the.com/carpool
Four people, one car, and a shared agreement to pretend the small talk is fine.
means An arrangement where several people share a single car for a regular trip, usually commuting to work or school, taking turns driving or splitting the cost.
from A straightforward 20th-century compound: 'car' plus 'pool,' in the sense of a shared pool of resources (think 'typing pool' or betting pools where people pool their money). The word surged during fuel shortages and wartime rationing, when sharing rides stopped being a courtesy and became a civic duty — government posters of the era literally urged people to 'join a car pool.'
- origin
- term dates to 1940s wartime gas rationing
- etiquette rule
- shotgun goes to whoever is being dropped off last
- math
- splits gas cost but never splits the awkward silence
- lane perk
- hov lanes exist entirely to bribe you into sharing