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Origin of the Term Dashboard

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You’ve probably yelled at your front seat passenger (probably your kid) to get his feet off the dashboard once or twice, but did you ever wonder why the thing that attracts your passengers’ feet, holds your car’s instrument panel and infotainment system controls, and air vents is called a dashboard? Well, let me tell you…

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The term dashboard actually originates way before gasoline-powered automobiles took over the roads. In fact, it was coined before roads were really roads, well, at least the asphalt-paved paths we know today.

According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the term “dashboard” or “dash-board” originated in 1846, and it applied to a the mode of transportation of that time — a carriage.

The definition reads, “board or leather apron in front of a carriage to stop mud from being splashed (‘dashed’) into the vehicle by the horse’s hoofs.”

Nadeem Muaddi, writer on the TheHogRing.com reports that the concept of, if not the word, dashboard is practically ancient.

“While the term ‘dashboard’ didn’t work its way into popular English until the 1800s, the concept of a ‘dashboard’ existed long before then. In fact, Mesopotamian chariots dating as far back as 3,000 BC employed similar guards against mud and rocks,” Muaddi writes.

Although dashboard is still used today to describe the front panel under the windshield, the Online Etymology Dictionary states, “Except for the situation relative to the front seat, it has nothing in common with the original.”

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Thankfully, modern automobiles employ greater protection, aka the windshield, for the driver and passengers from road debris, and the dashboard of yesterday is no longer needed.

News Source: Online Etymology Dictionary, The Hog Ring