Lost in translation! Have you ever been greeted with the friendly exclamation “Dashboard!”? No? Or have you ever wished your Italian colleagues a “dashboard”? If you are Bavarian, probably yes.
During my years abroad in the control tower of Decimomannu Air Base in Sardinia, I had two Bavarian comrades for a while. When we changed our shifts, we greeted each other with a hearty “Grüß Gott” – as is the custom at home. Our fellow Italians could not figure it out for a long time until someone looked it up in a dictionary. “Grüß Gott” sounds like “crustacean“. And “crustacean” is Italian and means “dashboard”. However, the origin of the word is interesting: at the time of horse carriages, protection was attached in front of the bench on which the driver sat. This board was designed to protect him from mud and stones thrown up by horse hooves. It was also meant to store fodder for horses there Crusca, or oat bran. Like Benz, its gasoline car bicycle development, he took this board and gave it a name suitableLatin for he is protected (or armed) This is how the word dashboard was born. While the Fiat company also built cars in Turin, Italy, this board was also adopted there. But the workers found the tongue-lashing of the five-syllable Teutonic ‘Ar-ma-tu-ren-brett’ too loud and recalled the sack of barley and crusca which the waggon drivers always carry for their animals. This is how the crucotto was. “Non appoggiare mai i piedi sul cruscotto” is written in Italian car instructions today, “never put your feet on the dashboard”. Of course I don’t do it at home either (what do I want with an airbag under my bum?), but if it helps global awareness, I’ll be down for one too. Italian A proposal. Warm greetings to the Fiat staff.
Andrew Fecker
