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What is the connection between the fact a vehicle has six wheels and the suffix "er" in "six-wheeler" and the suffix "er" in three-pointer?

Is it grammatically correct to use the "er" suffix like that, or is it just street language?

ColleenV
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thony albuquerque
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  • -er, entry 5: 1b, person or thing belonging to or associated with; 1d, one that has; 1e, one that produces or yields – stangdon Aug 12 '22 at 11:30
  • Four-wheeler is a grammatically correct term for a vehicle with four wheels. – Kate Bunting Aug 12 '22 at 11:32
  • Note that although it's fine to use *a three-wheeler* as a "condensed" version of *a three-wheeled vehicle, it's not remotely idiomatic to derive a four-legger* from *a four-legged animal, even though semantically*, both examples are making exactly the same shift. So don't make too many assumptions about using this construction in other contexts. – FumbleFingers Aug 12 '22 at 12:03
  • Oh - and He's a six-footer doesn't normally mean he has six feet (One at the end of each leg? Only if he's an insect! :) It means he's *six feet tall*. – FumbleFingers Aug 12 '22 at 12:07
  • There is no 'rule' that enables you to always make a correctly formed '-er' word. Rather, you just learn the ones that you hear or read. – Michael Harvey Aug 12 '22 at 12:45

1 Answers1

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The suffix -er is used in various constructions to form nouns that have some characteristic. You probably know the use of -er to form agent nouns "builder = a person that builds"

They are also used with number-unit expressions to form nouns characterised by that amount.

nine-footer = something that is nine feet long, (eg a boat)

first grader = someone in the first grade of school

"Six-wheeler" follows this use, as does "three-pointer". This is correct grammar.

But it might be fairly informal, as it assumes you understand what kind of thing you are talking about. If you say "What is she -- a 24-footer?" You could be talking about boats or snakes.

So "six-wheeler", like other short forms, tends to be more casual than a longer but clearer "six-wheel truck". Likewise "three-pointer" compared to "three-point shot".

And there is no guarantee that a particular example has much actual use. As mentioned in comments, "four-footer" would not an idiomatic way to refer to an animal with four feet.

James K
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