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Unemployed Trial Lawyer’s Kids and Irish Taxi Drivers, Am I Whingeing Too Much?

Baby Boomer Going Like Sixty Posted on by

Never try to explain how blogs are little First Amendment publishing systems to the unemployed daughter of a trial lawyer.
So while I will be occupied this weekend, I suspect, in a lengthy dissertation by her educating me on the value of specious subpoenaes, I will need your help to explain some other things.

For example: do Americans whinge?

I used to love whingeing about taxi drivers, saying what wankers they were to push me out of a lane or cut me off.

I whine. But is it just in the U.K. or Europe or the former Cheque Republic that one would whinge?
Since I’m asking: would you translate this into American for me?

Drivers dithering at the lip of a slip lane are asking for me to overtake them. People sitting at filter arrows across from me seem to want me to cut them off, it’s not my fault.

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Unemployed Trial Lawyer’s Kids and Irish Taxi Drivers, Am I Whingeing Too Much? — 11 Comments

  1. Good point this. I looked up whinge and whine in the dictionary.

    Whearas ‘whine’ is described as ‘an instance of feeble or undignified complaining’, ‘whinge’ is a more informal term suggesting a peevish grumbling. Most whiners whinge, yet a lot of whingers consider themselves above whining, like yours truly. I’m far too dignified for whining, see.

    We get a lot of drivers here who tend to stop and indicate at a slip road joining a main road, even though there is only one way to turn, and the whole bleedin’ point of a slip road is that you don’t have to stop! It gets my goat. I like to push past them onto the main road, and force them to stay on the slip lane for as long as possible just for kicks. I learned this from my dad.

    We also get a lot of sleepy drivers who will sit at a green light in the hope that it will turn a nicer shade of green if they wait long enough.

    At a major crossroad, you often get filter arrows for traffic turning left. They either yield to traffic flow, or take advantage of a clear road. If the road is clear and they just seem to be sitting there soaking up the atmosphere, I’ll cut across them, as is my right of way, but I still get beeped at.

    Roundabouts are another anomaly that you don’t seem to have in the U.S. We have them all over the kip here. Drivers love to mis-use them, and beep at people who use them properly. It’s just their way!

    Enough whingeing from me…

  2. K8: I’ve never heard the term whinge in the U.S. As a matter of fact, when I played the audio dictionary, I really couldn’t figure out how the word was pronounced either.

    And thanks for clearing up – HA – the slip road and filter arrows! I bet when I can figure it out it will make a lot more sense than whatever they are called here.

    I would love roundabouts. They are basically a state sanctioned game of aggressive driving.

    When will you record a post so we can hear you? This post would be a good one!

    When things are slow with the taxi, why don’t you record your thoughts for posting once in a while.

  3. But my accent confuses people!!!

    I was asked twice today, once yesterday and twice on Tuesday if I am an American. Isn’t that weird?!?! I must be watching Boston Legal too much and have picked up their accent.

    Also this dial-up problem scuppers me when it comes to audio stuff. I’ll tell you what… I’ll try, how’s that?

  4. @K8: maybe you don’t have an accent? Maybe it’s the words you use. That’s what I thing would be fun to hear. If you just read this post and your comments, it would be fine.
    I guess it doesn’t make any sense for you to record and email it to me, does it? Would Grandad have any ideas? A try would be wonderful!

  5. I hadn’t figured that you didn’t know what the terms meant!! I have no idea what the Armerican terms are, I’m baffled that you don’t say slip road when it most blatently is one, or filter arrow because that is exactly what it does…

    The lady what pronounces ‘whinge’ on this here link sounds a bit like me if that’s any use to you.

  9. Oh, I did a shitty job of educatin’ ya. The law is definitely perverse; it’s not about what’s right; it’s about bankrupting the individual until they have no choice but to give in.

    Of course, that’s just civil law. I didn’t really do a good job; there is soooo much more. 🙂

    Absurdist’s last blog post..Girly-Girl Series: Eyelashes

  11. @The Absurdist: That’s OK, talking law is pretty low on my list of conversation topics.
    Unemployed: I’m sorry. I only repeated what I read on your blog.

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