No truck with

Posted by Baceseras on February 10, 2008 at 13:16:

In Reply to: No truck with posted by Victoria S Dennis on February 10, 2008 at 13:15:

: : I just came to the "truck" discussion on Jeramiah Johnson, which I know is a few years past. I have a completely different thought to offer. In the early part of the movie, as he's asking directions where he can hunt beaver, he has bought a "genuine Hawkin and other truck". Truck, then could be "stuff" or, in the parlance of our time, "s**t". In a loose way, it seems to me he's got no complaint/b**ch with the Indians. We have words that devolve into other uses and certainly they did, too.

: My Shorter Oxford dictionary says that yes, from the meaning "the practice of barter" the word evolved the meaning "commodities for barter" and from thence it was a short hop to "small articles of a miscellaneous character; odds and ends; trash". Obviously in this case it's the "small articles" sense that is meant. My SOED also says that in the US there was (from 1784) another sense: "market-garden produce; hence, culinary vegetables generally". Any of the Leftpondians here know that one? (VSD)

Certainly 'truck garden' is a common variant for 'kitchen garden' here (midwestern US).

• No truck with Smokey Stover 10/February/08
  • No truck with R. Berg 10/February/08
    • No truck with Smokey Stover 10/February/08