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combi

English translation: shuttle

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Spanish term or phrase:combi
English translation:shuttle

17:34 Jan 22, 2002
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Spanish term or phrase: combi
Es un servicio de transporte muy común en Argentina que lleva pasajeros de un destino determinado a otro por un costo no muy elevado. Son como camionetas chiquitas (van). Quería preguntarles si existe un equivalente en American English.
Gracias!
Alejandra
shuttle service
Explanation:
This seems to be what you're looking for.
Selected response from:

Kim Metzger
Mexico
Local time: 19:29
Grading comment
Gracias por todas sus respuestas!!!!!!!!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +2shuttle service
Kim Metzger
5 +1jitney
Brian Schwarz
4 +1combi
Parrot
4 +1VW bus
Yolanda Broad
4 +1Shuttle Van
Maria Blair
4 -1Minibus or Combi
jafroome


  

Answers


3 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
shuttle service


Explanation:
This seems to be what you're looking for.

Kim Metzger
Mexico
Local time: 19:29
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 259
Grading comment
Gracias por todas sus respuestas!!!!!!!!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Lorenita: o simplemente: "shuttle"
1 hr
agree  trena: This is the right term for point-to-point service.
7 hrs
agree  O María Elena Guerrero
9 hrs
disagree  Rossana Triaca: I'm afraid "combis" are very cheap & popular, while shuttle services are expensive; they would be our "remise".
13 hrs
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9 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): -1
Minibus or Combi


Explanation:
These are the words that I hear frequently when referring to el combi. Both are correct

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Note added at 2002-01-23 10:03:07 (GMT)
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In England I might add!

jafroome
United Kingdom
Local time: 02:29
PRO pts in pair: 55

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Monica Colangelo: A minibus is something different (I'm Argentine)
9 hrs
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27 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
combi


Explanation:
a secas. Proviene del "VW combi", que fue el primer modelo de este tipo.

Parrot
Spain
Local time: 03:29
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in pair: 7645

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Claudia Luque Bedregal
3219 days
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32 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
jitney


Explanation:
I've been to Argentina and know exactly what you're talking about. In the United States, jitney services provide an alternate to public city buses. They are much smaller, usually vans or slightly larger, and they are cheaper and run along a given route. I liked the previously given "shuttle service", but this is usually provided by a hotel, the airport or something like that, and while it picks up at several locations, it usually has one destination (ie. the hotels and the airport). A jitney, like a combi, stops at various places along a route.

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Note added at 2002-01-23 00:48:36 (GMT)
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Despite Trena\'s retort, her not knowing the term does not mean it isn\'t the best fit. I assure you that it is, and my experience as a writer and translator in the field of transportation is vast.


    experience
Brian Schwarz
United States
Local time: 18:29
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in pair: 10

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  trena: The concept sounds right, but "jitney" is a word I've NEVER before come across, after a lifetime of using US public transportation services. In other words, it's not a generally understood term. (Though I'm curious where jitney services are provided!)
6 hrs
  -> According to the New Oxford American Dictionary, a jitney is a bus or other vehicle carrying passengers for a low fare. It is a term quite frequently used in cities like Miami, New York City, Newark, among others. Sorry for your lack of knowledge.
agree  Rossana Triaca: Exactly; this is the perfect match and it's used (do a Google search to see it!) and here's a link: http://www.fee.org/iol/00/0001/Reed.html
12 hrs
agree  cduran: Also used in San Ysidro border town to Tijuana, as well as Miami, NYC and Newark.
3 days 22 hrs
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6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
VW bus


Explanation:
I've been the proud (and sometimes frustrated) owner of the VW version of those critters. If it's a VW product, it's a "VW bus" in the US--if it's some other brand, it's a "van." One of the most long-lived products of the hippy era is the excellent book: "How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive: A Manual of Step-By-Step Procedures for the Compleat Idiot," by John Muir.

In other parts of the world, VW buses are frequently used, as Brian correctly points out, as jitney services. I've ridden in VW buses in Ethiopia (glad to see you back on ProZ, Brian), between towns (with 5 rows of seats, carrying my family of six, plus at least 6 other passengers, a goat, and any number of bundles, on peoples laps and on the roof of the "bus"). VW buses are a standard form of transport in Mexico and other parts of Latin America.

A site you might want to visit, if you are involved in these vehicles, rather than just curious about what they happen to be, is The Bus Depot, which carries all kinds of parts for even the earliest models of VWs, in partucular, VW buses:


    Reference: http://www.thebusdepot.com
Yolanda Broad
United States
Local time: 21:29
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 668

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Brian Schwarz: Do you still own one? Want to sell it? (Thanks for the nod, by the way.)
1 hr
  -> I agree that "jitney" is more appropriate than "shuttle" here. And no, we sold our last bus. Sorry. We've "muved up" to VW Vanagons.
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2 days 1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
Shuttle Van


Explanation:
I worked at the Airport and all "combi" were called "shuttle van"

Maria Blair

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Yolanda Broad: This term sounds right, too.
3 days 17 hrs
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