moped carrier/delivery moped

[editrice]

Hi all,

A quick question from John's editor: I'm being interviewed for a radio show where they want to discuss the translation of Swedish "flakmoppe" in different languages - i.e., a moped for driving goods. It's been translated in English as moped carrier, delivery moped an moped trailer. Are these words you'd know and use, or were they created by the translator?

Thanks for your thoughts
Editrice

[covenant6452]

Hello again, editrice!
If it is a moped with two wheels, generally it is just called a moped. If it is one with three wheels and has a body built on it, the only word I can think of to describe that would be a "trike", from "triciycle".

[jellmoo]

Those wouldn't be terms used commonly in Montreal, but wouldn't be too hard to decipher. Moped carrier would likely be the easiest, and moped trailer would lead me to imagine a small box or side car attached to the moped to carry items.

That being said, mopeds are fairly rare around here. Most courriers use bicycles or small cars. Occasionally a scooter, but that is almost as rare as a moped would be.

My first inclination would be to say "Moped Courrier", but that would be far from an official term for such a thing.

[drakkar]

Hi,

in Norwegian the term is "varemoped", I think. I've also seen "flakmoped" used, and every soul would understand "flakmoppe".

In LdRKI, "flaket" is translated to "lasteplanet".

[Aurora]

Sorry can't help you, there's nothing like that here in UK.

Edited after reading Stefl's post.

[a_contemplative_life]

Here in the U.S. we have mopeds, but I've never seen one with a delivery rack or trailer. If, however, the idea is something being pulled behind a moped, we'd probably just call it a moped trailer.

[Wolfchild]

There seems to be some confusion about whether this thing has a basket, or a rack, or pulls a trailer. Can you provide a pic?

BTW: I will probably be moving this thread to the Off Topic section. Just wanted to give you a little warning before it disappears in the sea of posts.

[N.R. Gasan]

Here in the U.S. we have mopeds, but I've never seen one with a delivery rack or trailer.

I also have never seen a moped used for a commercial purpose. Honestly, here in the U.S., I doubt if anyone would even make a distinction. People would probably call a delivery moped just "a moped," or maybe "a moped used for deliveries."

[StefL]

If you haven't seen a picture, you need to know that the vehicle in question has two wheels in the front and one in the rear. The loading rack is in the front and the driver sits behind it. The motor - on a moped a 50cc engine - drives the rear wheel.
I've been trying to upload a few pictures to my personal webpage and link to them but I can't make the SFTP client work from the office. So instead just have a look at the pictures available at http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flakmoped
Flakmopeds are widely used on islands in the Swedish archipelagoes since they are able to transport goods better than regular mopeds or bicycles, and it is also mostly unnecessary to make the effort of getting cars out to an island where your longest transport may be less than a kilometer.

[Wolfchild]

OK, after seeing the pic from StefL's post, I have to say that nothing like that is used in the US.

It is therefore likely to be called, "What is that damned thing?".