Thursday, May 03, 2012

Know anyone called Lorry?

For some reason the grammar checker on the version or Word which I use does not like uncapitalised lorries, wherever they appear in the sentence.

 I wondered if perhaps it was originally a trade name (like Hoover).

Not according to the OED, even though its origin is said to be obscure. The earliest quote, from an 1838 article in the Civil Engineer & Architect's Journal, refers to a kind of railway wagon.

I can only assume that, somewhere in the world (probably California) Lorry is a used as a personal name.