Am I really that old?

[Alpo]

I was on a lyrics website looking up SHUT DOWN by the Beach Boys. This is a song about a drag race between a "fuel injected stingray", which should probably be a 1965 327. I know that was fuel injected. And a "413". That was a Dodge Super Stock, 413 wedge.

 

The website would explain various terms in the song.

 

It happened on the strip where the road is wide

Two COOL SHORTS standing side by side

 

And the site explains that a short is a car that is shorter than normal.

 

The first time I heard the term short in reference to an automobile was a Starsky and Hutch episode. Starsky's mechanic was asking Hutch what his short was, and Starsky had to translate for him because Hutch had never heard the term.

 

Then there was a Cheech and Chong routine, where Cheech was describing his car. It was a real charp chort man - got pom poms on all the antennas man, and dingle balls hanging down from the roof.

 

I've heard it several times over the decades. California hot rod slang for a car. So I go searching the internet for something to verify that I have not lost my memory, and a short is simply a car.

 

There are dozens of websites with automotive slang. None of them have the term short.

 

So I bring it to the Saloon (ACS) - is a short just a car? Y'all old fogies out there - especially you California fogies.

[Father Kit Cool Gun Garth]

 

A  search came up with this website.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/what-is-a-short.508331/

 

Skip the first couple of responses to get to the answer to your question.

[Blackwater 53393]

The above explanation is what I learned when I was a kid living in the New York/New Jersey area!!

 

In that area, a “short” was a cool car, a hot rod, a low rider, or a custom of some sort.

 

Mom’s “grocery getter” was a cage!

[Texas Lizard]

Short answer is ...Yes....

 

Texas Lizard

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

A short is something that makes the electricity shut off.

[Alpo]

That's what I found on my first search.

 

I asked "why is a car called a short", and the entire first two pages of responses were about electrical shorts in cars.

 

Sometimes I wonder how anybody finds anything using a search engine. You have to rephrase and rephrase and keep rephrasing your question because Google et al is sure that it knows what you want better than you know what you want.

[Cypress Sun]

13 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

A short is something that makes the electricity shut off.

 

Sometimes it doesn't turn off...then it's called bad welding.

[DeaconKC]

And yes...you ARE that old...

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

1 hour ago, Cypress Sun said:

 

Sometimes it doesn't turn off...then it's called bad welding.

Eventually, it shuts off, unlike a plumbing failure.

[Wyatt Earp SASS#1628L]

Grew up in Southern California in the 50's and 60's. Never heard a car called a "short". My brother was 7 years older and used to drag race his 57 Ford at Lion's Drag Strip in Long Beach and also at Pomona. My buddies and I were really into cars. There were tons of Corvettes, Chevelle SS's, Plymouth hemi's, Mustang GT's and GT350's in my city (Downey) a Cobra or two and even the occasional Ferrari.  A real car culture. Never heard anyone use that term. I always interpreted the lyric in the Beach Boys as referring to the drivers. Guess I was wrong.

[Widder, SASS #59054]

I still love The Beach Boys music.

 

 

 

..........Widder

 

[Rip Snorter]

17 minutes ago, Widder, SASS #59054 said:

I still love The Beach Boys music.

 

 

 

..........Widder

 

Have one Beach Boys Album slotted in my old muscle car's CD player.  Now I just need a Jan & Dean.  

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

10 hours ago, Alpo said:

I was on a lyrics website looking up SHUT DOWN by the Beach Boys. This is a song about a drag race between a "fuel injected stingray", which should probably be a 1965 327. I know that was fuel injected. And a "413". That was a Dodge Super Stock, 413 wedge.

 

The website would explain various terms in the song.

 

It happened on the strip where the road is wide

Two COOL SHORTS standing side by side

 

And the site explains that a short is a car that is shorter than normal.

 

The first time I heard the term short in reference to an automobile was a Starsky and Hutch episode. Starsky's mechanic was asking Hutch what his short was, and Starsky had to translate for him because Hutch had never heard the term.

 

Then there was a Cheech and Chong routine, where Cheech was describing his car. It was a real charp chort man - got pom poms on all the antennas man, and dingle balls hanging down from the roof.

 

I've heard it several times over the decades. California hot rod slang for a car. So I go searching the internet for something to verify that I have not lost my memory, and a short is simply a car.

 

There are dozens of websites with automotive slang. None of them have the term short.

 

So I bring it to the Saloon (ACS) - is a short just a car? Y'all old fogies out there - especially you California fogies.

All I remember from the Cheech & Chong routine was a Chebby (Chevy) for sale that was “turquoise blue and primer gray”.  

[Alpo]

You know why Cheech's car has the dingle balls hanging from the roof?

 

You be driving down the road and you see your friend Julio over there on the corner and you stick your hand up to wave "hey Julio", but then you realize that's not Julio. And you don't want to look like an idiot waving at somebody you don't know, so you raise your hand a little bit higher and play with your dingle balls.

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

1 hour ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said:

All I remember from the Cheech & Chong routine was a Chebby (Chevy) for sale that was “turquoise blue and primer gray”.  

It's got your radio, it's got your heater, it's got your easy rider rifle rack to hold not one, not two, but THREE of your favorite rifles!" 

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

49 minutes ago, Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770 said:

It's got your radio, it's got your heater, it's got your easy rider rifle rack to hold not one, not two, but THREE of your favorite rifles!" 

“So come on down to Wide Track Wilmington. And bring the kiddies too. We got washers and dryers and pony rides…”

[watab kid]

well i never heard the term short before but i remember the early muscle cars were the big ones , so i guess it fits when the shorter ones started being produced , i try to learn sumthin new every day - guess this was it ,