Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

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Tuesday, September 10. 2013

What is that?

How many Maggie's readers know what the triangle to the left of the gas pump symbol means?



Posted by Gwynnie in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 05:30 | Comments (25) | Trackbacks (0)

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The triangle points to the side of the car where your gas cap is. That way you can pull up to the pump with the correct side of your car facing the pump! A very handy little bit of info.
#1 C W Swanson (Link) on 2013-09-10 05:29 (Reply)
It's HUGELY helpful with rental cars.

Kudos for this small addition.
#1.1 DrTorch on 2013-09-10 10:00 (Reply)
The First-to-Answer-Correctly of one thousand Maggie shitcoins goes to C W Swanson!! One hundred shitcoins to Mr Goodwinch for Most Creative.
#1.2 Gwynne on 2013-09-10 13:39 (Reply)
I think that it points to which side of your car the petrol cap is situated. In the old days, depending on which side of the car the cap was, the actual fuel gauge was situated on the corresponding side of the instrument panel. It makes it easier for those in the know to pull up at the correct side of the petrol pump.
#2 Matt from Australia on 2013-09-10 05:32 (Reply)
It makes it easier for those who actually read manuals and instructions...

FIFY
#4 Jess1 on 2013-09-10 08:00 (Reply)
I think Jalopnik started this rumor, but I don't have it on my 2012 car.
#5 peter on 2013-09-10 08:00 (Reply)
"Here there be Dragons?"
#6 Ron Snyder on 2013-09-10 08:03 (Reply)
There was also a period of time, on at least a few cars, when the fuel door side was indicated by the location of the dispensing hose on the gas pump symbol - right or left - but that was too subtle.
#7 Harry Briscoe on 2013-09-10 09:17 (Reply)
It means that the tank can be recycled.
#8 rhhardin (Link) on 2013-09-10 09:24 (Reply)
If it points left, it's a car for left-handed people. If it points right, it's designed for right-handed people.
#9 Bulldog on 2013-09-10 09:35 (Reply)
Er, well, shouldn't it be in braille? Not all dogs can read sign language.
#10 chasmatic (Link) on 2013-09-10 09:44 (Reply)
My blind chauffeur dog just uses filling stations what have hoses long enough to reach either side.
#11 Knucklehead (Link) on 2013-09-10 10:15 (Reply)
Actually, it indicates if a left-handed or right-handed gas pump should be used.
The side where the gas pump hose is located will put a small spin on the liquid being fed, which has to be cancelled by the alignment of the gas filler pipe and tank in the car.

This process is reversed in the southern hemisphere.
#12 earlw on 2013-09-10 10:19 (Reply)
I thought it was a light that illuminated when you drove off with the filler hose still stuck in your tank.
#13 BillH on 2013-09-10 10:54 (Reply)
My car has a little dinger bell for that.

While I have so far failed to drive off with the filler hose still attached to the car I have been in service stations twice when it happened. What a commotion! People yelling and running, hoses thunking and snapping, offending driver cranking up the tunes to cover that noise she can't figure out... (and yes, both times were women drivers).
#13.1 Knucklehead (Link) on 2013-09-10 11:44 (Reply)
I believe it indicates where on the political spectrum most owners of that particular model of vehicle tend to land. I think the above photo is of a Subaru, no?
#14 No Left Turn Unstoned on 2013-09-10 11:40 (Reply)
its a warning, it means that someone with a vuvuzela will serenade you if you gas up at that station.
#15 Mr Goodwinch on 2013-09-10 11:51 (Reply)
You say that like its a bad thing. A serenade by someone with a vuvuzella is a memorable experience.
#15.1 Knucklehead (Link) on 2013-09-10 13:47 (Reply)
you might be thinking of another "v" word.
#15.1.1 The Arrant Pedant on 2013-09-10 15:49 (Reply)
best innovation ever if you rent a lot of cars.
#16 coyote on 2013-09-10 17:05 (Reply)
I never knew. Thanks.
#17 Assistant VIllage Idiot (Link) on 2013-09-10 19:40 (Reply)
Yeah, sure. Piece o' cake: That's the turbo encabulator. The triangle indicates whether it's on or off.

They call it something else up in Canada but it is the same thing.
#18 chasmatic (Link) on 2013-09-10 21:23 (Reply)
Ahhh, yes, but the deeper question is WHY do different makes of cars have the gas fillers on different sides of the car? Shouldn't it be uniform, just like what side of the road you drive on, so that everyone comes in to fill up at the station the same way?

My theory, which I haven't been able to prove, is does it matter what the country of origin of the car is? In other words, in Japan or Britain, where people drive on the other side of the road, would the tanks have the opening on one side and then American cars would have it on the other? So Jaguars and Toyotas would have it on one side of the car (my Honda has it on the left) and American cars the other? (My theory obviously falls to pieces if, for example, American cars have fillers both on the right side or left side.
#19 Jim on 2013-09-11 15:03 (Reply)
One can fill up on either side of a gas pump. It they were all on the same side, it would make filling up with gas even more interminable.
#19.1 Darkwater (Link) on 2013-09-12 06:30 (Reply)

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