# Stupid Q: What's this part of a car called? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 28, 2008, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-q-whats-this-part-of-a-car-called/450874 "2008-05-28T14:16:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Polyperchon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/50afbb/32.png) [@Polyperchon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polyperchon)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-q-whats-this-part-of-a-car-called/450874/1 "2008-05-28T14:16:52Z")
I’m such a moron! I’m having a complete mental blank about this and it’s driving me mad. When you sit in the front passenger seat of a car there is a small compartment in the dashboard, just above your knees. You can open it and keep, or rather I keep, the car manual, regsitration, tissues, atlas etc in it. What in criminey’s name is it called? The more I think about it, the more ridiculously idiotic things I come up with - the dashboard hole, the car cupboard, the map holder. This will keep me awake at tonight if you can’t help me remove this mental roadblock (weak pun, is weak) HELP!!! ---
**Author:** ![Risha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-q-whats-this-part-of-a-car-called/450874/2 "2008-05-28T14:20:21Z")
Glovebox. ETA: I’ve totally been there with forgetting that key word for that… thingy… you know what I mean! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-q-whats-this-part-of-a-car-called/450874/3 "2008-05-28T14:21:04Z")
Or “glove compartment”, though I’ve never known anyone to keep gloves in there. ---
**Author:** ![Polyperchon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/50afbb/32.png) [@Polyperchon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polyperchon)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-q-whats-this-part-of-a-car-called/450874/4 "2008-05-28T14:22:15Z")
GLOVE COMPARTMENT! Why oh why couldn’t I think of that!!! Thanks guys, my sanity will now remain as intact as it was before! _phew_ ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-q-whats-this-part-of-a-car-called/450874/5 "2008-05-28T14:26:17Z")
[QUOTE=Polyperchon] GLOVE COMPARTMENT! Why oh why couldn’t I think of that!!! [/QUOTE] Maybe because you stopped wearing gloves? I have a friend who calls it the “glove department.” ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-q-whats-this-part-of-a-car-called/450874/6 "2008-05-28T14:36:17Z")
This could be just a regionalism, but I’ve also heard it referred to as the [dash pocket](http://www.crutchfield.com/S-RTDhykiH98p/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?i=120889000). ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-q-whats-this-part-of-a-car-called/450874/7 "2008-05-28T14:44:44Z")
I imagine it’s been about 90 years since anyone ever used it for gloves. Even those weird 80s people who still use driving gloves probably don’t actually keep them in there. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-q-whats-this-part-of-a-car-called/450874/8 "2008-05-28T14:59:38Z")
[QUOTE=h.sapiens] . . . I’ve never known anyone to keep gloves in there. [/QUOTE] I do, as a sort of post-modern/ironic act of Dilbert minded literalness. I only wear gloves when riding the bike in the cold. I certainly don’t wear them to drive. But if some day I have a nosey passenger poke around in there I want them to find gloves, dammit. I think the traditional contents of a British glove box are a load of expired tax discs, an A to Z and a package of boiled sweets. Not gloves. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-q-whats-this-part-of-a-car-called/450874/9 "2008-05-28T15:04:49Z")
[QUOTE=GuanoLad] I imagine it’s been about 90 years since anyone ever used it for gloves. Even those weird 80s people who still use driving gloves probably don’t actually keep them in there. [/QUOTE] You had to put it that way, didn’t you? I keep my warm, fleece-lined gloves in my glove compartment, because they’re bulky and don’t fold up nicely. I keep my leather driving gloves in my center console because they’re ever so compressible. I hardly ever wear either. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-q-whats-this-part-of-a-car-called/450874/10 "2008-05-28T15:05:43Z")
I keep a back-up pair of kayaking gloves in my glove box. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-q-whats-this-part-of-a-car-called/450874/11 "2008-05-28T15:08:13Z")
[QUOTE=Small Clanger] I think the traditional contents of a British glove box are a load of expired tax discs, an A to Z and a package of boiled sweets. Not gloves. [/QUOTE] Wrong! They’re fruit pastilles… ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-q-whats-this-part-of-a-car-called/450874/12 "2008-05-28T15:16:12Z")
[QUOTE=Small Clanger] I do, as a sort of post-modern/ironic act of Dilbert minded literalness. I only wear gloves when riding the bike in the cold. I certainly don’t wear them to drive. But if some day I have a nosey passenger poke around in there I want them to find gloves, dammit. I think the traditional contents of a British glove box are a load of expired tax discs, an A to Z and a package of boiled sweets. Not gloves. [/QUOTE] I believe you’d find the same thing in an American glove box, sans boiled sweets. Expired insurance cards and registrations, receipts and stuff from getting your car worked on that you shoved in there for no good reason or maybe because there was a coupon printed on it, long since expired, a map ten years out of date, and the manual. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-q-whats-this-part-of-a-car-called/450874/13 "2008-05-28T15:24:19Z")
Wikipedia [says](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glove_compartment) it may also be called a “jockey box” but I bet more people keep gloves in there than jockeys. OP, I really liked “dashboard hole” and “car cupboard.” It reminds me of Moe from the Simpsons who had never heard the term “garage” and instead called it a “car hole.” ---
**Author:** ![Myglaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Myglaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myglaren)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-q-whats-this-part-of-a-car-called/450874/14 "2008-05-28T15:30:58Z")
[QUOTE=Small Clanger] I do, as a sort of post-modern/ironic act of Dilbert minded literalness. I only wear gloves when riding the bike in the cold. I certainly don’t wear them to drive. But if some day I have a nosey passenger poke around in there I want them to find gloves, dammit. I think the traditional contents of a British glove box are a load of expired tax discs, an A to Z and a package of boiled sweets. Not gloves. [/QUOTE] I’ve just cleaned out all the sugar that has been in there from a spilled bag of American hard gums - talk about a sticky mess, been there three months. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-q-whats-this-part-of-a-car-called/450874/15 "2008-05-28T15:34:07Z")
I call mine the “oubliette”. ---
**Author:** ![Myglaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Myglaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myglaren)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-q-whats-this-part-of-a-car-called/450874/16 "2008-05-28T15:36:44Z")
[QUOTE=Le Ministre de l’au-delà] I call mine the “oubliette”. [/QUOTE] Beautiful. I will too from now on (French car) ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-q-whats-this-part-of-a-car-called/450874/17 "2008-05-28T15:45:03Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia] I believe you’d find the same thing in an American glove box, sans boiled sweets. Expired insurance cards and registrations, receipts and stuff from getting your car worked on that you shoved in there for no good reason or maybe because there was a coupon printed on it, long since expired, a map ten years out of date, and the manual. [/QUOTE] And an ice scraper. Well, not neccessarily. But a quip I heard on the radio that I enjoyed suggested that October was the time of year when one should reach into one’s glove compartment and flip all the contents over. After doing this, the ice scraper would now be on top–where you can get to it easily. Most folk that I know don’t actually store ice scrapers that they use in the glove compartment–especially if they have the long-handled variety with a brush on it, but I did like the idea. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-q-whats-this-part-of-a-car-called/450874/18 "2008-05-28T16:31:51Z")
[QUOTE=sandra\_nz] Wrong! They’re fruit pastilles… [/QUOTE] WRONG!! They’re Werthers Originals ---
**Author:** ![nd\_n8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/439d5e/32.png) [@nd\_n8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nd_n8)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-q-whats-this-part-of-a-car-called/450874/19 "2008-05-28T17:36:22Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] WRONG!! They’re Werthers Originals [/QUOTE] No… No… No… They’re Altoids. The Werthers are in a small dish by the bed for the late night sweet tooth. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-q-whats-this-part-of-a-car-called/450874/20 "2008-05-28T17:57:13Z")
[Hans moleman} I keep gloves in mine[/Hans Moleman] But I _don’t_ keep my vehicle registration and insurance card in there. I keep them on the tucked-away side of that flat thingey that flips down to provide shade and rhymes with “sun visor.” If a cop pulls me over he won’t worry I’m going for a gun. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-q-whats-this-part-of-a-car-called/450874.md?page=2)