reading while driving...

Not all that dangerous, when the books are on CDs. It keeps me amused during the lulls when there is nothing except sleep-inducing music on the public radio stations. And provides excellent fodder for blogging.

The book I just finished was obviously written by a Brit. I was entertained as much by some of the unique phrasing and expressions as the story line. The title is 'Sight Unseen', author: Robert Goddard. Mine was a talking book, with about eight or nine discs - probably an hour or so each, so that all adds up to about eight hours driving time. There was plenty of that on Friday when I went to SC and halfway back. A pretty good tale, with a very surprising ending.

Though I will never be accused of texting while driving (typing with ones' thumbs has to be the most tedious thing on the planet!), I confess to trying to write down some of the amusing things I heard when the book was being read. Just things you'd never hear locally, especially in the south, where we rarely encounter the 'proper' King's English. Sometimes it just the pronunciation, more than the terminology, that caught my attention: like pronouncing the word for the place where people are buried as 'symmetry'.

They apparently do not wear pants, as the word 'trousers' cropped up occasionally (and under that are the 'knickers'). When they ride bikes, and need to leave it someplace, the wheeled device is left in the 'cycle rack', after being removed from the 'carriage way'. If they are making a call on a portable phone, it is not called a 'cell', but a 'mo-bile', and if you have to leave a message when there is no one there, it is left on the 'answer phone'. When you stop by a friends' house, instead of knocking on the door, you might use the 'bell-push' to try to get someone's attention. Should you want to send your friend correspondence, you would 'post' it in the 'letter box'. And if you receive mail, you 'sort through the post' when you look at your correspondence. You don't wear athletic shoes, or tennis shoes, you have 'trainers' on your feet, and if you do strenuous exercise, you will then need some 'warming off' instead of cooling down.

If you need to travel, and do not own a vehicle, you get a 'hired car', and would, of course, need to put 'petrol' in the tank, and leave it in the 'car park' when you stop. When you hope for a discount price, you ask for a 'knock-down rate', and when you go to get your purchase, you 'collect' your items.Going out at night, don't forget your 'torch' (flashlight) so you can see in the dark. Be wary of encountering 'nutters' (crazy people), and careful to not find yourself 'gob smacked' in a sticky situation. Traveling, you would put your large suitcases in the 'hold luggage' if your bags are to be checked.

I'm sure they think we are hilarious too... especially with our drawling accents!