# car seat next to the driver's (colloquial)



## Ateesh6800

In colloquial Hungarian, we commonly call the seat right next to the driver's seat (in a standard 4 or 5 seater family car) *"anyósülés"*, literally, _"the mother-in-law's seat"_.

The expression is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the well-proven fact that frontal collisions are usually deadlier for the person sitting _next to _the driver than for the driver himself/herself, as the driver instinctively steers away from harm's way (often killing the person sitting next to him/her).

Do you have anything even remotely similar to this in your language?

Just curiosity -- trying to find out if this is an international meme or it is just the good old Hungarian preoccupation with the mother-in-law's sharp tounge.


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## catlady60

In English (American), it's technically known as the passenger seat with the slang expression "the bitch seat."


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## sakvaka

In *Finnish* it's _pelkääjän paikka_ - "the fearer's seat".


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## jazyk

I only know _banco do passageiro_ (passenger's seat) in Portuguese.


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## DenisBiH

In Bosnian / BCS: _suvozačevo mjesto/sjedište_ ("co-driver's place/seat"), but this is the normal term, not colloquial. I can't think of any colloquialisms right now.


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## Tjahzi

We call it _passenger seat _- _passagerarsäte_ in *Swedish* too. I don't know of any colloquial nick names for it.


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## Orlin

DenisBiH said:


> In Bosnian / BCS: _suvozačevo mjesto/sjedište_ ("co-driver's place/seat"), but this is the normal term, not colloquial. I can't think of any colloquialisms right now.


Ja nisam mnogo upoznat s ovim stvarima jer čak nemam vozačku dozvolu, ali mislim da mi nemamo nikakav poseban termin za ovo mesto u autu - niti oficijalni, niti kolokvijalni - mnogo interesantno, zar ne?.

P. S.: Kada neko putuje na ovom sedištu, mi kažemo "Той/тя пътува _на предната_ _седалка_". Iako ovaj izraz formalno znači nešto sasvim drugo, razume se da čovek putuje naime na mestu uz vozača jer u autu normalno ima samo 2 sedišta u prednjem redu i jedno od njih je namenjeno za vozača.


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## bibax

Czech:

*sedadlo smrti* = seat of the death;

(officially *sedadlo spolujezdce* = co-driver seat)


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## DenisBiH

Orlin said:


> Ja nisam mnogo upoznat s ovim stvarima jer čak nemam vozačku dozvolu, ali mislim da mi nemamo nikakav poseban termin za ovo mesto u autu - niti oficijalni, niti kolokvijalni - mnogo interesantno, zar ne?.
> 
> P. S.: Kada neko putuje na ovom sedištu, mi kažemo "Той/тя пътува _на предната_ _седалка_". Iako ovaj izraz formalno znači nešto sasvim drugo, razume se da čovek putuje naime na mestu uz vozača jer u autu normalno ima samo 2 sedišta u prednjem redu i jedno od njih je namenjeno za vozača.




Dobro, i mi kažemo "On sjedi naprijed" ili "Ja ću (sjesti) naprijed" misleći na suvozačevo mjesto. Mislim da je i kod nas "prednje sjedište" ok. Interesantno da i Česi koriste ovaj izraz sa suvozačem, pitam se da li još neki jezik koristi slično?


English:
In less formal speech one may say (in BCS) "He sits _in front_" or "I will sit _in front_" referring to the passenger seat. Also, as in Bulgarian, in BCS "front seat", when referring to the passenger seat, should also be ok. I find it interesting that Czech also uses the term with the co-driver, and I wonder if any other language does too?


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## bibax

The term 'co-driver seat' is obviously inspired by the automobile sport. The "co-driver" usually navigates or at least gives good advices how to drive.


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## HUMBERT0

Spanish (Mexico)
Here we call it "*asiento del pasajero*" passenger's seat. I can't remember a colloquial word for it.


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## Maroseika

In Russian there is the same expression like in Hungarian - mother-in-law's seat (тёщино место), but it means just an uncomfortable seat (such as a rear seat in the 2-door car).
According to Wikipedia, originally this name refered to the "upholstered exterior seat which hinges or otherwise opens out from the rear deck of a pre-World War II automobile".
Cf. German _Schwiegermuttersitz_ and Sweden _Svärmorslucka_.


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## JamesM

In English it is also called "shotgun", I imagine from the old stagecoach days when the person riding up front next to the driver carried a shotgun.  It's also called the "suicide seat" by some people on the belief that the passenger in front is the one most likely to be injured in a car crash.


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## Havfruen

JamesM said:


> In English it is also called "shotgun", I imagine from the old stagecoach days when the person riding up front next to the driver carried a shotgun.



Sitting in the passenger seat = "riding shotgun"


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## Alxmrphi

In my experience we (where I am from) don't usually say _*riding* shotgun _(though people know the term), but there are complicated rules for _calling shotgun_. So someone'd say "I'm sittin' in the front because I called shotgun".
So for example you have to be outside with your shoes on to call shotgun. You can only do it when the car is visible and the driver has only one opportunity to call "Reload", which entitles another member of the group to call shotgun. Shotgun can be voided if the driver opens the door and the person tries to unlock the shotgun door, but in a way that all the other doors unlock except his, this has voided the shotgun claim.

There are a few other rules but these are the main ones. 
Here's the official site: http://www.shotgunrules.com/


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## sound shift

In England, we don't have a colloquial term for this seat, as far as I am aware.


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## JamesM

Alxmrphi said:


> In my experience we (where I am from) don't usually say _*riding* shotgun _(though people know the term), but there are complicated rules for _calling shotgun_. So someone'd say "I'm sittin' in the front because I called shotgun".
> So for example you have to be outside with your shoes on to call shotgun. You can only do it when the car is visible and the driver has only one opportunity to call "Reload", which entitles another member of the group to call shotgun. Shotgun can be voided if the driver opens the door and the person tries to unlock the shotgun door, but in a way that all the other doors unlock except his, this has voided the shotgun claim.
> 
> There are a few other rules but these are the main ones.
> Here's the official site: http://www.shotgunrules.com/



I don't think everyone who "calls shotgun" abides by, or is even aware of, these rules.    (Cute site, by the way.)


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## Alxmrphi

JamesM said:


> I don't think everyone who "calls shotgun" abides by, or is even aware of, these rules.



I can imagine 
Students however, love to play games like this and know all the rules off by heart, completely overcomplicating something just to sit next to the driver.
That's precisely my experience with it. But the rules are there if ever there is a disagreement and someones got a phone to check the internet


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## dhb101

One point I'd like to make... the "bitch seat" or "sitting bitch" I always understood to mean you were sitting _between _two people.


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## kusurija

In Lithuanian:
colloquial: uošvienės vieta (place of mother-in-law)
official: keleivio vieta (place of passenger)


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## apmoy70

In Greek:
«θέση συνοδηγού»
'θesi sinoði'ɣu
lit. "seat of co-driver"
(nothing spectacular)


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## ThomasK

_Passagierszetel_ in Dutch, I can't imagine any witty variant.


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## Arrius

sound shift said:


> In England, we don't have a colloquial term for this seat, as far as I am aware.


  Many years ago I heard it called "the death seat", because it is on the side that usually takes most of the impact in a head-on collision. I have no idea if this is still said.


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## mataripis

Tagalog: upuan sa harap/harapan


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## inter1908

Polish: miejsce obok kierowcy / siedzenie obok kierowcy (a place / seat next to the driver). Can't think of any fancy names, maybe because I don't care about cars at all, and therefore I know little slang.


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## DearPrudence

In *French*, it's called
*"le siège passager" *(the passenger seat)
but also* "la place du mort"* (the seat of the dead man)


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## itreius

Croatian (BCS)

_suvozačev sic_ = passenger's seat
sic <- German _Sitz_


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## Messquito

In Chinese:
副駕駛座 (vice-driver seat-->co-driver seat)


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## 810senior

In Japanese I barely recall assistant's seat(助手席, joshuseki) for it. It's not colloquial term.


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## ilocas2

Czech:

*sedadlo spolujezdce* - seat of front passenger
*sedadlo vedle řidiče* - seat next to driver


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## Medune

jazyk said:


> I only know _banco do passageiro_ (passenger's seat) in Portuguese.


It can also be _banco/assento do carona_


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## monika_1266

The Hungarian language is very colourful and vivid ... there are so many playful and witty references to mothers-in-law. Besides this seat, we call Dracaena/a plant, mother-in-law's tongue (Snake plant in English) and there is also a cake named mother-in-law's cake 😄😋 However, in Slovak the passenger seat is called the front seat.


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## sound shift

monika_1266 said:


> Besides this seat, we call Dracaena/a plant, mother-in-law's tongue (Snake plant in English)


In British English the common name of dracaena trifasciata is mother-in-law's tongue. Maybe snake plant is an alternative name, or maybe it's AmE.


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## Frank78

Maroseika said:


> Cf. German _Schwiegermuttersitz_ and Sweden _Svärmorslucka_.



Schwiegermuttersitz is not the co-driver's seat but a foldaway seat in a roadster for example. Like this.


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## Henares

inter1908 said:


> Polish: miejsce obok kierowcy / siedzenie obok kierowcy (a place / seat next to the driver). Can't think of any fancy names, maybe because I don't care about cars at all, and therefore I know little slang.


Miejsce pasażera, fotel pasażera - passenger’s seat


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## Joschl

In my opinion, the most common word for it in German is the masculine noun "Beifahrersitz" (see Beifahrersitz (Duden)).


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