Hackneys as distinct to taxis were common here until taxi deregulation sometime in the last 10 or so years. A hackney cab could only be rung and ordered, they couldn’t be flagged down on the street. They also had fixed fares for locations rather than meters.
I just heard back from my dad and it seems that Hackney was the term being looked for.
Am I being wooshed here? We are aware that “Hackney Carriage” is the proper name for a black cab, right?
Yes, we are aware of that. I hardly ever hear people actually refer to them that way, though.
Funny, it’s most commonly the opposite in the UK - hackney cabs are the ones you flag on the street.
Except nobody refers to cabs as ‘hackneys’. Maybe back in the mists of time.
Hackney is a borough in East London that used to be well known for making carriages, several hundred years ago. The horse drawn forerunner of today’s black cab was called a Hackney Carriage. The famous black taxi is still officially called a Hackney Carriage.
Hackney Carriage = Hackney Cab = (Black) Cab, which is what we actually call them.
You’ve just described what Londoners would call a Mini Cab - and ordinary private hire car that can’t operate like a black cab.
As I say they don’t really exist anymore as far as I can see. Black cabs don’t exist here either.
This sense of Hackney lives on in American English in the form of “hack license” which is the most common way of referring to a permit to drive a cab, at least in New York City. Unfortunately, “hack stand” is now pretty much dead.
So it’s a hackneyed expression?
Bravo
Jitney.
They are, legally, a hackney carriage, and the licence plate on the back says so. But that’s about the only place you will see it used.
Anyone going to London should use the mini cabs as they are much cheaper than the regular taxi’s.