US understanding of the word truck

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  • US understanding of the word truck

    I need to do a version with Australian idiom replaced for US readers. Stuff like "trunk" for "boot" (of a car).

    There's a scene where a truck (just the tractor unit part of it) crashes through a building. Here in Australia, we say "prime mover" for "tractor unit". It's not a big deal, but does anyone have any suggestions that could help me avoid "tractor unit"? That sounds a little dry to me.

    Thanks in advance.

  • #2
    Re: US understanding of the word truck

    I would think of it as a tractor (one word, no "unit") or a truck or a semi truck, but on the other hand, if I ever were to describe that to someone, like on the phone, I'd probably still specifically clarify that it didn't have a trailer, since a semi truck *with* a trailer is the default mental picture.

    Does the trailer come off the semi at some point? Or is it still attached but only the front goes through the building? Or did it never have a trailer?
    "You have idea 1, you're excited. It flops. You have idea 99, you're excited. It flops.
    Only a fool is excited by the 100th idea. Fools keep trying. God rewards fools." --Martin Hellman, paraphrased

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    • #3
      Re: US understanding of the word truck

      Never had.

      Just used as a battering ram to get into a building.

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      • #4
        Re: US understanding of the word truck

        Semi would be the word you are looking for -- it may bring to mind the complete unit (tractor trailer) but colloquially the word can refer to just the "truck" part.

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        • #5
          Re: US understanding of the word truck

          Thanks all. I'll go with semi and add the word "massive" to beef it up.

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          • #6
            Re: US understanding of the word truck

            If you've previously described it as the tractor unit only, then semi would work. (I still think of a semi as a tractor with a trailer.) You could also use the "cab", "semi cab", or the "massive Peterbuilt" (insert other brand there).

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            • #7
              Re: US understanding of the word truck

              I agree with the previous poster. If you haven't described it earlier, and you don't want to say "a semi truck without the trailer/sans trailer", "a big rig without the rig", etc., then I think you have to use the term "cab" for clarity, otherwise readers will picture it as the entire thing. So you could write "a massive semi truck cab", or "a massive big rig truck cab", or something like that.
              "The Hollywood film business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." Hunter S Thompson

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              • #8
                Re: US understanding of the word truck

                Originally posted by MoviePen View Post
                If you've previously described it as the tractor unit only, then semi would work. (I still think of a semi as a tractor with a trailer.) You could also use the "cab", "semi cab", or the "massive Peterbuilt" (insert other brand there).
                Agree with above. Or perhaps "big rig" on second use?
                Or Kenworth cab minus cargo? Scratch that.

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                • #9
                  Re: US understanding of the word truck

                  Originally posted by WaitForIt View Post
                  I would think of it as a tractor (one word, no "unit") or a truck or a semi truck, but on the other hand, if I ever were to describe that to someone, like on the phone, I'd probably still specifically clarify that it didn't have a trailer, since a semi truck *with* a trailer is the default mental picture.
                  This is one of the simple things in screenwriting that drives me ****ing crazy: For well-known reasons, we never want to take 5 or 7 or 9 words to describe just some simple thing, but sometimes that's simply the best way to get the job done. And in US parlance, this is one of those sometimes. Like, "tractor" may well be the correct term, but even if you've intro'd "a tractor-trailer", if you then shorten that to "tractor", my guess is that most Americans are gonna have reflex imaging in their brains and that reflex will picture a farm tractor.

                  I think there are a number of suggestions made above that can work. For me, the exact wording would depend on the pacing I was going for. And how long the truck is in the scene before the crash; how many references I'd make to it before it hit the building.

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                  • #10
                    Re: US understanding of the word truck

                    You know what, guys?

                    I'm overthinking this.

                    The setup is our protag and sidekick are holed up in what they think is a safe, solid building. Waiting for help. Then, they hear the sound of rumbling getting closer. Closer. Closer. Until WHAM. A Kenworth rams through the wall. I doubt readers (or if it ever gets that far, viewers) are going to be thinking "uh, what now? Did the truck have a trailer attached?".

                    Maybe I just leave it at "massive truck"? Or would that make USians think I mean an F150?

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                    • #11
                      Re: US understanding of the word truck

                      Well then... Is this seen from the inside of the building? Then just say "a massive tractor trailer".

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                      • #12
                        Re: US understanding of the word truck

                        Originally posted by Manchester View Post
                        Well then... Is this seen from the inside of the building?
                        Yup. You don't see the truck until it's crashed through the wall.

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                        • #13
                          Re: US understanding of the word truck

                          Cab! Who said cab? That's the word. So "the cab of a massive semi truck" or "the cab of a massive tractor trailer" or "the cab of a massive eighteen-wheeler" or whatevs.

                          Whether or not you're overthinking this, you're around a bunch of writers here and writers like having the right words. I love words.
                          "You have idea 1, you're excited. It flops. You have idea 99, you're excited. It flops.
                          Only a fool is excited by the 100th idea. Fools keep trying. God rewards fools." --Martin Hellman, paraphrased

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                          • #14
                            Re: US understanding of the word truck

                            call it a lorry
                            I heard the starting gun


                            sigpic

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                            • #15
                              Re: US understanding of the word truck

                              A Mack truck CRASHES through the wall.

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