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Vysokojakokurva_C137 OP t1_j905fq0 wrote

Reply to comment by the_wrong_banana69 in What does “are you hacking?” mean when asked by pedestrians in the city? by Vysokojakokurva_C137

Do you know the etymology? Or should I say the origin?

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lucasbelite t1_j907sp8 wrote

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackney_carriage

In a lot of areas a taxi license is called a hack license. Look up the etymology of hackney to get the first origin.

> The New York City colloquial terms "hack" (taxi or taxi-driver), hackstand (taxi stand), and hack license (taxi licence) are probably derived from hackney carriage. Such cabs are now regulated by the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission.

And that will bring you to:

> The origins of the word hackney in connection with horses and carriages are uncertain. The origin is often attributed to the London borough of Hackney, whose name likely originated in Old English meaning 'Haka's Island'.

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Willothwisp2303 t1_j91m7ya wrote

This is fun. I go out on a hack with friends when we go ride our horses together out in the open without jumping. I like that it applies kinda similarly in my mostly white community to the mostly black community asking for a ride with a new friend.

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Charming_Wulf t1_j91v19z wrote

I do wonder if there's a term for etymological black hole that is historical UK. There's so much slang that follows a similar backwards timeline: modern term, transition point, historical term, transition point in England, 'people in X (industry, region, social class, etc etc) just starting saying this in blank-year, first written example 100 years later with five different spellings'

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