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prettygoodwordcharabanc (SHAR-uh-bang) - (UK, dated) n., a bus hired by groups for pleasure outings.
Originally a horse-drawn then motorized omnibus with benches and open sides for sightseeing:
Thanks, WikiMedia!
Now generally called a coach, which is also used in the States (can't speak to other locales). The word can still be used in the UK to describe any vehicle that is slow or overcrowded or an overelaborate production, but I don't know how common either of those are, and in any case the sense in Sayers' time was the above. Taken sometime around 1900 from French char-à-bancs, literally coach-with-benches.
---L.
Originally a horse-drawn then motorized omnibus with benches and open sides for sightseeing:
Thanks, WikiMedia!
Now generally called a coach, which is also used in the States (can't speak to other locales). The word can still be used in the UK to describe any vehicle that is slow or overcrowded or an overelaborate production, but I don't know how common either of those are, and in any case the sense in Sayers' time was the above. Taken sometime around 1900 from French char-à-bancs, literally coach-with-benches.
---L.
