Is “gas hand” an old southern thing?

GymB

GymB

Picking it up slowly.
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A couple days ago an old timer asked me if my gas hand was broken. Had no idea what he meant, worked it out by context.

Know what it is?
Know where the term came from?
 
Gas hand as in the gauge in your vehicle? If so then yes I know what it is but no not sure where term cane from. But it is a gas hand like hands on a clock
 
GymB said:
A couple days ago an old timer asked me if my gas hand was broken. Had no idea what he meant, worked it out by context.

Know what it is?
Know where the term came from?
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It would help if you told us the context.
 
Are you saying you ran your car out of gas?
 
Born and raised in the backwoods of central NC. Don't know the origins but I've heard it called a gas hand all my life. And that is what I still call it.
 
GymB said:
No, donated it. Driver called to ask if the gas hand was broken, he’d never seen anyone donate a car with a full tank.
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That's good. Running out of gas is for clueless women and criminals making a run for the border at top speed to evade the law.
 
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AppFan said:
Never had a broken gas hand but did have a broken speedometer hand from exceeding boundaries when they only went to 85 🤣
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Friend in HS pegged his dad's car above 85. He was like the kid with the Ferrari in Ferris Beuler that had too many miles on it, certain his father would kill him.
 
Just Tripp said:
Born and raised southern, and I’d never heard that. I’d also never heard that a motor could be crunk until recently 🤷🏼‍♂️
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Born, sort of raised. Heard gas hand, but it's rare. Crunk yep, but I'm usually about done listening right there. What really gets me is the use of crank/crunk for run, everywhere else crank/crunk means turn over regardless of whether it starts. When your a mechanic, going on a service call this makes a HUGE difference.
 
Timfoilhat said:
Friend in HS pegged his dad's car above 85. He was like the kid with the Ferrari in Ferris Beuler that had too many miles on it, certain his father would kill him.
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Mine was there with me when the mechanic walked out and asked "how fast were you going to snap the speedometer cable?".
That was an awkward moment.
 
Timfoilhat said:
That's good. Running out of gas is for clueless women and criminals making a run for the border at top speed to evade the law.
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Can’t like that post because I did run out of gas once, in Charlotte, wearing flipflops, without a jacket, on a day that it snowed. About a mile round trip walk to the gas station I suppose.
 
Raised in the middle of SC and been all over everywhere and never heard it
 
Back in KY, I heard a guy telling about a man who got hit by a golf ball and went to ground. The other guy says, “Was he to?”, meaning was he conscious. I knew exactly what he meant but some were like, “Was he too what…?” 😂
 
I've heard the indicator(or pointer) on an analog gauge called the hand all my life. I think it comes from teaching kids how to tell time in the pre digital age. "If the big hand is on the 6 and the small hand is on the two, then what time is it?"

Lost skill, for sure.
 
I have owned vehicles that you had use a stick to measure level . A gas hand was "high cotton" stuff. VW's started putting gas hands in the early sixty's. Before that you had a lever that you could twist to get 1 more gallon. Kinda like a motorcycle.
 
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