The Dangers of Extreme Literacy
The British are a literate people. In fact, I wouldn't be suprised if there are a few who believe the English invented literature. That is, before Chaucer got ahold of pen and ink, people merely wrote things down. But Mr. C. converted words to literature.
Still, all this literacy has its dangerous side. Or at least it does for an only mildly literate person like myself (that is, I've seen movies of most of the great works of fiction). As an instance of the hazards of being underliterate, here is a motoring sign I came across outside of Regent's Park:
Now I expect if you've grown up under the British school system, you know what this means right off the (cricket) bat. But imagine you're an American with a pre-"No Child Left Behind" education and therefore have been left behind. Moreover, you're driving on what's for you the wrong side of the road, with the clutch pedal under the wrong foot and the stick shift under the wrong hand, zooming along at 75 kilometers per hour, which your American math skills have left you woefully underprepared to convert from metric to imperial units (while you're also wondering, "why is it called 'imperial' when the English are the ones with the Queen?), and as you whizz round the corner (as you assume it's whizzing you're doing now, though you haven't finished the conversion yet), and you come across that sign?
What, I ask, is an American to do?
Well, as it turns out, I expect an American needs to wait for the British equivalent of the AAA to come and right the car, since I know I'd have rolled the thing. Still, lying on my side, waiting the the tow truck to arrive, I'd have plenty of time to convert my speed from kilometers to miles. Let's see, it's 0.6213712 times the number of kilometers per hour, so if I was traveling at 75 kph. . .
Still, all this literacy has its dangerous side. Or at least it does for an only mildly literate person like myself (that is, I've seen movies of most of the great works of fiction). As an instance of the hazards of being underliterate, here is a motoring sign I came across outside of Regent's Park:
Now I expect if you've grown up under the British school system, you know what this means right off the (cricket) bat. But imagine you're an American with a pre-"No Child Left Behind" education and therefore have been left behind. Moreover, you're driving on what's for you the wrong side of the road, with the clutch pedal under the wrong foot and the stick shift under the wrong hand, zooming along at 75 kilometers per hour, which your American math skills have left you woefully underprepared to convert from metric to imperial units (while you're also wondering, "why is it called 'imperial' when the English are the ones with the Queen?), and as you whizz round the corner (as you assume it's whizzing you're doing now, though you haven't finished the conversion yet), and you come across that sign?
What, I ask, is an American to do?
Well, as it turns out, I expect an American needs to wait for the British equivalent of the AAA to come and right the car, since I know I'd have rolled the thing. Still, lying on my side, waiting the the tow truck to arrive, I'd have plenty of time to convert my speed from kilometers to miles. Let's see, it's 0.6213712 times the number of kilometers per hour, so if I was traveling at 75 kph. . .
posted by Bill | 11:40 AM
1 Comments:
Cool, a term I learned in racing driver's school is on London street signs? Let's review: adverse camber means the road tilts away from the direction of the turn, and has the same effect as a decreasing-radius or downhill turn to wit: you must slow down, eh wot?
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