| 词汇 | backseat driver |
| 词源 | backseat driver; backseat necker. Automobiles have intro- duced many general terms into the language. “Step on the gas,” “detour,” “hitchhiker,” “hit-and-run,” “streamlined,” and “joy- ride” are only a few of the automobile expressions that are now widely applied. Backseat driver, describing species Autokibitzer accidentus, an indomitable breed that does more harm than good on the road (and often occupies the front seat next to the driver) has considerably weakened the meaning of “to take a back seat”—that is, to be humble, to take an inconspicuous po- sition in the background. The newer expression, coined in the 1920s, applies to all those who have pinned humility to the mat for their lifetime, particularly critics of the incumbent adminis- tration in politics. Backseat necking, making love in the back- seat of a car, dates to 1922, and “necker’s knob,” the suicide knob on a car’s steering wheel that allows for one-armed driv- ing, was first recorded in the early 1940s. |
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