Meaning of truckonaut | Babel Free

Definitions

One of the Cubans who adapted a truck to act as a boat and used it to sail to the USA.

Examples

“Remember⟳ the truckonaut Cuban, the guy who rigged a ‘52 Chevy truck on to a boat and set⟳ sail⟳ for the Florida coast? Well, he was captured and sent back, but told to go through properly channels. He did. He’s expected to receive⟳ a U.S. visa on Monday.”

“Eleven Cubans in a vintage Buick — three of them the original “truckonauts” who tried a similar intrepid journey last⟳ year aboard a battered Chevy pickup — were intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard early Wednesday and now face⟳ a return⟳ trip⟳ to the communist island.”

“A similar contraption was unveiled in July when some of Diaz’s neighbors attached 55-gallon barrels to a 1951 Chevrolet truck, hooked the drive⟳ shaft to a propeller and made their way north. The Coast Guard caught them as they approached South Florida. Some Cuban exiles pressured the U.S. government to let⟳ the “truckonauts,” as they called them, enter⟳ the country.”

“Maroone Chevrolet's general manager, Raul de la Milera, a Cuban Emigre himself, has been working with Grass and other mechanics at the dealership to convert a 1953 Chevrolet truck they located into a near duplicate of the original truckonaut machine.”

CEFR level