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guest_
· 4 years ago
· FIRST
Being pedantic- it’s a truck, not a car. Being REALLY pedantic it is most likely a full or partial tube chassis off road racing vehicle. But let’s just say “truck” as it is likely classed as a racing truck or “Baja truck” or “trophy truck” etc.
oppailoli
· 4 years ago
So being pedantic, what are their definition?
guest_
· 4 years ago
What are which “their” definition? If you are asking what the speakers definition is- I can’t tell you. If you are asking for the definition of “trophy truck” etc- that is too long a subject and I would recommend google. The short version is that some of these terms are ill defined or the definition lies with sanctioning bodies which may or may not have nuances. Likewise- “car” and “truck” have some nuance- and ultimately the distinction can be tricky- but the appropriate “catch all” in a case where one cannot be ruled out and precision is used, would be “vehicle.” That is- if we want to get pedantic about it.
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oppailoli
· 4 years ago
With "their" I was mostly referring to "truck" and "car" because personally I would refer to vehicle in the picture as a "car", but as someone interested in language I am ready to be corrected.
guest_
· 4 years ago
Ah. Understood. It is passable to say “car” as the definition of “car” is rather loose in formal English. So it isn’t incorrect to do so- but by the dictionary definition of “car” we could call many vehicles that most people do not consider cars “a car.” The word comes to us from “carriage” and really- just about anything that moves on wheels can almost be called a “car” without being wrong by the formal definition of the word.
guest_
· 4 years ago
In American English (can’t speak for countries that don’t measure freedom in inches), in common speech amongst the general population- “car” would be used to refer to most any road going vehicle, usually with 4 or more wheels, and most people would understand the meaning.
guest_
· 4 years ago
The nuance comes in when we are dealing with a need for distinction- hence it is more about precision than correctness. If you wanted to point out a vehicle of note- something you want someone to look at- , you like that one, you see your friend in it, you’re in the freeway and notice a vehicle in the group traveling is behaving erratic and want to warn the driver of the vehicle you are in- etc. if you say “watch out for that car!” If they process “car” as a passenger sedan etc- they will look for one, and may miss the pickup truck you were referring to.
guest_
· 4 years ago
Likewise, if you wanted to pick up some furniture too large for your vehicle, and asked “may I borrow your car this weekend?” There is room that if they own more than one vehicle, they may misunderstand and not furnish the right one. These are somewhat exaggerations- just simplified examples. If they asked why and you said “I want to pick up a pool table...” they would likely get which vehicle you wanted- as their Honda Civic obviously won’t fit a pool table- but there are exceptions- such as if you said “just to bring some stuff to storage..” plenty of sedans are fit for that task etc.
guest_
· 4 years ago
It’s hard to pin the exact elements of a “car” vs. some other specific label. A vehicle may be considered a car by some, an SUV by others, some call even small SUV’s “trucks” and some vehicles fall into categories less well defined like “crossover” or “minivan” etc.
guest_
· 4 years ago
One thing that is USUALLY a good indicator of wether a thing is considered a “truck” is wether it is designed for or based upon a vehicle where carrying cargo, towing loads, performing work, or heavier off-road capabilities are a priority. To be clear- a Subaru WRX is designed for off road driving, but not for heavy duty off-roading. More non paved roads and such than in touched wilderness.
guest_
· 4 years ago
Now the vehicle in the picture is, with 90% certainty- a purpose built motorsports vehicle- a “tube chassis” where the entire vehicle is essentially a giant roll cage. They are then covered- often on fiberglass or plastic shells to mimic the looks of production vehicles. When referring to purpose build motorsports vehicles- they are usually classified in combination of their intended function and the vehicle type they mimic if any.
guest_
· 4 years ago
So a lemans race vehicle would most certainly be referred to as a race car- it is made to be used on paved road only, and cargo of work beyond racing are not generally part of the design or the image of the finished body. Vehicles like the one pictured are generally referred to as race trucks. Designed for off road performance, and while they may or may not have cargo carrying, load towing, or other work in mind- they are patterned after vehicles which do.
guest_
· 4 years ago
In MOST cases with race vehicles it really comes down to the origins of the series. Most race series either were the evolution from earlier series which used production vehicles, or can trace their inception to such a series. Thusly- NASCAR for example- used factory bought cars for its early years, and thus even now when the vehicles in use are complete ground up stand alone chassis and bodies- they, and the organization- still use “car.”
