The “Mechanic Dialect”

[Jared]

So I am a college student studying English. I have a linguistics class project that I believe you guys can help me with. In any profession, there is what is known as jargon (a type of slang used in a specific profession). What I would really appreciate from you guys is if you could list some jargon and its meaning for the mechanic/technician profession, I would be really helpful!

Getting into the mechanical world has been so fun and helpful that I would love to share it with others, and get an “A” in my class :cheer: ! Thanks everyone!

Topic

[Andrew Button]

Yea. Here are some…

Food truck, we call them roach coaches. Crescent wrench is a knucklebuster. A ford 8 or 9 inch dropout center is pumpkin. A ford 351 with canted valves is Cleveland straight valves is Windsor. Mix those two and it’s a clevor. Small block Chevy is always a mouse, big Chevy is a rat. A Chrysler 426 hemi is an elephant. An intake for a racing a hemi is a rat roaster. An m22 4 speed is rock crusher. A camaro is an f body. A mustang between 1979 and 1993 is a fox. Challenger is an e body, duster, dart, a body, roadrunner/super bee is a b body. A jaguar is a shaguar. Go listen to these songs…., racing in the streets by Bruce Springsteen, little deuce coupe or shutdown from the beach boys or a song called little gto, they are filled with car slang expressions.

[Bluesnut]

If crude language is allowable, the term “POS” is applied by many mechanics to the cars they wrestle day in and day out. Familiarity breeds contempt to resurrect an old phrase.

At one dealership where I worked and which carried three lines of cars one line (Subaru) was generally referred to as “Sxxt Sponges”.

If crassness is not allowable my bad but it can be a crude world out in the shop………….. :woohoo:

To clean it up a bit an automatic transmission may be referred to as a “slush box”, a cylinder bore may be called a “hole”, and a catalytic converter may be simply called a “cat”.

[Mike]

“Jargon” tends to drift and mean different things to different people, depending on geographic region, the generation of the user, and the nature of your mentors/teachers.

For instance, somebody has equated “knucklebuster” with “crescent wrench”. To me, a knucklebuster is any frozen/siezed fastener, or a machine with inadequate clearance room for hands and tools. And I understand a “slush box” to specifically be the old 2-speed GM Powerglide transmission, not just any automatic transmission.

Nothing is carved in stone, except for “POS”. That one is universal.

[Christopher]

A lot of enthusiasts use the first few digits of the VIN number after the CoO/manufacturer numbers. For instance the Honda guys, a CB7 is a 1990-1993 Accord.

Don’t assume all lingo is correct though! I was putting some oil in my car, which happens to be fuel injected, and a guy walks up behind me and says he likes my racing carburetor vents.

I kinda looked at him funny and asked wtf that was, and he pointed at my short ram intake pipe! Needless to say I laughed. A lot.

Here’s a list!
http://www.hotrodsandclassics.net/hotrodslang.htm

[Gary]

I use the term “POS” quite a bit as do my coworkers.
“Rack it” means put a car on the lift
“Oh boy who done goofed” means the tow truck is here with a comeback
“Roach coach”: The food truck
“Slam it” Means whack it with a hammer

[Author]

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