly cows. Incidentally, in Britain, fenders
really can fend off things--they are what Americans call "bumpers."


Ah yes, and I'm old enough to remember when cars HAD bumpers, not the
wussy things they still call bumpers which get scarred from their first
kiss.

Actually, those "wussy things" will take a higher speed impact without
damage other than scratches than will the ones when cars HAD bumpers. The
reason for the "wussy things" is that the government wasn't satisfied with
the strength of the existing bumpers and required that they be made
stronger--to do that they had to be made with some "give" which meant using
flexible materials which meant scratches.

Personally I think it was a bad idea--the "wussy things" work fine up to
their design speed but above that they cost a _lot_ more to fix than the
old fashioned kind because the pieces that make them able to survive
impacts at the required speed get broken and have to be replaced.

I also remember "bumper bolts"; Chromed carriage bolts which held the
old chromed bumpers onto their brackets.

Jeff


--
--John
Reply to jclarke at ae tee tee global dot net
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)