taxi, noun
- Origin:
- English, South African EnglishShow more Special sense of general English taxi a vehicle which transports passengers to a requested destination for a metered fare (in which sense the word is also used in South African English).
1. Often with defining words, as black taxi, kombi taxi, minibus taxi, to distinguish this type of vehicle from a metered taxi: a light vehicle, now usually a sixteen-seater minibus, which transports passengers on a fixed route for a set fare (as does a bus), but does not operate to a time-table; kombi taxi, see kombi sense 2; kwela-kwela sense 2. Also attributive. See also Mary Decker sense b, Sabta, Zola Budd sense b.
- Note:
- Such taxis operate on both urban and long-distance routes. This kind of service was probably introduced in the 1950s; until the late 1970s the vehicle used was normally a large motor car, and relatively few were in service. Estimates now put the number of taxis at anywhere between 50 000 and 100 000.
1973 E. Prov. Herald 27 Mar. 1Many of the Black spectators arrived two hours before the match — brought in by a massive convoy of hired buses and pirate taxis.
2. combination
1979 Daily Dispatch 6 Apr. 1Taxi war blamed after man in mask kills...Taxi owner..could have been shot dead in a new taxi war...A war is raging between licensed taxi drivers and pirate taxis. Trouble is believed to have flared when licensed drivers decided to operate between Mdantsane and King William’s Town and in the rural areas in the Zwelitsha district. Pirate taxis have been operating on the same route.
1992 M. Mtsheketshe in South 27 Feb. 3The search for a solution to the Western Cape’s tragic taxi war has been widened.
Often with defining words, as black taxi, kombi taxi, minibus taxi, to distinguish this type of vehicle from a metered taxi:a light vehicle, now usually a sixteen-seater minibus, which transports passengers on a fixed route for a set fare (as does a bus), but does not operate to a time-table; kombi taxi, see kombi sense 2; kwela-kwela sense 2. Also attributive.
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