"Drink Driving"

Those silly old brits talk funny and spell funny. They can't help it. We merrycans ought to send speech therapists over to lend a hand.

It does sound funny - but they do it consistently so I thought I'd ask why.

There is an expression in British English, a polite way of saying that someone is drunk, which is "he is in drink." I suspect, but don't know for a fact, that that may be the origin of the expression.

Incredible as it may seem to a rational people such as the Americans, the English have an attitude that it is their language, and that they may speak it as they please.

Set, no need to be critical, it was a simple question for A2K. Thanks for the feedback.

[qupotes]Incredible as it may seem to a rational people such as the Americans, the English have an attitude that it is their language, and that they may speak it as they please.[/quote]

Silly gits! Don't they know we merrycans control everything?

I wasn't being critical, it was ironic humor intended to irk any Brit who reads this. No need to be over-sensitive.

One that always gets me is the peculiar inclusion of an article "a" whenever an AMerican is sent to "a" hospital. The Brits and Canajuns all say that "he is recuperating in hospital", just like we say'He has gotten drunk in college" Or "i have failed to go tochurch in 30 years". We seem to use this article only in conjunction with the word hospital.
No biggy, nobody has to look anything up, its just a little quirk I have to use properly talk Canajun when Im up 'ere.

Now Newfies, I can unnerstand. Dey all talk like ere fom potsville Penn-syvania or da areas nearby dere. An nats a way dat dere is spoken some..

I never say "a" hospital. I always say "the" hospital- as in s/he's in the hospital". And if you think about it, we use that article a lot- I spent the day at the office, I went to the store, We were at the park....

I think the times you don't say it are as you said, 'church" as in, I went to church" or school, as in "I went to school" and I think that's because there's usually only one of those at any given time in a person's life- they have a certain church they go to and they have a certain school they go to, whereas there are any number of hospitals, stores, parks, etc. you could go to.

But about "drink" driving- I think they use "drink" instead of "drunk" because the legal limit is much lower here than it is in the US. If you are caught driving with whatever amount of alcoholic residue one- yep- one unit of alcohol would leave in your system- you are considered to be over the limit. So you don't have to be driving "drunk" to be in trouble- you simply have to drink and drive to get in trouble (or at least that's how it was explained to me).
People here are much more likely to drive to a party, leave their car overnight and take a taxi home than in the US, because if they've had anything to drink at all, they just don't drive- and of course this method allows them to get totally shitfaced and have a good time without worrying about it.

Ya gotta love an attitude which so reasonably accommodates reality.

And Europeans like to say the Americans love to regulate everything....

I don't know about other Europeans, but what I hear British people say is that they're really sick and tired of the "nanny" government attitude that's becoming the status quo here- in other words, a government that makes and enforces specific laws and in such a way that the decision making process is taken out of the hands of competent adults, making them feel like children being cared for by a nanny.

I never hear anyone say that in the US everything is regulated. To the contrary, I get the sense that they feel the US is a place of wide open freedom- or used to be anyway- especially when it comes to issues like freedom of speech. Most people I talk to are complimentary about the US as a place to live and in fact the question I get asked most often is "Why on earth would you come to live here when you could live in the US?"
But I would say they are, in general, a very polite people- so maybe they're just being polite knowing the US is my country of origin.
I find such politeness refreshing though- much nicer than all the Americans who come over here and proceed to criticize and belittle every little difference they find strange and inconvenient- despite the fact that it is they themselves who made the decision to visit a different country- and you would think they would know that it would not just be another smaller version of the US.

Sorry for being dense, but what's this a picture of?

I'm guessing it's the view from six feet under.

Oh, of course! thanx.

In fact, "nanny government" is a popular expression among American conservatives--who, of course, blame the "libruls" for the existence of such an abomination. I don't know if they borrowed the expression from the English, if the English borrowed it from them, or if it was just an obvious way to frame the complaint on both sides of the pond.

I for the most part can operate under the rule of law here in the US. Except for those that violate my 2A rights, and that speed limit one...

Why aren't you a cop, cjhsa? You get a fast car, a gun and a license to kill people....