Talk:Milk float

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[edit] Etymology

Why is it called a Milk Float? Anyone have any idea of the origin. --jmb 12:27, 22 January 2007 (UTC)

Because of it's electric motors. They make the vehicle quiet which gives you the fealing of it floating over the road. Unisouth 13:06, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Real answer: Nobody really knows! See http://www.milkfloats.org.uk/faq.html 193.113.37.7 15:10, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

Just told you the answer! Unisouth 15:04, 26 June 2007 (UTC)

Only problem is that the term "float" was used for horse drawn milk floats before the battery powered electric versions. From the OED

• milk float n. (chiefly Brit.) an open-sided vehicle (now usually electrically powered) for delivering milk.
• 1887 Bury Times 3 Sept. 6/4 He noticed the defendant driving a *milk float towards him at a great speed.
• 1935 N. COLLINS Three Friends viii. 143 A horse attached to a milk float wore a hat made of newspaper.

--jmb 17:48, 26 June 2007 (UTC)

Realy? Then I don't know! Unisouth 10:16, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

Surely it's that the loading area is an open-sided platform, inviting a comparison to a parade float. That article says "The name is derived from the first floats, which were decorated barges that were towed along canals with ropes held by parade marchers on the shore." --KJBracey 07:03, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

The Concise Oxford Dictionary includes (amongst many others) the following definitions of float:

• kind of low-bodied cart
• platform on wheels with show used in processions

--PeterR 22:59, 31 October 2007 (UTC)