Marrakech Coachy
In the Moroccan Arabic, the word Coachy means a type of horse-drawn carriage foreigner and local visitors enjoy riding to explore Marrakech medina. The tour-ride could be between half an hour to two hours depending on how much time or money each visitor was willing to spend.
I was curious to know what is the English word that describes best such carriage. Although I could not find any books that could be of help, I did a quick search on Google Engine and I was astonished with my findings.
First I started reading about the word Coach which was a type of horse-drawn carriage in the early 1400s as per some sources. I thought Coachy and Coach could describe the same type of carriage but I was wrong. As I was reading, I learned that both, Marrakech Coachy and Coach, are carriages that carry passengers. They both have four wheels and were designed to be drawn by two or more horses controlled by a coachman or driver. Moreover, in both of them, the driver has a raised seat in front of the carriage to allow better vision. But when I continued reading, I learned that Marrakech Coachy is different from Coach in that Marrakech Coachy does not have doors and Coach does. Besides, Marrakech Coachy does have an open top or a collapsible or retractable top, while Coach does have a closed top. These are some differences that made me click the go-back-arrow button and return to the main page of my previous Google search.
No, no, the word Coach cannot be best description to Marrakech Coachy. I said to myself.
If Marrakech Coachy isn't Coach type of vehicle or carriage, so what other English word could describe it best then?
At this point of my research, I knew that I have to look for the number of wheels a type of carriage has or had, the design of the carriage or vehicle, and how many horses a carriage was designed to be drawn by. These were the main criteria for me, and each criterion was important for answering my earlier question.
In another post, I read about Gigs, Curricles, Chaises, Whiskey, or Chairs which all had a two-wheeled carriage and some of which were designed to be drawn by two horses like Curricles others by only one horse like Gigs. These type of carriages do not sound best description to Marrakech Coachy. And I am sure you know why!
I kept reading down my second article page suddenly I read something could be ideal description to Marrakech Coachy.
Marrakech Coachy is more like Phaetons or Barouche which has four wheels, open top, and drawn by two horses. Also, they are light carriages with large wheels at the back and smaller wheels at the front. In addition, they have no doors in its sides.
To me, the words Phaetons and Barouche describe well Marrakech Coachy. Whenever I am hearing the word Coachy in the Moroccan Arabic, I will remember my research assignment and the best English words that describe Marrakech Coachy.
