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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
Just in a general spirit of enquiry, not because it troubles me, I wonder:
Why is the adverb being snubbed so frequent? Of course there are cases where it is real necessary to use an adverb as they can be very hard to avoid, so if you listen real careful you will still hear a few hardy survivors.
So now we learn that trees emit methane - a greenhouse gas. Have we really only just discovered this? Is there a name for the process, as there is for photosynthesis? (Methanogenesis, I guess). Is it arboreal flatulance, brought about by the rash ingestion of too rich a mix of minerals? Do trees spontaneously combust if they produce excess methane?
Why do drivers now find it unnecessary to use direction indicators except, perhaps, when they are overtaking? Is this just a right bank phenomenon?
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Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 2,891 |
I've not noticed the adverb snubbing here in Québeec, dxb. I wonder if it is common elsewhere.
I may be wrong but doesn't it take a spark, or a whole lot of pressure, to ignite a gas?
AND...
As to drivers...I hate to say it but I don't understand your question. I'm thinking it is just the difference in how things are described.
direction indicators: Do you mean turn lights? A.k.a. flashers. Those blinking thingies at the back and front of the cars you need to use when changing lanes and turning?
I'm not sure because I don't know exactly what you mean that they only use them when overtaking. What do you mean by overtaking?
Mon dieu but it amazes me how the English language can have so many variations.
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
>Why do drivers now find it unnecessary to use direction indicators except, perhaps, when they are overtaking? Is this just a right bank phenomenon?
use of direction indicators when overtaking is, in and of itself, mostly a right bank phenomenon (inasmuch as many U.S. drivers don't understand the concept of a passing lane). so the trend here is more like an attempt to render them as not-worth-having.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
I may be wrong but doesn't it take a spark, or a whole lot of pressure, to ignite a gas? Well, yes, but I wasn't being too serious here  AND... direction indicators: Do you mean turn lights? A.k.a. flashers. Those blinking thingies at the back and front of the cars you need to use when changing lanes and turning? AbsolutelyI'm not sure because I don't know exactly what you mean that they only use them when overtaking. What do you mean by overtaking? I mean when you pull out of the lane you're driving in in order to pass a slower moving vehicle. Mon dieu but it amazes me how the English language can have so many variations.
Don' it just!
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Joined: Aug 2002
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154 |
Belle bel as to the English variations: I know you think you understood what you thought it was I said but I'm not sure you realize that what I said was not what I meant.
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Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 2,891 |
I know you think you understood what you thought it was I said but I'm not sure you realize that what I said was not what I meant. eXactly  dxb: I think it's because people have become so agressive while driving that they don't want to let anybody go in front of them. If you use the flashers, they just speed up and close the gap. It's easier to speed into the spot without them knowing you want to get in there.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379 |
Seen in Florida:
Visualize using your turn signal
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
And in New York:
Turn signals are not optional
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Quote:
direction indicators: Do you mean turn lights? A.k.a. flashers. Those blinking thingies at the back and front of the cars you need to use when changing lanes and turning?
Absolutely
I'm not sure because I don't know exactly what you mean that they only use them when overtaking. What do you mean by overtaking?
I mean when you pull out of the lane you're driving in in order to pass a slower moving vehicle.
Don' it just!
Mostly here we calls them turn signals when using them to indicate upcoming turns or lane changes (if one is changing lanes to pass another vehicle the fact of passing is incidental, it's the lane change that should be signaled). They're flashers only when they are both going at the same time, usually being used to indicate that one is traveling slower than expected or parked in an unlikely place.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379 |
...or are just gone for a minute to pick up a coffee and newspaper, please don't ticket me for double parking and obstructing traffic
Last edited by inselpeter; 01/20/2006 10:35 AM.
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Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Quote:
...or are just gone for a minute to pick up a coffee and newspaper, please don't ticket me for double parking and obstructing traffic
Yes, I had meant that to be implicit in my phrase "unlikely place." I had forgotten there are some venues where that is not unlikely.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
It's easier to speed into the spot without them knowing you want to get in there. Ah--my kind of gal! Here in Louisville, many drivers seem to think it is against the law to use a turn signal, and across the river in Indiana, it's worse. Man, those folks will cut you off in a heartbeat! 
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Joined: Jul 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
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Yeah, I got cut off by someone from Indiana -- so I moved out on her.
TEd
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154 |
I was impressed while driving in Ottawa recently. I was downtown trying to get out during rush hour but the road split with no warning, right two lanes turning left over a bridge and left two through the underpass. The driver to my left must have seen my head start to swivel when I realized it because he pulled back to let me in even before I had my turn signal on. 
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 11,613 |
Yay, Canadians! She said, not knowing how to write one word for the residents of Ottawa. Ottawans? Ottawannabees?
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Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 2,891 |
Ottawannabees Ooo, Jackie, you've hit on a sensitive spot. NObody wants to be an Ottawan. When Costco moved their head-office from Montréal to Ottawa they lost 70% of their employees. They thought it was because they moved from a French province to an English province, but when they moved their western offices from Vancouver (English province) into the Ottawa office, 90% of the employees refused to go.  The usual comment when people say they are moving to Ottawa is, "On purpose???"
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