My guess would be that the word made it into the English vocabulary via Yiddish.

I mean, they’re chickens. Life is probably going to be short and cruel for them.

Took a Waymo once with some coworkers. The ride was fine (San Francisco inner City trip). What really surprised me is how normal it felt after a couple of minutes. Most people don’t talk to their driver much anyway, so there might as well not be one.