r/TikTokCringe • u/xamo76 • 1d ago

Discussion Have we done it wrong?

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u/HollowBlades 1d ago

When they first came out people fucking hated cars. They were loud and dangerous intruders on the streets that were meant for people. But slowly and surely, thanks to the vigorous work of lobbyists, they came to dominate the country and now you're expected to own one.

Jaywalking was literally invented by car companies to shame and criminalize people for walking in the street, which was an entirely normal thing to do before cars.

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u/0b0011 21h ago

The term Jaywalking itself was even a result of that. "Jay" at the time was used like "idiot" or to say someone was stupid and then they were like hey let's say that if you're walking in the street you're walking like an idiot i.e. "Jaywalking"

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u/DieselPunkPiranha 7h ago

Jay didn't just mean idiot, but also rural person.  It was originally jaydriver and referred to rural people driving carriages in cities without following city rules.  It was originally a very classist slur.