Carhop

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. A person who delivers food and drinks to customers seated in their cars, typically at drive-in restaurants, and may also take orders and handle payments
2. An attendant at a drive-in establishment who serves meals and beverages directly to patrons inside parked vehicles, often on roller skates or walking
3. Someone employed by a restaurant to bring food and refreshments to customers in their automobiles, facilitating dining without entering the building

Etymology: "Carhop" is a blend of "car" and "bellhop," the uniformed hotel worker who carries guests' luggage and runs errands. The fusion was a natural one: the bellhop's job of fetching and delivering for customers was transferred to the parking lot, where staff ran out to vehicles to take orders and bring back food. The image behind the word is a drive-in restaurant, where customers ate in their cars rather than at tables. Carhops were the servers who moved between the parked cars, often on roller skates in the classic American drive-in style, and the word names that role as much as the job of serving food. Because it is a blend, the word keeps the shape of both parents: "car" supplies the setting and "hop" the quick, bouncing movement of a worker who is always running back and forth. It is used both as a noun for the person and as a verb for doing that work.

Synonyms: waiter, waitress, server