This is the first word on my list so far that I have no specific memories for nor can I recall ever using it. Which is a travesty because we’ve all owned a jalopy.
My jalopy was an old Chevy Celebrity station wagon that my sister bought off of a co-worker for me. Well, I say she bought it for me, but it is just as likely that she bought it so that we could have an extra car - specifically so that I’d stop asking to borrow the car. It was love at first sight. I named him Rembrandt and had visions of giving him a paint job akin to the one that Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem gave Fozzie’s Studebaker.
Rembrandt saw my through my first summer after graduation and took me on my first camping trip. My first real make-out session happened in the back underneath a beautiful starry sky on my favorite back road.
I don’t remember the cause of Rembrandt’s death, but by the autumn of 95, he’d had enough and was put out to pasture.
Jalopy is a noun from the 1920s that means a beat up old car.
Example: Jack jumped into the jeep and jolted in surprise. “This jalopy just jabbed me in the Johnson!”
This post has been brought to you by the Letter J and the fine folks at Blogging A to Z. And by the number 1166. Check out more A to Z blogs here!
Jalopy makes me smile. great post.
ReplyDeleteJalopy is such a great word.
ReplyDeleteMy jalopy was a 1990 different shades of powder blue, Ford Tempo with a bashed in rear end (So messed up I couldn't open the trunk and had to take off the back seat if I wanted to use it for storage space.). As crappy as it was, it still made me sad when I got a letter that they were going to crush it into a tiny cube.
ReplyDeleteSo sad! Did you keep the cube? That would be a great statement art piece, right?
Deletejalopy is a great word. I simply don't get to use it enough. Ho-hum. Good to meet you Heather!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by!
DeleteMy first car was a Chevy too! But a Cavalier. Thanks for bringing back the memory :)
ReplyDeleteFun word...much more fun than simply saying beat up old car!
ReplyDeleteExactly! I started this theme kind of on a lark, but now I'm thinking that these are words that we need to revitalize! Jalopy is so much more descriptive than "beat up."
DeleteI've owned quite a few jalopies!!
ReplyDeleteHugs!
Valerie
Yup. We've still got two!
DeleteOh my gosh, my first car was a big old station wagon jalopy. But you know, I loved that stinkin car :)
ReplyDeleteOur first cars always bring us love, I think, something about the sense of freedom we get with them. It's a powerful, heady feeling.
DeleteMy first car was a Ford Escort EXP that was about 4 years younger than I was. It was some kind of limited edition thing, so I swore I had the coolest car on the road. That was until it started having smoking fits and turning off by itself if you turned the wheel too hard.
ReplyDeleteStill loved that car to death though. I have pictures of it on my fridge as if it were a family member.
That is plain adorable! I wonder if I can find a photo of my first car somewhere...
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