I just bought one. And it’s not stationary. In fact, it’s rather mobile.
Why station wagon?
From the American Heritage Dictionary
Lots of automotive terms come from terms for horse-drawn carriages/wagons. A coupe is a “closed four-wheel carriage with two seats inside and one outside,” a cabriolet is a “two-wheeled, one-horse carriage that has two seats and a folding top,” and a brougham is a “closed four-wheeled carriage with an open driver’s seat in front.” (All from the same reference)
Someone once told me it was a corruption of “estate wagon”, which was the largest and least sporty conveyance available on a multivehicled estate.
But it wasn’t a dictionary that told me, so the previous post is more likely correct!
It might be as you say----a corruption of’estate wagon’.
The advertising at the time when they first emerged showed it as a vehicle to transport,or car pool, commuters from their estates[?] to and from the railroad station.
It also created the impression that it was a sort of light utility vehicle for transporting shipped items from the station to the home.
At any rate it was all very “carriage trade” oriented------and gave the impression of success and affluence.
It was,of course, intendded to be a “second” vehicle.
EZ
EZ
Station wagons, originally horse-drawn, later motorized, were the equivalent of the multi-seat vans presently used by many hotels to pick up clients and their luggage at the airport, etc. The suburban carry-all car is a later development which retained the name while becoming more of a personal vehicle in design.
Stationi Wagonus is latin for “Annoying kids in rear compartment”.
Well, that’s why it’s not called a stationary wagon. Despite their similarities, station and stationary are different words with different meanings.
If you hauled writing supplies in it, you could call it a stationery wagon.
[QUOTE=ElvisL1ves]
If you hauled writing supplies in it, you could call it a stationery wagon.[/QUOTE
And if the engine won’t start then it would be a stationary stationery wagon.
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( I’m sorry–but somebody had to say it, right?)
(I promise I won’t do it again)…
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…(runs away)