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An airbag is a very palpable description for the life-saver inside a vehicle. Airbags are—of course—bags inflating within milliseconds after crashing into something. The most common airbag can be found in the front seats of cars and has the function to protect the head from an impact.

»Airbag« is a loan word in German that is used in everyday speech. It is interesting to note, that the invention can be traced back to Germany. Mr. Walter Lindener ranks as the inventor with his patent registered in 1951 in Munich. However, the name »airbag« came much later. In 1974 GM released cars with »Air Cushion Restrain Systems«. In the 80's and 90's the airbag systems became more common and as did the name »airbag«. Not only in English speaking countries but also in Germany.

Although German has its own words to describe the function of an airbag, they were never really used. Ask a native-speaker how »Luftsack« or »Prallkissen« sounds to him/her and you will often hear answers like ridiculous.

In comparison to German the Swedish language used its own word. In Swedish the airbag it is called »krockkudde« and is a two noun word consisting of the word »krock« for »collision« and »kudde« for »cushion/pillow«.

Photo: Jørgen Schyberg https://flic.kr/p/7LdWQ

Idea: Evasundine1 https://twitter.com/evasundin1/statuses/451256048150904832