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Date:         Mon, 18 Jul 94 9:10:22 EDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         wigley@server.uwindsor.ca (Neil Wigley)
Subject:      Re: Kombi? HA!

> > a little bit of light shines upon the meaning (or use) of the term: Kombi.

Cars, in German, are 'Personenkraftwagen', 'kraft' meaning power. Trucks are 'Lastkraftwagen', 'Last' meaning load. So the German mind perceives the two types of vehicles as PKW and LKW. A 'Kombinationswagen' thus means a vehicle with both attributes. Somehow 'Combinationvehicle' doesn't ring true in English.

By the way, a couple of years ago I rented a Eurovan Westfalia in Hamburg. The first evening out I spent some time reading the manual, trying to decipher instructions for the stove, beds, etc. Finally I started reading the German instead of the English. It was much clearer (even though the English was indeed proper and good English, German is a clearer language for things technical). I might add that I've spent three years in German, so the language is not new to me.

Neil Wigley U of Windsor <wigley@server.uwindsor.ca>


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