phrases, sayings, idioms and expressions at

Use of the word "Truck"

Posted by R. Berg on July 26, 2003

In Reply to: Use of the word "Truck" posted by ESC on July 26, 2003

: : :
: : : Hi, I've never been to this site before,I'm hoping someone can clear up one of those little mysteries that's been stuck in my head for years.In the movie Jeramiah Johnson, ( a movie about mountain men) Jeramiah's travelling companion wants to attack some indians and Jeramiah says to him; I hold no "truck" with these people.It's obvious that he has no grudge with the indians, but I've always wondered about the origin of the useage.I'm a skilled tradesman not an english professor, any light someone could shed would be appreciated.Bob Yeomans

: : Bob, this was discussed earlier this year - you can find the whole thread if you enter truck in the search box. Here's an extract;

: : TRUCK FARM - "Many people share the notion that a 'truck farm' is a farm close enough to urban centers that its produce may be transported by truck to the city. However, there is no connection whatever between truck farms and motor transportation. Long before motor trucks were even dreamed of - at least as far back as 1785 - the word 'truck' was used to mean garden vegetables intended for sale in the markets. In fact, we have here an excellent example of the confusion that can develop from homonyms - words which are identical in spelling and pronunciation but very different in meaning. Often, to unravel the complexities, one has to go back to the root of each word. In this case, the 'truck' that is a vehicle for transporting freight comes from the Greek word 'trochos,' meaning 'wheel.' However, 'truck' meaning originally any commodities for sale and, later, garden produce for market comes from an entirely different root, 'troque,' the Old French word for 'barter.'" From Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins by William and Mary Morris (HarperCollins, New York, 1977, 1988).

: Truck -- "...The sense of dealings (as in 'to have no truck with loansharks') is first recorded in English before 1625)..." The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology by Robert K. Barnhart (HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 1995).

: It sounds like Jeremiah was using "truck" in a slightly different sense. Meaning that he had no score to settle with them, no bone to pick.

He might have meant that he had no "business" with them, no reason to deal with them at all. It's also possible that the screenwriter was trying for something that would sound like a mountain man's style of talking and slipped up.

© 1997 – 2024 Phrases.org.uk. All rights reserved.