Why do Australians call the trunk of a car a boot?
The usage of the word "trunk" comes from it being the word for a large travelling chest, as such trunks were often attached to the back of the vehicle before the development of integrated storage compartments in the 1930s; while the usage of the word "boot" comes from the word for a built-in compartment on a horse- ...
It goes all the way back to when horse-drawn carriages were the norm. The driver would sit on a chest that held his belongings, including – yes – his boots. The original name was "the boot locker", which in time became shortened to just "the boot."
The main difference is that the term “windscreen” is more commonly used by Australians, British, and New Zealanders. The term “windshield” is more commonly used in North America.
The trunk (American English) or boot (British English) of a car is the vehicle's main storage or cargo compartment, often a hatch at the rear of the vehicle.
The storage space located at the rear of the Car is termed as "Car trunk" or "Car boot". Though both terms mean the same, they are called differently in different regions. In the United States, it is called a "Car Trunk", whereas in British English, it is called a "Car Boot".
Storing bags, wellies or picnic blankets, the boot of the car is the largest storage space for a vehicle, but over in the USA, you'll hear it be called a trunk.
Much like how Merriam-Webster describes a bonnet as a cloth or straw hat worn by women or children, the Brits call the car's hood a bonnet as a reference to exquisite headwear worn by women during the early days of the automobile.
The term Wellington boot comes from Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, who instructed his shoemaker to create the boot by modifying the design of the Hessian boot. The terms gumboot and rubber boot are both derived from the rubber modern Wellington boots are made from, with the term "gum" coming from gum rubber.
Trunk. vs. The part of the car used to hold items you won't need access to without stopping the vehicle is called the boot in the UK, and the trunk in the US. These words may be different, but their meaning is incredibly similar when taken back to their origins.
“Macca's” is a nickname for Mcdonald's. If you used the term Macca's in the U.S. or Canada, you'd get some funny looks. But the term is very common in Australia.
Geographically this is as far as you can get from the UK while still being in dry land, but we mostly use UK English. The trunk is called the boot and the front trunk is called the frunk. The cover over the frunk is called the bonnet.
To stickybeak means to investigate or look around, often in a prying or nosey way. If someone is referred to as a stickybeak they are the kind of person who likes to pry into the private affairs of others. We might say they are nosey.
In Australia, adjustable spanners are also referred to as "shifters". In Spain, this kind of spanner is commonly called "llave inglesa", which means literally English key. Remarking the difference with the pipe wrench, also adjustable, in Spain this one is called "grifa", and it does not have any accurate translation.
The term "pavement" is more common in the United Kingdom and some other members of the Commonwealth of Nations, as well as parts of the Mid-Atlantic United States such as Philadelphia and parts of New Jersey. Australia, New Zealand, and many other Commonwealth countries use the term "footpath".
