> Car crash -> automobile accident --- a softening
It's not. Accident is actually the older term. Cars have had accidents since their inception. Using the "crash" sound to refer to the accident itself didn't catch on until the 1940s (might be a war thing, I'm not sure).
It's not. Accident is actually the older term. Cars have had accidents since their inception. Using the "crash" sound to refer to the accident itself didn't catch on until the 1940s (might be a war thing, I'm not sure).