pantechnicon (removal truck)???

[bluedolphin]

Saw a learning chart with a large truck on it and the word pantechnicon written under it....I would have used words like juggernaut, artic (articulated lorry) ...learning chart was aimed at basic vocab .....does this word appear in everyday english??

[Quizmonster]

A pantechnicon was originally a bazaar for the display of all sorts of craft/art work. It then came to mean a warehouse for storing such things and finally - over a century ago - a large van for moving things. As such, it was really an abbreviation of 'pantechnicon van'.

It has been around for quite a while, in other words, but it is hardly an 'everyday' usage nowadays.

[Janetex]

I first heard this 20 years ago; it surprised me then and still surprises me.

[woofgang]

If the chart was for children, esp little boys, it may have been to encourage them, Kids love long funny "clever" words, look at the fascination with the names of dinosaurs, also I would imagine that for a lot of liitle boys, its really interesting to know the proper names of vehicles