bankrupt cart

English

Etymology

Said to be so called by a Lord Chief Justice, from their being so frequently used on Sunday jaunts by extravagant shopkeepers and tradesmen.

Pronunciation

Audio (AU) (file)

Noun

bankrupt cart (plural bankrupt carts)

(obsolete, idiomatic) A one-horse chaise.
- 1813, Harriet Corp, Cottage Sketches; Or, Active Retirement
  " No, no, I was too prudent when I was young to risk the expenses of a bankrupt cart, and now I am old I am too wise to attempt the difficult art of driving one."

References

[Francis] Grose [et al.] (1811), “Bankrupt cart”, in Lexicon Balatronicum. A Dictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit, and Pickpocket Eloquence. […], London: Printed for C. Chappell, […], OCLC 23927885.