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"And while there are many Americans who care deeply about their beloved comma, in the UK (outside of the OUP) it's rarely used." The British call drunk driving
by benregenspan 14y ago
"And while there are many Americans who care deeply about their beloved comma, in the UK (outside of the OUP) it's rarely used."
The British call drunk driving "drink driving", which is nonsensical. Based on this fact alone, the rest of the English-speaking world should disregard their writing patterns when determining correct usage.
- abrowne 14y agoConsidering that you needn't be drunk to be intoxicated enough to be dangerous behind the wheel, I'd say "drink driving" might be the better name.
- chrisdevereux 14y agoIce skating.
- EliRivers 14y ago"Drunk driving" is nonsensical; the people doing it aren't driving drunks, they're driving cars. It's almost as if "drink driving" and "drunk driving" aren't actually meant to be literal descriptions of an act but are a linguistic shorthand commonly used to refer to a situation.
- benregenspan 14y agoWhile I don't want to take an unfunny joke I made in the Hacker News comments too far and am sorry for hurting any British people's feelings, "drunk driving" does make sense as a literal description of an act, unlike "drink driving". "Drunk" is an adjective which modifies "driving" (which is used as a noun in this case).