The <x> that is held by <y> is also a <y><x>, so if you go to a food truck, the stuff you buy is truck food. A phone that's in your car is a carphone, and a car equipped with a phone is a phonecar. When you play a mobile racing game, you're in your phonecar using your carphone to drive a different phonecar. I'm still not sure about bananaphones.
Most English compound nouns can be constructed recursively. In many cases they are written open or spaced like "piano player" (a player of a piano) or "player piano" (a piano capable of unattended operation). But closed forms like "wallpaper" (paper for a wall) are not less common. Some other languages have many more compound words: The German word for "hospital" literally means "patient's house," and the Swedish word for "house trailer" literally means "house car".
Randall is engaging in creative linguistics again. This time he is humorously suggesting to use a consistent naming scheme for things holding other things, the same way we call a boat holding a house a houseboat. He is extending this to all combinations boats, houses and cars. This would, however, be somewhat impractical, as these names do not include why one thing is on an other, and are also sometimes ambiguous: a carcar can be a tow truck as much as a car carrier, and a househouse can be either an apartment (house in a house) or an apartment building (house containing houses).
Additionally, he is somewhat inconsistent in some parts of the chart. While the chart is supposed to show examples of neologistic compound words <x><y> that refer to a <y> that holds an <x>, rather than a <y> in an <x>. However, Randall's examples sometimes are those of the latter example. He proposes to call lifeboats, which are boats held by other boats, "boatboat", instead of using that to refer to boats holding other boats, such as floating drydocks. Additionally, it is established naval practice to refer to a boat which is carried by another vessel as a "ship's boat", and call any vessel that carries a boat a "ship". In other words, according to usual naval terminology, a "boatboat" is a contradiction in terms; it is either a "boatship", synonymous with ship and hence redundant, or a "shipboat", the ship's boat. "Apartment" is a similar case: an apartment is a house in a house, while a house that holds a house is an apartment building or apartment complex. (However, in the title text, Randall points out an <x><y> could also refer to a <y> in an <x>, similar to the lifeboat and apartment examples. Nevertheless, "lifeboat" and "apartment" do not fit with the rest of the items of the chart and disobey the rule annotated in the corner.)
In the title text: "Truck food" is in some areas a common term for the meals offered by "food trucks." Car phones were a feature in automobiles throughout the late 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, serving as the predecessors to mobile phones, although they were permanently installed into a car and not mobile. Bananaphone, a song by Raffi Cavoukian, is also mentioned.
Real term Actual definition Randall's definition Inaccuracies in Randall's definition Randall's term Tow truck A truck that pulls or carries cars A Car that holds a Car Definitions are flexible. Tow trucks and cars are both automobiles, but "car" usually means an automobile dedicated to passengers, while "truck" is intended for hauling cargo (in the tow truck's case, other automobiles). We must also distinguish whether "tow truck" simply refers to a truck (pickup or full-size) that is designed to only move one car (on a flatbed trailer or hooked up behind with a winch, letting either the front or rear wheels roll along the ground), or a semi-trailer equipped with a frame that permits the transport of several cars at once (a car carrier). Carcar Garage A building for storing or repairing vehicles A House that holds a Car “Carhouse” actually does have Randall’s definition, but is far less popular than “garage.” It’s in the Oxford English Dictionary (using the spelling “car house”) and is used in To Kill a Mockingbird. Carhouse Car ferry A boat that carries cars, especially across a river A Boat that holds a Car Most car ferries hold more than one car at a time Carboat Mobile home A home that can be moved by a truck A Car that holds a House The term "mobile home" refers to the home that is moved by a separate vehicle, not to the vehicle that moves it. (If the home is self-propelled, then it is called an RV (recreational vehicle).) The phrase "Trailer home" is also used. Housecar Apartment A home within a building that has been divided into separate living units A House that holds a House The "apartment" is the individual home within the larger building, which is called an apartment building, possibly an apartment complex, but that usually refers to several apartment buildings on one property managed from the same office. Househouse Houseboat A boat that is used as a house A Boat that holds a House A houseboat has a home that is part of the boat; it is not a separate home carried on a boat. However, a mobile home theoretically could be carried on a car ferry or a ship. Houseboat Boat trailer A carrier that is towed behind a car or truck and holds a small boat A Car that holds a Boat The trailer is not the car; it is towed by the car. Boatcar Boathouse A building for storing a boat A House that holds a Boat The word "house" typically refers to a residential building, but can refer to other buildings. The term more specifically refers to an enclosed, roofed dock where boats may be stored, protected from damage by the weather & other outdoor dangers. Boathouse Lifeboat A small boat carried on a ship, meant to be used to evacuate the larger ship, especially if it starts to sink or catches fire A Boat that holds a Boat By traditional nautical definition, a ship is a vessel capable of carrying a boat. Many civilian boats can carry simple watercraft such as inflatable rafts, canoes, kayaks or dinghies. Boatboat