Vol. 10 · Portmanteaus ·Mid-century: TV and science ·1950
Travelator
travel escalator
- Meaning
- A moving walkway, typically horizontal, at an airport or station.
- Source words
- travel + escalator
- Coined by
- Otis Elevator Company
- Year
- 1950
Background
Trademarked by Otis as *Trav-O-Lator* in 1955 after earlier 1950s experimental installations. The name slipped into generic British English; in American English *moving walkway* is more common.
Mid-century: TV and science
Two engines dominated: television (sitcom, televangelist) and post-war big science (pulsar, transistor). Many mid-century coinages came from scientific style sheets and industry journals.
Two words, one coinage.
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