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Does the word "Stepney" exist?
(T.M.Krishnan, Chennai)
Yes, it does. Stepney is actually the name of a street in Llanelli, Wales where the spare wheels for the motorcar were originally made. Since the tyres were made in Stepney, spare wheels began to be called "stepney wheel". Later, it was shortened to "Stepney". These wheels consisted of ready inflated tyres which could temporarily be clamped over a punctured wheel. Nowadays, of course, the word "Stepney" is mostly heard in countries like India, Bangladesh, etc, which were once part of the British Empire. These days, native speakers of English use the word "spare" instead of "Stepney". The word "Stepney" is unheard of in America.
S. Upendran
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