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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)

#341

Post by AussieWog93 »

OJFord wrote: post #160
newsbinator wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's hard for me to understand why both you and I are getting downvoted for recognizing that people default to a subset of a language they have in common. I suspect if we were talking about "standard Russian" this wouldn't be so contentious. Every region has its own way of speaking, its own idioms and acceptable grammatical constructions. That doesn't mean the regions can't speak a unified generic version of the lang…

Because it was a rhetorical question, I wasn't actually asking what people consider to be a 'global standard English', I was asserting that that's nonsense. There are many dialects of English across the globe, the Indian dialect as valid as the American; the fact that there's enough common ground between them that we can understand each other doesn't change that (it's surely prerequisite for calling it a dialect and…

>I certainly don't switch to 'global standard English' or AmE when I'm talking to someone who isn't British, and I doubt anybody thinks I'm speaking incorrect 'global standard English' as a result.

Nobody is saying that global English is American English. We are simply pointing out that there is a subset of the language that is standard globally in addition to the regional dialects.

I'm sure you wouldn't use words like "chav" or "bell end" around a group of foreigners, because they are not globally understood.

Re: The origins of ‘horn ok please,’ India’s most ubiquitous phrase (2016)

#342

Post by Dma54rhs »

Firehawke wrote: post #316
Dayshine wrote: post #304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure I understand your point, unless you're arguing that national speed limits are deliberately low so that police can fine people driving at the "correct" speed? Or that police lie about your speed and fine you anyway?

The former is definitely true. There are towns out there in the United States that are on an interstate and play games with their speed limits. You'll see a speed limit of 60-70 up until you hit city limits then it suddenly drops to 30-40, with enforcement lined up at the city limits waiting to nab people. They're making good money off of these fines.

But why wouldn't you want lower speed inside the city?

Re: The origins of ‘horn ok please,’ India’s most ubiquitous phrase (2016)

#343

Post by vasco »

dvirsky wrote: post #245
sdfjkl wrote: post #85

Different cultures have different unwritten behaviours on roads. In the mountains of Italy, drivers give a short honk before entering a turn on a serpentine road, which usually can't be seen around. If there is no responding honk, they will take the full width of the road (making the very tight turn easier and faster). Tourist drivers have to pick up on this :) In much of Europe oncoming cars flash their lights to wa…

In Israel, flashing the warning lights or hazard lights or whatever they're called when driving, means "hey car behind me, you're on high beams and blinding me, please stop". Since moving to the US I haven't found an effective way to signal people about this, they certainly don't understand this signal. Flashing high beams quickly is either a warning about police ahead, or "turn on your damn lights" (there is also a…

> If someone is blinding you coming in front of you, you just turn on high beams and blind them back.

I do this too and would die a peaceful death if we crashed into each other with the feeling of fairness restored to the world.

Re: The origins of ‘horn ok please,’ India’s most ubiquitous phrase (2016)

#344

Post by u801e »

Aloha wrote: post #228
mindcrime wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had two Indian co-workers once, and we got into talking about languages. I was a bit surprised at the time to find out that the only language they shared in common was English. One spoke English, Tamil, and a regional dialect, and the other spoke English, Hindi, and a (different) regional dialect. I later came to find that this is actually quite common in India. And I understand English is still widely taught there…

English is the lingua franca in India for a reason, one of the things I found interesting about the British Raj, is, the english sowed the seeds of tools of their own exit - Railways, English and Civil Society (specifically the Indian Civil Service and some vague ideals of Democracy). Those three things took the area that comprised British India, from a bunch of loosely connected nation-states, each with their own cu…

> I believe that India, Pakistan and Bangladesh would be stronger today if it was one nation rather than three.

There are many culteral differences and even different languages that are not mutually intelligible between different states and provinces. Europe is a union, but not a single country. Perhaps India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and other nations in South Asia could be part of a union, but I don't really think that it would work out as a single country.

In fact, present day Myanmar/Burma was also governed by the British prior to World War II, but it didn't become part of India (mainly due to the British separating it from India in the late 1930s).

Would Nepal want to be part of the single country, given that it was never colonized by the British?

Re: The origins of ‘horn ok please,’ India’s most ubiquitous phrase (2016)

#345

Post by Jolter »

bee_rider wrote: post #291
r00f wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A friend from Syria once told me that in their country flashing warning lights means "f* you", and when he saw it for the first time when going abroad, he was really angry when someone thanked him. Like "I've just let him merge and that is how he acts to me?!" But I personally haven't heard of any other cases when this isn't considered a thank you gesture

I'm surprised at the thank you gesture. The intended use of warning lights is to... warn people, right? I've always understood them to mean "something weird has happened, and so I may do something unpredictable." I can't see how that could have morphed to "thank you."

Pretty sure the intended use is when stationary, to warn that you have broken down and are positioned badly.

At least, that used to be the only time it was legal to use them here (Sweden). They recently added a rule that it’s legal to use warning lights while being towed, too. Either way, it’s certainly a traffic offense to use them while driving.

Re: The origins of ‘horn ok please,’ India’s most ubiquitous phrase (2016)

#347

Post by d13 »

newswasboring wrote: post #41

Ok, time to throw in the explanation I grew up with. I always thought it was definitive, but turns out its not. Unfortunately I have already passed on this urban legend :P. On foggy roads in north India, it is difficult to see vehicles on the road. So lights were used to indicate the status of big vehicles like trucks. Two lit bulbs on left and right corners (illuminating Horn Please) meant honk to get a pass. And to…

This is ineed the real reason, I also learnt about this when I lived in India. The article is totally clueless.

Re: The origins of ‘horn ok please,’ India’s most ubiquitous phrase (2016)

#348

Post by Jolter »

null_object wrote: post #306
Xevi wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Here in Lithuania, flashing your warning lights (the four orange ones on the corners of the car) means thanks, for example if you let someone merge from one of the very short onramps. I've never seen this in Germany, where onramps are however much longer. In Sweden it's common to do this by using your blinkers. You blink once in each direction. So first left, then right. Or the other way around.

> In Sweden it's common to do this by using your blinkers. I wouldn’t say it’s common here in Sweden, at all. I’ve driven all over Europe and the US, and nowhere is as uncommunicative as Sweden on the roads. People barely use their blinkers even when turning or changing lanes on the motorway, let alone ‘thanking’ each other - which in the 25 years I’ve lived here, I’ve seen maybe two or three times.

I’ve seen it all over the place, starting with my parents.

I guess using the warning lights as a “thanks” would be uncommon though, since it’s actually illegal. ;-)

Re: The origins of ‘horn ok please,’ India’s most ubiquitous phrase (2016)

#349

Post by Aloha »

u801e wrote: post #344
Aloha wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

English is the lingua franca in India for a reason, one of the things I found interesting about the British Raj, is, the english sowed the seeds of tools of their own exit - Railways, English and Civil Society (specifically the Indian Civil Service and some vague ideals of Democracy). Those three things took the area that comprised British India, from a bunch of loosely connected nation-states, each with their own cu…

> I believe that India, Pakistan and Bangladesh would be stronger today if it was one nation rather than three. There are many culteral differences and even different languages that are not mutually intelligible between different states and provinces. Europe is a union, but not a single country. Perhaps India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and other nations in South Asia could be part of a union, but I don't reall…

I think it would have worked out as a federal structure, yes, a high degree of regional autonomy, with a shared economy, military and foreign policy.

Re: The origins of ‘horn ok please,’ India’s most ubiquitous phrase (2016)

#350

Post by d13 »

tdeck wrote: post #256
tectonicfury wrote: post #205

My father told me the reason some years ago. As a rough sketch, it was because decades ago many highways used to be 'single lane', so if you had a truck in front of you, you needed to overtake it as you wouldn't want to be stuck tailing it the entire length of the road. He said that above the "OK" there used to be a bulb. So if someone wanted to overtake the truck, they were required to sound their vehicle's horn to…

I love this explanation, and went looking for some photos of the rear of trucks in 1940s India. But I couldn't find any good ones. Is anyone able to find evidence of whether such a signal light existed?

No, but I’ve heard this story repeated many times in India
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