Is there a name for the things you hold on to for balance on buses and subways?

April 14, 2005 9:55 PM

Is there a name for the things you hold on to for balance on buses and subways? Not the poles, of course, but the pivoty things that replaced the old-fashioned straps.

I can't for the life of me think of what to call those things... Safety handle? Underarm-scent-releaser?

posted by greatgefilte to Travel & Transportation (5 answers total)

Grab hold
posted by riffola at 10:02 PM on April 14, 2005

grrr. Sorry about the messed up link. Grab Hold at the MTA museum store.
posted by riffola at 10:03 PM on April 14, 2005

"oh shit" handles. Well, that's what they call them in cars, anyway.
posted by puke & cry at 10:08 PM on April 14, 2005

You're significantly more likely to need something called an "oh shit" handle (or "Jesus handle") in a car than you are on a subway, where the only "oh shit" moments most of us experience come around when we realize we left the committee work we were supposed to present on the coffee table at home. The number of incidents threatening danger to life and limb on subways vs. cars is just exponentially lower. The handles are just for balance.
posted by Miko at 6:29 AM on April 15, 2005

I thought they were still called straps, in one of those quaint language holdovers. But perhaps I am the only holdover. And I'm barely over thirty.
posted by OmieWise at 10:56 AM on April 15, 2005