The origins of ‘horn ok please,’ India’s most ubiquitous phrase (2016)
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Re: The origins of ‘horn ok please,’ India’s most ubiquitous phrase (2016)
#2> Trucks, in particular, are often not even equipped with side mirrors in the first place.
Maybe mandating side mirrors (or rather enforcing this mandate - I can't quite believe that side mirrors are optional for roadworthiness, even in India) would be a better point to start with, rather than outlawing the phrase "Horn OK Please"?
Re: The origins of ‘horn ok please,’ India’s most ubiquitous phrase (2016)
#3another interesting thing is that in parts of the south it's "sound ok horn" instead.
Re: The origins of ‘horn ok please,’ India’s most ubiquitous phrase (2016)
#4In Rajasthan I saw "Horn Please" everywhere, usually without "OK". And that's the title of a book about the colourful trucks of the subcontinent: http://www.hornpleaseindia.com/
Re: The origins of ‘horn ok please,’ India’s most ubiquitous phrase (2016)
#5> Trucks, in particular, are often not even equipped with side mirrors in the first place. Maybe mandating side mirrors (or rather enforcing this mandate - I can't quite believe that side mirrors are optional for roadworthiness, even in India) would be a better point to start with, rather than outlawing the phrase "Horn OK Please"?
In many places no cars have mirrors. They get smashed off by other cars promptly. Driving is more akin to number cars
Re: The origins of ‘horn ok please,’ India’s most ubiquitous phrase (2016)
#6> Trucks, in particular, are often not even equipped with side mirrors in the first place. Maybe mandating side mirrors (or rather enforcing this mandate - I can't quite believe that side mirrors are optional for roadworthiness, even in India) would be a better point to start with, rather than outlawing the phrase "Horn OK Please"?
"Indian drivers rarely use their side mirrors"
Doesn't matter if the mirrors are there or not if culturally people don't use them.
Re: The origins of ‘horn ok please,’ India’s most ubiquitous phrase (2016)
#7> Trucks, in particular, are often not even equipped with side mirrors in the first place. Maybe mandating side mirrors (or rather enforcing this mandate - I can't quite believe that side mirrors are optional for roadworthiness, even in India) would be a better point to start with, rather than outlawing the phrase "Horn OK Please"?
I guess the hearing impaired can't drive in India.
Re: The origins of ‘horn ok please,’ India’s most ubiquitous phrase (2016)
#8This isn’t the only “ungrammatical” expression (relative to global standard English) you will encounter in India.
Could it be that some person or some company simply put this expression on their trucks (thinking it’s grammatical), and because it seemed useful other trucks followed, until it became the standard?
Edit: this isn’t to be proscriptive about what’s correct/incorrect in a given country.
My definition of “global standard English” is in a comment below.
Re: The origins of ‘horn ok please,’ India’s most ubiquitous phrase (2016)
#9As someone who has grown up (and learnt to drive) in England - I had a moment of sudden realisation in India.
For me, the horn is a warning sign - "get out of my way" or "watch out!" - only to be used in emergencies.
In India, the horn means "I'm over here", to be used whenever you're near another vehicle. Which fits with the statements on the back of the lorries perfectly.
Re: The origins of ‘horn ok please,’ India’s most ubiquitous phrase (2016)
#10It's only three examples (but Google will provide way more: https://live.staticflickr.com/7392/16171222650_b5b5e0ffc6_b....) , but in two of those the font of "ok" and "horn please" is different, suggesting that "horn ok please" is not the correct/intended interpretation, and that the Indian designers that started this trend were not big fan of Gestalt rules.
