0
MissLadybird Posted 16 years ago
Vocabulary
"car pocket" - a set phrase or a mistake?
In Roald Dahl's story, Man From the South, there is a character, whose mother tongue is not English.
He produced a car key from his pocket and gave it to me. “De papers,” he said, “de owning papers and insurance are in de pocket of de car.”
What is "the pocket of the car"? Is it a glove compartment? I guess the man does not know the proper word for it, so he uses the self-coined term.
He produced a car key from his pocket and gave it to me. “De papers,” he said, “de owning papers and insurance are in de pocket of de car.”
What is "the pocket of the car"? Is it a glove compartment? I guess the man does not know the proper word for it, so he uses the self-coined term.
Top answer
" But "hood" and "bonnet" are not really that far apart. To the best of my knowledge, "car pocket" is not a "set phrase" in English.
- " But "hood" and "bonnet" are not really that far apart.
- To the best of my knowledge, "car pocket" is not a "set phrase" in English.
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
12 Answers
0
Perhaps in his native tongue, the term assigned to the glove box is similar to "pocket."
Sometimes people in the US chuckle at the British term "bonnet" for what we insist is the "hood."
But "hood" and "bonnet" are not really that far apart.
To the best of my knowledge, "car pocket" is not a "set phrase" in English.
Sometimes people in the US chuckle at the British term "bonnet" for what we insist is the "hood."
But "hood" and "bonnet" are not really that far apart.
To the best of my knowledge, "car pocket" is not a "set phrase" in English.
00
0
The car pocket is the, well, pocket set in the inside of the doors, where you can keep atlases, etc. I'm not sure that all cars have them, but our last couple of cars have. (But, as you say, Roald Dahl may not know the phrase and has used it as foreign-speak for the glove compartment.)
00
Hi, MrM. While I was on my 5-mile walk 24 hours ago, I told myself I must bring that up! 
We used to call them "side pocket
We used to call them "side pocket
00
Aha, sounds interesting! The car in the story is a Cadillac. I wonder if Cadillacs have those "pockets"... 
00
Yes, the pocket on the back of the seat is possible, too-- a good place for the registration papers, since a car thief might be hesitant to rummage through all those dirty kleenexes and sticky popsicle sticks.
00
ewww... a nice idea!0
I grew up In South Carolina and I suppose my native tongue is English. What people call the glove compartment or glove box was (and still is) called the car pocket. I read on line a few years ago that they are known by the same term in ome places in Texas.
Another local term for the area where passengers rest their feet is "the foot" as in the following sentence:
The child, who
Another local term for the area where passengers rest their feet is "the foot" as in the following sentence:
The child, who
00
0
I also grew up in South Carolina, and my father always referred to the front compartment as the "car pocket". My husband, who is from Indiana, makes fun of me when I say it.
0
Related Questions