tap-tap

n. a truck or van used as an independently operated taxi. Subjects: French-based Creole, Haiti, Automobiles & Transportation

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Citations: 1972 Herbert Gold New York Times Magazine (Mar. 12) “Progress In Haiti: Leopards In Sneakers Instead of Tonton Macoutes” p. 34: I was cheering them on when a tap-tap, the gaily painted bus, careened into the crowd and knocked a paper mask flying. 1977 Brigitte Weeks Washington Post (Apr. 3) “The Haitian Vacation” p. M1: Strange little buses called “tap-taps,” constructed on flatbed trucks and decorated over every inch with paintings of flowers, animals, Bible stories and proverbs, ply along the Avenue des Salines parallel with the harbor at intervals of seconds. 1985 Paul Shell Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City) (Mar. 13) “Haiti Teaches of Death, Life”: Once on the road to Aux Cayes we passed a tap-tap (a small pickup truck) wreck and there was a man laying in the road dead. I realized how the U.S. is so candy coated. They hide death there. 2004 Mary McCarty @ Leogane, Haiti Dayton Daily News (Ohio) (Aug. 4) “Faith abounds”: She leaves the house at 4 a.m. to catch the “tap-tap,” one of the privately-owned vans, buses, and trucks that serve as Haiti’s equivalent of public transportation. The always crowded tap-taps—coined for the two-tap system for signaling boarding and exiting—are painted in carnival colors and emblazoned with hopeful messages such as “God is merciful” and “Love is Eternal.”

Posted 5 Aug 04 | Permalink | Tell a Friend