English
Etymology
Unknown. Perhaps from Jalapa , Mexico, to whose scrap yards used cars were often sent from New Orleans starting in the 1920s. First recorded written use in 1924.[ 1] [ 2]
Pronunciation
Noun
jalopy (plural jalopies )
( US , dated ) An old, dilapidated or unpretentious automobile .
Synonyms: banger , beater ; see also Thesaurus:old car
1957 , Jack Kerouac , chapter 1, in On the Road , Viking Press, →OCLC :Dean is the perfect guy for the road because he was actually born on the road, when his parents were passing through Salt Lake City in 1926, in a jalopy , on their way to Los Angeles.
2003 , Terrance Dicks & Barry Letts, Deadly Reunion , chapter 22:
There's only a rough track and I doubt if that jalopy of yours will make it.
( US , dated , slang ) A hip , cool , groovy automobile.
Translations
old, dilapidated car
Afrikaans: wrak
Albanian: karakatinë (sq) f
Amharic: ጃላፔኖ ( jalapēno )
Arabic: سيارة بالية m ( sayarat bialyti )
Belarusian: тая калымага f ( taja kalymaha )
Bengali: উড়োজাহাজ (bn) ( uṛōjahaj )
Bulgarian: таратайка f ( taratajka )
Catalan: trasto (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 破舊 車 / 破旧 车 , 破旧 车 ( pòjiù chē )
Czech: kraksna (cs) f
Danish: spand (da) c
Dutch: wrak (nl)
Estonian: autorämä
Finnish: kottero (fi)
French: guimbarde (fr) f , carriole (fr) f , tas de ferraille (fr) m
Galician: calhambeque m
Georgian: ჯალიპი ( ǯaliṗi )
German: alte Kiste f ; Klapperkiste f ; Schrottkiste f , Schrottmühle f , Rostlaube (de) f
Greek: παλαιό αυτοκίνητο m ( palaió aftokínito )
Haitian Creole: genbard
Hebrew: טָרָנטָה (he) f
Hindi: पुरानी गड़ी f ( purānī gaṛī )
Hungarian: rozzant autó , tragacs (hu)
Icelandic: bíldrusla f , drusla (is) f
Indonesian: mobil tua
Italian: catorcio (it) m , macinino (it) m
Japanese: ジャロピー ( jaropī )
Kannada: ಜಲಪೆನೊ ( jalapeno )
Korean: 구식 자동차 ( gusik jadongcha ) , 똥차 (ko) ( ttongcha )
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: jalopî f
Latvian: veca automašīna f
(deprecated template usage ) {{trans-mid }}
Lithuanian: kleras f
Luxembourgish: Jalopp
Macedonian: жалопи f ( žalopi )
Malay: mobil tua
Malayalam: ജലോപ്പി ( jalōppi )
Marathi: खटारगाडी ( khaṭārgāḍī )
Norwegian: kjerra
Pashto: جولوپي f
Polish: gruchot (pl) f
Portuguese: calhambeque (pt) m , chaço (pt) m
Punjabi: ਜਲੋਪੀ f ( jalopī )
Romanian: rablă (ro) f
Russian: драндуле́т (ru) m ( drandulét ) , колыма́га (ru) f ( kolymága ) , развалю́ха (ru) f ( razvaljúxa )
Samoan: fana
Serbo-Croatian: krntija (sh) f
Sindhi: جولوپي
Sinhalese: නටනවා ( naṭanawā )
Slovak: kraksňa f
Somali: jalalka
Spanish: cacharro (es) m , carro destartalado m , carraca (es) , tartana
Swedish: bilskrälle , rishög (sv)
Tagalog: lumang kotse
Tamil: பழைய ஊர்தி ( paḻaiya ūrti )
Telugu: పాతబడి పనికిరాని మోటారు వాహనము ( pātabaḍi panikirāni mōṭāru vāhanamu )
Thai: รถเก่าแก่ ( rt̄h kèā kæ̀ )
Turkish: külüstür araba
Ukrainian: таратайка f ( taratajka )
Urdu: جولوپی f ( jolopī )
Uzbek: jalopi
Welsh: siandri m
Yiddish: דזשאַלאָפּי f ( dzhalopi )
References
Further reading
“jalopy ”, in Collins English Dictionary .
“jalopy ”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary , Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster , 1996–present.
“jalopy ”, in Lexico , Dictionary.com ; Oxford University Press , 2019–2022 .
“jalopy ”, in Cambridge English Dictionary , Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press , 1999–present.