let’s take my pav

i’ve always been fascinated by the etymology of words. when reading a recent article on flying cars, the author noted that nasa prefers the term “personal air vehicle” to “flying car.” which made me wonder… where does the word “car” come from anyway, and would it be appropriate to call a flying car a car as well or does “car” indicate the primary use of wheels? or, does “flying car” just sound too pedestrian? is nasa just trying to create another acronym?

not knowing they really existed, i looked up “etymology” on google and found an etymology dictionary. car is from words meaning “two-wheeled Celtic war chariot” and “to run”… so, although the word “car” does in a way imply wheels, it is certainly not tied strictly to it’s original meaning, as cars aren’t really chariots. i think we can call them cars very easily and be as true to the word’s roots as we are with today’s station wagons.

my second reaction: i want a flying car! where can i buy one? can i really trust folks who can’t stay between lanes of traffic as it is from knocking me out of the sky?

engineers are addressing this issue:

...[H]e would have to make it elementary enough for the average commuter to master without full pilot's training. Here again, technology is paving the way. With radar, automatic transmissions and Global Positioning System navigation, there's no reason a flying car can't be as easy to handle as any VW, maybe even easier: your car can't help you merge on the freeway, but according to Andrew Hahn of NASA, most flying smart cars will be controlled by a simple joystick and come preprogrammed with anticollision technology and self-correcting flight controls.

COOL.