The little platform deal that’s carried by admirers. For the life of me I can’t remember the word.
First person to say “the Popemobile” gets a poke in the eye.
Thanks for your help.
“litter”.
“sedan chair”.
The Popemobile is the Caddy convertible with the bulletproof plastic box.
I think the Popemobile’s official name is the Papal Trolley or Papal Carriage
Thanks, DDG and Mudshank. I’m thinking there’s a word for the device in general, though. Litter seems right-ish…for some reason, the words that float through my head are “parapet” and “bathysphere”. Neither have anything to do with the actual word I seek, but there you have it.
This makes little sense, huh.
I second Duck Duck Goose’s answer. Before the automobile industry appropriated the term, this was what people understood to mean sedan.
During Jane Austen’s terminal illness, I believe in her final letter, she expresses hope of going outdoors by sedan.
Robert Graves’s “I, Claudius” and “Claudius the God” make several references to sedan travel. Roman elites sometimes favored it for its luxury. Claudius used it more often than most because one of his legs was partly disabled.
My Merriam Webster dictionary dates “litter” from the fourteenth century and “sedan” from 1635. It distinguishes them by stating that the sedan seat is a chair carried by two men. The litter has an indeterminate number of bearers, is covered and curtained, and the seat is a couch. Although the rider’s position is unspecified, the accompanying illustration shows a reclining woman. Litters (but not sedans) may also be stretchers for carrying the injured to medical care.
I’ve never seen the Pope travel so I dunno exactly what gadget you’re referring to.
Pope Leo’s sedan chair.
http://www.vatican.va/museums/patrons/documents/vm_pat_doc_04022000_sedanchair_en.html
Is it a sedan chair?
Sure looks like a sedan: upright seat, poles for two bearers. Funny looking thing, isn’t it? Must have made a bumpy ride.
Pope-on-a-rope?
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Seriously, it’s a sedan chair.
“Palanquin”?
[sub]parapet, bathysphere, palanquin?[/sub]
A palanquin is carried up on the shoulders of four men; a sedan chair is carried by two men at waist-height.
Is he at waist-height, or up really high, when he travels?
I need to get a life…
palanquin?
And I need to hit “refresh” more often.
“Papal trolley” and “Papal carriage” don’t bring up much, but “Popemobile” brought up such a lovely picture…
I was wrong, it’s not a Caddy convertible any more. Looks more like a Land Rover? SUV? Dunno, I’m not a car person.
Palanquin! That’s the word I was trying to think of - papally correct or not. Whoo! Thanks, DDG and Yersinia - youse guys are da best.
Converted Mercedes-Benz 4WD – not the SUV imported into the USA but a more utilitarian type (must be a rough ride for the old guy!), probably one of the many Benzes not imported into the U.S. as luxe pleasure-rides, but used in other countries as working vehicles (taxis, police cars, etc.)
The Gelandewagen (or “G class”). They’ve been made since long before the SUV craze. Made either in gas or diesel - I’ve seen a couple in the Bay Area - the local Land Rover dealer had one on his lot for ages and ages before he got rid of it.
it doesn’t go very fast. its purpose is display rather than conveyance. it allows thousands of people to gaze at him without exposing him to bullets and things. when he’s traveling for the sake of traveling, he probably has a nice big mercedes. I know I would.
So you might call it a Sacerdotalist Utility Vehicle.