Why Are They Called 'Jeeps' And What Does The Name Stand For?

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While the term "jeep" usually refers to a car brand, the trademarked version of that ("Jeep") emerged later. In fact, the "Jeep" name wasn't officially trademarked (by Willys-Overland) until 1950.

They're called "jeeps," but where did that term come from, and how is that? To understand that, we need to go back to June 1940 when the United States Army put out a request for proposals to 135 car manufacturers for a small, general-purpose 4x4 vehicle for light reconnaissance that was easy to fix and strong enough to carry a light machine gun.

The term "prototype" refers to a foundation or original, rather than necessarily a "General Purpose" as some might think.

The Top 20 Most Dependable SUVs Ever, Sorted.

A Jeep can refer to a mid-size car or utility vehicle, a comic strip character, or a 4x4 vehicle.

These vehicles would collectively become known as the common term for jeep.

Think of it as someone from earlier times, or a fresh face/new person, or some other term for someone who is new.

In January 1929, cartoonist and writer Elzie Crisler (E.C.) Segar penned an issue of his long-running King Features comic strip, "Thimble Theatre," which for the first time featured a background character with bulging forearms named Popeye the Sailor. Seven years later (March of 1936), Segar introduces a mysterious and magical character to the strip in the form of Olive Oyl's pet (given to her by her Uncle Ben) named Eugene the Jeep. The term "jeep" then generally comes to mean something extraordinary.

The Jeep Rolled into Battle and Won the Hearts of Millions of People

Prior to the jeep vehicles' introduction to the battlefield, a publicity stunt was held in February 1941 where a Willys Quad quite literally drove up the steps of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. The driver (Irving "Red" Housman) was asked by the throngs of assembled media members, "What is that thing?" and he answered, "It's a jeep." The next day, the pictures of the event, along with Housman's answer, made front page news in virtually every American newspaper.

As one might imagine, what happens next is the true definition of "going viral." You had thousands of veterans fighting in their second world war who knew the word "jeep" from their first go around in the military.

), which was marketed as "The All-Around Farm Work-Horse." And the rest, as they say ... is history.

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