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birdguy

The couldn't have made it more complicated, but they did...

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15 hours ago, JRMurray said:

I believe that we share some similarities with Australian English, although I would guess there are fewer Americanisms in use there.

The chief difference I see between Aussies and Canucks is that the former have mostly retained much of a British accent, whereas I can hardly tell the difference between many (most?) Canadian and American accents (except for the folks in Quebec of course).

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18 hours ago, n4gix said:

Canadian and American accents

Betty and I took a long road trip not long ago and crossed into Canada from some place in New York.  We visited some of my internet friends in Toronto, Edmonton and Lethbridge.  We crossed 4 provinces and re-entered the US from Alberta.

There was one Canadian 'accent' I heard rather frequently.  Ending each sentence or phrase with 'eh'; almost like turning everything they said into a question.  It seemed to be quite common.

Noel


The tires are worn.  The shocks are shot.  The steering is wobbly.  But the engine still runs fine.

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As long as we are on the subject of cultural differences here I have another question.  Why do island nations like Great Britain and Japan drive on the left side of the road while the continental nations drive on the right side of the road?

Noel

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The tires are worn.  The shocks are shot.  The steering is wobbly.  But the engine still runs fine.

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1 hour ago, birdguy said:

As long as we are on the subject of cultural differences here I have another question.  Why do island nations like Great Britain and Japan drive on the left side of the road while the continental nations drive on the right side of the road?

Noel

 

Because we are VERY VERY Clever Noel and always know what's best. 

Apparently its to keep your sword hand free, as most people are right handed. Apparently it relates to horse drawn wagons too, to keep your whip hand free. 

I could likewise ask why you guys in the US drive on the right.

Apparently for Europe it was Napoleon who was to blame. He was left handed so preferred to ride on the right. 

Edited by martin-w
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59 minutes ago, martin-w said:

I could likewise ask why you guys in the US drive on the right

I don't know.  That's why I asked the question.  If it's a matter of being right or left handed it works for me because I am left handed.

When I was living in Japan I had to drive on the left side of the road but since we were driving with the steering wheel and controls on the left side of the vehicles it was difficult to lean over to the right to see if it was clear to pass.

My son's girl friend was killed in an accident when she was driving to work.  It was a head on collision at the crest of a hill when a rented SUV was being driven by a Japanese tourist was on the wrong side of the highway.  It was early in the morning and the highway didn't have much traffic so he must have just done what was natural for him to do.

Noel


The tires are worn.  The shocks are shot.  The steering is wobbly.  But the engine still runs fine.

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5 hours ago, birdguy said:

Ending each sentence or phrase with 'eh'; almost like turning everything they said into a question.  It seemed to be quite common.

Yes, that's very common, eh?

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Joel Murray @ CYVR (actually, somewhere about halfway between CYNJ and CZBB) 

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On 4/2/2021 at 6:14 PM, birdguy said:

My son's girl friend was killed in an accident when she was driving to work.  It was a head on collision at the crest of a hill when a rented SUV was being driven by a Japanese tourist was on the wrong side of the highway.  It was early in the morning and the highway didn't have much traffic so he must have just done what was natural for him to do.

There’s been an identical case here in England with the wife of a US citizen with diplomatic status driving on the wrong side of the road when she exited an RAF / US base and hitting a motor cyclist killing him.  She flew back to the US before the press got the story.

Despite the many attempts to extradite her so she can face charges in a court her diplomatic status has protected her. Sad for the family who lost a 19 year-old son and the lady who just forgot what side of the road she should have been on.


Ray (Cheshire, England).
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I lost a good friend a couple of years ago. He lived in New York and was on business in London. Being an avid jogger he always took his morning run before breakfast. The second day he was there he left the hotel went to the corner, looked left for traffic, and stepped right in front of a small truck. Some habits are hard very to break.

Edited by W2DR

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18 minutes ago, W2DR said:

looked left for traffic

This almost happened to me in Japan. I was crossing a busy street in Nagoya and was about to step off the sidewalk when my Japanese friend pulled me back suddenly. I had instinctively looked left and had started to cross the street when I didn't see any oncoming traffic. I was shocked at how inattentive I had been ... but I learned my lesson.

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Joel Murray @ CYVR (actually, somewhere about halfway between CYNJ and CZBB) 

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That's tragic Doug. I learned at a very early age to always look both ways before attempting to cross a street. Years later my father taught me 'defensive driving' and I learned to always be looking for an 'escape route' should one become necessary. :wink:

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Fr. Bill    

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Old habits are hard to break.  I spent a total of 8 years in Japan and got used to driving on the left side of the road.  I bought A Toyota Toyopet through the Tachikawa BX.  It had left side drive so it was rather difficult to see around trucks when I wanted to pass.  If my wife or someone else with me I could rely on them to see if it was clear to pass.

I brought one of the first Toyotas back to the US.  There was a lot of curiosity about it.  I don;t think the Toyopet was ever exported.  At least I've never see one.

Noel

Toyopet.jpg


The tires are worn.  The shocks are shot.  The steering is wobbly.  But the engine still runs fine.

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It was here Noel. But not for long. Introduced in 1957 it proved to be a colossal failure. We studied this marketing mistake in my college classes. I think this is as good an explanation as any I've seen:

https://mag.toyota.co.uk/toyopet-crown-americas-first-japanese-car/


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24 minutes ago, W2DR said:

t was here Noel. But not for long. Introduced in 1957

I think I brought mine back in 1960.  But I never saw any others.  I was stationed at Hamilton AFB at the time.  My wife had died and I returned to the US with the baby that year.  I lived with my family until I re-married.  Hamilton was just a 30 minute drive from where they lived and grandma was happy to look after her granddaughter while I went to work.

That was an interesting article.  Besides showing that the Toyopet wasn't suitable for US highways it also showed how quickly Toyota recovered and adapted to the new market.

We now own two Toyotas.  My wife is on her second Corolla an I'm on my third Prius.  We are well satisfied with them.

Noel

Edited by birdguy

The tires are worn.  The shocks are shot.  The steering is wobbly.  But the engine still runs fine.

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On 3/29/2021 at 3:41 PM, W2DR said:

Boy, I sure hope so. At least that will give us a start on converting. Now all I need is an odometer that measures metric distances.....

They have been talking about getting "a start on converting" since the 70's, I remember back then the buzz about going metric and how they wanted to teach it to kids, of which I was one.  But it's never happened.  I'll see it when I believe it.  Or I'll believe it when I see it.  heh.  I went to a school that did teach metric to us. They also taught us d'Nealian handwriting, which was brand-new at that time (1978-79).


Rhett

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The US resistance to metric conversion is a red herring. Almost all corporations in the US use the metric system for anything that they manufacture. The only major items in the US that are not metric are road signage and weather data because altering either is too scary to the third of the US population that resists any kind of change.

Edited by jabloomf1230

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