When aviators speak of George flying the plane, they mean it’s on autopilot. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Let George Fly The Plane” Airline language has always interested me. There’s a lingo about the cockpit and the cabin that...
This week, McGimpers, geetus, and other underworld lingo from the 1930s. Crime novelist James Ellroy stops by to talk slang terms and reveals his own favorite. Also, is the expression “Hear, hear!” or “Here, here!”? Is it bran-new or brand-new? The...
A former naval flight officer wonders how the term cockpit ever came to mean the part of the aircraft where pilots sit. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Origin of Plane Cockpit” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi guys, this is...
box office
n.— «Womem shouldn’t fly. Why do you think they call it a cock-pit and not a box office.» —“Re: The 99’s” by Scot Pederson Usenet: rec.aviation.piloting Aug. 1, 1995. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
box office n. jocularly, the cockpit of an airplane piloted by a woman. Editorial Note: The joke quoted in the second 2002 citation is widespread and has been recycled by a number of people who have claimed it for their own or published it in joke...
box office n.— «They don’t sit in a “cockpit” though, they sit in the “box office” Just goes to show, women will do anything to promote themselves, just like guys.» —“Hooters Air?” by craig inluminent Mar. 7, 2003. (source: Double-Tongued...

