# "Pump" my dyin' **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [August 30, 2003, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pump-my-dyin/198666 "2003-08-30T18:01:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2003, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pump-my-dyin/198666/1 "2003-08-30T18:01:52Z")
[ass](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_263.html) Even the infallible Cecil can’t get it right. One more time; The pump is down inna tank, underground. The thingie you put gas in _your_ tank with is a dispenser. It’a a tough fight, Mr. Adams. Wish you would help me out a little here. 😉 Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2003, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pump-my-dyin/198666/2 "2003-08-30T18:18:49Z")
Nobody calls the whole assembly a “dispenser”. People call it a pump, right or wrong. Hence phrases like “pay at the pump”. In language, the common usage rules. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2003, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pump-my-dyin/198666/3 "2003-08-30T18:30:28Z")
Even common usage born of ignorance. I understand that. I’m simply trying to dispell that ignorance. And Cecil, the Authority on Such Matters, ain’t helping. Back “In The Day” they really were pumps, with a handle which you moved up and down or to and fro to actually pump the gas to your tank. BTW; the dispenser can also be called a “console”. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2003, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pump-my-dyin/198666/4 "2003-08-30T23:52:07Z")
Always a critic with a cause, no matter what is discussed :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pump-my-dyin/198666/5 "2003-08-31T00:10:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DSYoungEsq \* > \*\*Always a critic with a cause, no matter what is discussed :rolleyes: \*\* 😃 How much time did you spend, googling, trying to prove me wrong? ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pump-my-dyin/198666/6 "2003-08-31T01:09:39Z")
\<\< Back “In The Day” they really were pumps, with a handle which you moved up and down or to and fro to actually pump the gas to your tank. \>\> Just curious, when WAS “back in the day”? Cecil’s column is from 1981. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pump-my-dyin/198666/7 "2003-08-31T03:31:00Z")
**mangeorge**. You may be older than I(I’m 59), but I never actually heard in real life the term “dispenser” or “console” used in connection with a “gas pump.” Are you US by birth? Where did you get these terms? I’ve actually pumped gasoline the way you suggested. An ancient relative had such a thing on his farm, and I did this in the early 1950’s. But the average public in the US the last 50 years would have no idea what you are alluding to. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pump-my-dyin/198666/8 "2003-08-31T04:29:03Z")
I’m 58. I’ve never heard the term used by the general public either. Don, a distributor for Mobil Oil, called them that about 30 years ago. So I, being what I am, checked him out. He was right. I am, as ol’ rolly-eyes **DSYoungEsq** would have it, on a mission. I thought Cecil’s error would be a good place to further that mission. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pump-my-dyin/198666/9 "2003-09-08T15:05:15Z")
**mangeorge** : Keep fighting the good fight, you goofy bastard. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pump-my-dyin/198666/10 "2003-09-08T23:02:25Z")
😃