“Uber unveils plan to demo flying cars by 2020,” the CNN headline blares. “No longer a dream: Silicon Valley takes on the flying car,” the New York Times says. Even an esteemed publication like The Atlantic couldn’t resist: “When cars fly,” a recent headline ponders. Even we did it — albeit in quotes.

Stop. Stop it right now. We need to stop calling these things “flying cars.” There is no such thing as flying cars. And I say this as someone guilty of taking this rhetorical shortcut myself. But I’m not sure quotation marks are enough anymore.

Continue reading…