Pronounced: AY-luhr, adj
Notes: I confused this word with “agar”, probably because I didn’t know this word
Yesterday’s word
The word jitney means
- a small bus that carries passengers over a regular route on a flexible schedule
- an unlicensed taxicab
First usage
Our word came into English in the 1900s (meaning 1900-1910)
Background / Comments
At the turn of the 20th century, jitney was slang for “nickel” (the 5-cent piece). It costs a nickel to ride a new method of public transportation: an automobile that carried passengers over a set route. These came to be called a jitney (after the cost). Over time, the term became used more specifically to refer to small buses. In or around the 1950s, jitney was combined with jeep to create the word “jeepney”, which referred to a Philippine jitney bus converted from a jeep. The origin of our word is obscure.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 