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Binders Meaning Brakes Origins

Jesse in Newport News, Virginia, is an auto-racing enthusiast who often hears announcers talking about a driver getting on the binders, meaning “to brake” when going into a curve. As early as the 1930s, the term binders has referred to the brakes of a car, and may have been used earlier that way in aviation. A collection of service slang from World War II has a similar phrase meaning the same thing: jump on the binders. This is part of a complete episode.

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