Load of manure
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From the place that claims to do today what the rest of the country will do tomorrow comes a modest contribution to the English language.
Proposing the toast of the guests at the annual dinner of the North-western section of the Chartered Institute of Transport in Manchester, Ribble's Ian Morgan described his search for a suitable collective noun for transport professionals
He said he had seriously considered -pantechniconbut after much thought had plumped for "tumbrel.The Concise Oxford Dictionary de fines a tumbrel as. a "twowheeled covered cart for carrying tools, ammunition, etc: a dung-cart,which is a little hard on the dedicated men who try to keep the wheels turning against fearful odds. On the other hand, it has close associations with the French Revolution and the guillotine, so in this sense it fits a body of specialists whose heads are permanently on the block.
A supplementary definition, "instrument of punishment,is particularly appropriate to the road and rail strikers who have made life a misery.