speeder
n.— «The Owen Sound lawyer shelved his legal briefs for a few days to navigate the Canadian Shield in a track motorcar—an odd and colourful contraption used by railroads to inspect lines and transport work crews until the machines were gradually phased out by the 1980s.…The cars are affectionately known as poppers and putt-putts for the sound of the older engines that have an ignition sparked by a hand crank, much like a Ford Model T. And they’re called speeders because, at about 50 kilometres per hour, the mechanized machines raced past the old hand cars they replaced.» —“Pleasure in a putt-putt; Tourists travel by rail on track motorcars” by Maria Calabrese Nugget (North Bay, Ontario, Canada) July 20, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Centuries ago, monks who took a vow of silence developed their own hand signs, with hundreds of gestures, that are still in use today. Plus, how do speakers of different languages distinguish similar shades and tints of colors such as red, yellow...
Eels, orts, and Wordle! Sweden awarded its most prestigious literary award to a book about…eels. The Book of Eels reveals the mysterious life cycle of this sea creature and its significance for famous figures from Aristotle to Sigmund Freud. Plus...