bankrupt cart

English

Etymology

Said to be so called by a Lord Chief Justice, from their being so frequently used on Sunday jaunts by extravagant shopkeepers and tradesmen.

Noun

bankrupt cart (plural bankrupt carts)

  1. (obsolete, idiomatic) A one-horse chaise.
    • 1813, Harriet Corp, Cottage Sketches; Or, Active Retirement
      " No, no, I was too prudent when I was young to risk the expenses of a bankrupt cart, and now I am old I am too wise to attempt the difficult art of driving one."

References

Grose, Francis, The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue / Lexicon Balatronicum: A Dictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit, and Pickpocket Eloquence: altered and enlarged (London; 1811)

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.