The metal door that opens downwards found at the back of trucks and other vehicles. Tailgates facilitate the loading and unloading of vehicles, but also provide an impromptu bench or work space when the situation calls, for example during tailgate parties or when working out in the field.
An American car brand that is known world-wide as popular, reliable and affordable. The Ford automobile company was named after Henry Ford, who is famous for changing the world of transportation as well as of industry. In 1908, he designed the Model T car, an inexpensive automobile that made owning a vehicle a feasible thing for the common man and not just for the wealthy elite. The method and philosophy of production introduce by Ford in the manufacture the Model T was an integrated moving assembly line known as Fordism, a system of mass production for mass consumption that was adopted in a variety of industries and deeply affected American economy in the first half of the 20th century.
The Ford company grew rapidly and developed into a multinational corporation. Over the decades, its cars were, and still are, among the best-selling in America as well as in many other countries across the globe.
Also known as concrete masonry units or cement blocks, cinder blocks are rectangular blocks made of concrete that are used in basic construction projects, such as wall construction. Because they are formed to be hollow in the center, cinder blocks retain most of the structural integrity of concrete but only possess a fraction of the weight, making them relatively versatile building units. Construction sites often have leftover cinder blocks that can be used for a variety of house or garden projects.
A popular model of the American car brand Chevrolet. The Impala was first introduced in 1958, and updated models are still in production. The Impala was marketed as a sporty, yet roomy, comfortable and affordable car, and became a best-selling car in the 1960s.
Adobe is made of clay soil mixed with water and straw that is then formed into walls, oblong shapes, hornos (ovens), or bricks. The finished object is left to dry and harden in the sun. Once cured, it is covered in a coat of plaster, which is essentially thinned adobe mixed with lime.
The word adobe originated in Arabic, and was used by the Spanish to refer to mud brick structures. Adobe was incorporated into English in the 18th century, and the term has come to mean not just the building material but also an architectural style popular in the Southwest, U.S. particularly in Arizona and New Mexico. The use of adobe in New Mexico can be traced to many centuries prior to European contact and was widespread among various Native American groups, especially the Puebloans. With the arrival of Spanish explorers and settlers, local building techniques were combined with Spanish architectural styles to create what is now referred to as the Santa Fe or Spanish-Pueblo Revival style, made famous by the rise of Santa Fe, NM as a popular tourist attraction and cultural center.
The most common substance used in the U.S. for paving roads. Asphalt concrete (also called tarmac) is produced by laying heated refined crude oils over a layer of aggregate materials such as sand and gravel. The mixture is then rolled and pressed onto the road to create a solid, durable surface layer.
Educational curricula at the elementary and sometimes high school levels in the United States that seek to promote civic competence by integrating the social sciences with the humanities. Whereas the social sciences seek to quantify and categorize information about the human condition into data sets and tables, for example by concentrating on the intersection of politics, economics, and demographics in a specific time and place, the humanities focus on qualitative aspects of human culture, such as philosophy, history, and literature. By bringing social studies and the humanities together, it was believed that a young person would be inculcated with the knowledge and resulting aspiration to function as a positively contributing member to society. Because for many years both the social sciences and the humanities retained blind spots relative to class, racialization, gender, sexuality, and ability, social studies focused on the development and improvement of a universal type that was, by default, a white male citizen who belonged to the middle class.
An anachronistic, or old fashioned term, for "escort," a term sometimes coded to refer to someone who sells sex, and sometimes nonsexual companionship, by appointment, as opposed to someone who gets picked up on the streets to sexually service a client. Similar to the historical sex trade once found in brothels, call girls may work under the supervision of a madam, who cultivates both her service specialists as well as her clientele. Call girls are assumed to be of a "higher class" than street prostitutes, in that it is assumed that they are free from addictions and that they specialize in various services, including elite cultural training in addition to sexual practices. Regardless of cultural milieu or class standing, any sexworker runs the risk of personal endangerment in the course of providing the intimate services expected of her or him, even if she or he has freely chosen to work in the sex trade.
The dissection of a corpse (dead human body) in order to determine the cause of death. Also known as a postmortem examination or necropsy. This method is used by a medical examiner or coroner when the cause of death is unknown or when death seems to have occurred under suspicious circumstances.
