Photo: General Motors
With the increasing prevalence of electric and mid-engine vehicles, it’s likely that you’ve heard the term frunk — or front truck — bandied about recently. Just on The News Wheel alone, we’ve reported on stories like Ford’s inexplicable ad claiming that the Mustang Mach-E’s frunk can hold more than 1,000 chicken wings, and a subsequent demand by our editor Kyle Johnson to know how many can fit into the 2020 Corvette Stingray’s front-end poultry holster.
Frunk or no frunk: The 2020 Corvette is a slam dunk
However, amid all of this conversation, I can’t help but think about how unfortunate the distinction frunk really is, especially since it sounds like so many other unappealing words. Here are a few terms that I feel prove we should band together to change the moniker to better suit this practical relocation of storage space.
Frump
This decidedly unpleasant word is a pejorative term that Merriam-Webster defines as “a dowdy, unattractive girl or woman.” Not only is it unnecessarily gendered and exceptionally body-negative, but it’s also rather uncomfortable to say in any context, as the concentration of plosives could use some improvement.
Drumpf
Putting aside the obvious political implications, drumpf sounds like a euphemism for a particularly gnarly bowel movement. That’s not something I want anywhere near my hard-earned — and unfortunately-hypothetical — 2020 Corvette.
Flunk
According to Dictionary.com, flunk, as a noun, means “a failure.” Given that the frunk is indicative of advancements in eco-friendly technology and present on the most powerful Corvette ever, the rhyme seems inappropriate.
Drunk
Real talk: Never drive while frunk. I mean… you know what I mean.
Flump
Depending on who you ask, flump either refers to a British children’s TV show named The Flumps, a marshmallow-based candy actually called Flumps, or, “the action or sound of a heavy fall,” according to Oxford’s Lexico.com. If it were up to me, I would encourage automakers to avoid terminology that sounds like onomatopoeia for falling a great distance only to land with a heavy thud.
Try as I might, I have yet to come up with any better term for a front-end trunk. If you have any suggestions, don’t hesitate to leave them in the comments!
Hearing an unfortunate clunk?: Certified professionals can fix that hunk ‘o junk
The News Wheel is a digital auto magazine providing readers with a fresh perspective on the latest car news. We’re located in the heart of America (Dayton, Ohio) and our goal is to deliver an entertaining and informative perspective on what’s trending in the automotive world. See more articles from The News Wheel.