Why do journalists say "souped up"?

[WinkOsmosis]

I always thought it was "suped" . Every article lately has referred to cars as being "souped up".

 

[bradruth]

Because soup is tasty.

 

[notfred]

suped isn't a word.

 

[dethman]

mmm i could go for some soup.

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Originally posted by: notfred
suped isn't a word.

Neither is souped.

 

[Howard]

I believe it is souped and not suped.

 

[IBuyUFO]

It is souped and not suped so therefore you were always wrong.

 

[Ornery]

It's a strange phrase, either way you spell it, but it will never be as queer as the word 'sporty'!

 

[Amorphus]

I've always thought of it as "souped". =/

 

[ElFenix]

why do people on aim say "omghi2u2!!11!!1one"

 

[DrPizza]

I think they said "suoped" meaning to spell it as "suped", but "suped" looks like it could be pronounced "sue' - ped"

 

[DrPizza]

Oddly, if you go to dictionary.com, neither "souped" nor "suped" are words. But, if you click on the thesaurus option, a synonym for "improved" is "souped up."

 

[thomsbrain]

suped is just a contraction of suped up. suped up is the original phrase.

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: thomsbrain
suped is just a contraction of suped up. suped up is the original phrase.

Yeah, except the original phrase seems to have been spelled "souped up"

 

[moonshinemadness]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
why do people on aim say "omghi2u2!!11!!1one"

same reason they say kthxbye.........i want to killl everyone brutally witha blunt rusty spoon

 

[DaveSimmons]

Google is your friend with benefits:

GasPumpClassics.com

Classic Car Trivia:
Although there is no official origin for the word "Hot Rod", there are many theories that say the word is short for "Hot Roadster". An alternate theory is that it comes from the words piston rod or connecting rod. Hot Rod could simply mean a souped up racer that has a hotter engine than normal. What's your theory?

Nitroglycerine, an illegal substance, was called "soup" in the 1920s. It was very hard to get and was often extracted from dynamite by burglars and safe crackers. The phrase "Souped-Up" referred to a race car running on exotic type fuel.

My American Heritage print dictionary agrees on the meaning of "soup" and the spelling of "souped up"

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

It probably dates back to the early days(late 40's)of hot rodding. As in making soup,
you add a little of this & that of leftovers into a basic stock. Sometimes it comes out pretty good, other times not. The same was done with parts, a bigger engine in a lighter car
with a transmission that belong to neither. Souped-up sounds better that stewed-up.

Where does, tipping the can, come from? What does it mean?
Why is it called Rodding or Hot Rod?