Where Did the Limousine Get its Name?
And what's up with chauffeurs?
It all begins with the Lemovices who were a Gallic tribe from the Massif Central area of France. The English translation of Lemovices is 'conquerors with the elm', whatever that means!
The French province of Limousin was given its name by the Lemovices. Today we know of the area within Limousin as Limoge, famous for its enamels, porcelains and tapestries.
Beef cattle have long been raised in the Limousin region, a tradition begun by shepherds who wore a long and elegant cloak to protect themselves from the rain and the cold.
Since the French language uses both masculine and feminine nouns, limousine is the feminine form of the masculine limousin. So we see that a limousine was an elegant cloak to protect the shepherd from the elements, and apparently not just the female shepherds.
The first chauffeured vehicles come from the 1700's in the age of carriages pulled by teams of horses. Carriages were typically ornate conveyances, often gilded with gold and drawn by only the finest looking animals.
The early 1900's saw the advent of the internal combustion engine and the earliest automobiles. Interestingly, the word automobile comes from a blending of two ancient romance languages, Greek and Latin.
The prefix 'auto' in Greek meant 'self.' The suffix 'mobile' in Latin meant 'moving'. Thus 'auto-mobile' means self-moving.
But what if we were to reverse the two languages and make the prefix Latin and the suffix Greek?
The word for self in Latin is 'ipse', pronounced IP-seh. The word for moving in Greek is 'dynamo'. Put them together and we get ipse-dynamo.
The next time you take your automobile out for a spin, be sure to remind yourself than you could just as easily be driving an ipsedynamo!
The first limousines powered by engines (first steam, and then gasoline, alcohol or kerosene) featured two separate passenger compartments. The driver sat in a covered compartment up front while the passengers sat in a separate covered compartment in the rear.
Since the concept of extracting excess heat from the engine and venting it into the passenger compartment had not yet been thought of, it was the driver's job to help keep the passengers warm and comfortable.
This was accomplished with a small coal burner placed on the floor of the passenger compartment. The French verb for 'to warm' is 'chauffeur'. And now you know why the driver was called a chauffeur.
The driver was separated from the passengers with a partition that featured a sliding panel of glass which could be opened so that the driver and passengers could communicate. Today's passengers can communicate with the driver just as easily via cell phones!
As for amenities, limousines have gone far beyond the coal burning foot warmer today to include a full bar, flat screen plasma TV, luxury leather seating, fiber optic lighting, spectacular high-fidelity, surround sound audio system and more.
Today these luxury vehicles are routinely used by the 'rich and famous' although every individual can experience what it's like to travel in sumptuous style by renting their own limo.
Even teenagers on their way to social and athletic events can travel in greater luxury than royalty of old could ever have imagined.
Marie Antoinette, move over.
And what's up with chauffeurs?
It all begins with the Lemovices who were a Gallic tribe from the Massif Central area of France. The English translation of Lemovices is 'conquerors with the elm', whatever that means!
The French province of Limousin was given its name by the Lemovices. Today we know of the area within Limousin as Limoge, famous for its enamels, porcelains and tapestries.
Beef cattle have long been raised in the Limousin region, a tradition begun by shepherds who wore a long and elegant cloak to protect themselves from the rain and the cold.
Since the French language uses both masculine and feminine nouns, limousine is the feminine form of the masculine limousin. So we see that a limousine was an elegant cloak to protect the shepherd from the elements, and apparently not just the female shepherds.
The first chauffeured vehicles come from the 1700's in the age of carriages pulled by teams of horses. Carriages were typically ornate conveyances, often gilded with gold and drawn by only the finest looking animals.
The early 1900's saw the advent of the internal combustion engine and the earliest automobiles. Interestingly, the word automobile comes from a blending of two ancient romance languages, Greek and Latin.
The prefix 'auto' in Greek meant 'self.' The suffix 'mobile' in Latin meant 'moving'. Thus 'auto-mobile' means self-moving.
But what if we were to reverse the two languages and make the prefix Latin and the suffix Greek?
The word for self in Latin is 'ipse', pronounced IP-seh. The word for moving in Greek is 'dynamo'. Put them together and we get ipse-dynamo.
The next time you take your automobile out for a spin, be sure to remind yourself than you could just as easily be driving an ipsedynamo!
The first limousines powered by engines (first steam, and then gasoline, alcohol or kerosene) featured two separate passenger compartments. The driver sat in a covered compartment up front while the passengers sat in a separate covered compartment in the rear.
Since the concept of extracting excess heat from the engine and venting it into the passenger compartment had not yet been thought of, it was the driver's job to help keep the passengers warm and comfortable.
This was accomplished with a small coal burner placed on the floor of the passenger compartment. The French verb for 'to warm' is 'chauffeur'. And now you know why the driver was called a chauffeur.
The driver was separated from the passengers with a partition that featured a sliding panel of glass which could be opened so that the driver and passengers could communicate. Today's passengers can communicate with the driver just as easily via cell phones!
As for amenities, limousines have gone far beyond the coal burning foot warmer today to include a full bar, flat screen plasma TV, luxury leather seating, fiber optic lighting, spectacular high-fidelity, surround sound audio system and more.
Today these luxury vehicles are routinely used by the 'rich and famous' although every individual can experience what it's like to travel in sumptuous style by renting their own limo.
Even teenagers on their way to social and athletic events can travel in greater luxury than royalty of old could ever have imagined.
Marie Antoinette, move over.