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cube van
DCHP-2 (Oct 2016)
Spelling variants:cube-van, cube truck, cube-truck
n. — especially Ontario & Quebec, Automotive
a mid-sized truck whose cargo area is cube-shaped (see Image 1); moving truck or delivery van.
Type: 5. Frequency — Identified as Canadianisms in COD-2, the terms cube van and cube truck are Canadianisms by frequency (see Charts 1 and 2). Cube van is the more frequent variant. They are examples of Canadianisms of a general nature, perhaps best called urban Canadianisms, that have no connection to Canadian administration or history (see Boberg 2005 for others). In the area of car terminology, cube van and cube truck seem to represent independent Canadian developments that go against the trend for automobile terms to pattern with US terms, e.g. trunk (not BrE boot), hood (not BrE bonnet), gas (not BrE petrol), muffler (not BrE silencer) (Avis 1978a: 3).
The compound nouns cube van and cube truck, and their spelling variants, are fairly recent developments (see the 1984 quotation). In newspapers, the term is used nationally (BCE 2006--), with quotations from all major dialect regions of the country, including Newfoundland (see the 2007 quotation) and the Northwest Territories (see the 2006 quotation). However, as Chart 3 shows for cube van, the terms are more frequently used in Quebec and Ontario, which suggests a Central Canadian origin that has been spreading from these areas along the east-west dimension (see, e.g., the 2016 quotation from BC). For similar east-west movements of a linguistic form, in this case phonetic features, see Hung, Davis and Chambers (1993).
This is recent term that appears to be actively spreading across Canada, but not into the US. It is the reverse example of chesterfield, which is a dying Canadianism. For another example and its detailed description, see Dollinger (2015c: 99-104).
Quotations
1984
Occasionally their marriages break up and Mr. Needham comes to the rescue with his cube van to pick up the pieces, and help expedite the divorce of one of the parties.
1989
Police are asking anyone with information about the vehicle, a white "cube" van, possibly a GMC, to call the hit-and-run squad at 665-2157.
1990
That's one reason for their fleet of trucks, from semi-trailers to one-ton cube van delivery trucks.
1998
Another time, while driving a cube-van during the summer, we took a corner too fast. The metal ramp that was inside a slot on to the back of the van flew out into a major intersection, and people drove over it a lot.
2006
The boy and his family, visiting the territory from Surrey, B.C., were turning left onto Second from Fourth and failed to yield to The Brick's cube van heading up Two Mile Hill, said Whitehorse RCMP Sgt. Ross Milward.
2007
Gallery 78 manager Germaine Pataki and local painter Stephen May packed up a cube van in Fredericton and headed out on the road early Tuesday morning.
2007
Early Sunday morning, the operators left a safe containing $10,000 to $12,000 inside a rented cube van.
2008
Contant is one of the latest truckers to be victimized by graffiti "artists" who have decided that trucks, cube vans and other large vehicles make for good targets when it comes to displaying their horrendous handiwork.
References
- Boberg (2005)
- BCE (2006--)
- COD-2
- Avis (1978a)
- Hung, Davis & Chambers (1993)
Images
Image 1: A cube truck or cube van. Source: Wikipedia Commons. Photo: Mind meal
Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 13 Jul. 2012
Chart 2: Internet Domain Search, 13 Jul. 2012
