Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/12/12/car-horns-used-to-communicate.html
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I probably would have gotten to about the third letter and been like, “Wait, did I just transmit a B or a C? Ah, screw it.”
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this was a thing? brilliant! this trend needs a revival
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Not amazing when you think about it…this at the end of WWII…probably the high-water mark for knowledge of morse code.
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How far we’ve fallen…
Incidentally, I’m sensing a theme on BB today 
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.- -. -… / -. — .-- / --. . - / — …-. / – -.-- / .-… .- .-- -.
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Pots and pans used to use morse code too
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I have posted about this in several driving-related topics. What is the point of requiring a horn as a “signal device” if nobody actually communicates any information with it? It’s like replacing every word in your vocabulary with “grunt”, and insisting that context needs to provide all of the meaning. It is insanely lazy. If states are going to license people to operate vehicles, and expect them to “signal” each other, then they need to know some kind of code.
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If you happen to visit Mexico, please refrain from honking “shave and a haircut” as the tune has considerably dirtier lyrics there.
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it’s a generic “attention!” signal, I don’t see the huge issue with it. many drivers are already overstrained - an additional layer of complex acoustic informations seems to be unhelpful
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Shirley you cannot be serious.
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If they’ve left their turn signal on, honk the tune to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."
If they have a headlight out, honk the tune to "Baa Baa Black Sheep."
If you think they need to go back to Driving School, honk the tune to “The Alphabet Song.”
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had to look this one up 
I guess “shave and a haircut” is dying out as an anglophone meme anyway. people my age and younger have to be taught what a “bit” is, anyway. But cursing some jerk who cuts you off and their mother in the most severe way? that’s a meme with staying power. What with the hispanic population ceasing to be a minority in the US, I’m predicting the meaning will flip for the whole culture in short order.
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Still trying to figure out the proper way to read “used” in the headline because both ways work!
Is it “used” as in they are used in order to do something or “used to” as in they used to do it in the past but don’t anymore?! Ahhhhh!
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But they love this one.
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What does the tune to “Driving in my car” suggest?
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.-… — .-…
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One short beep: I am locked now.
Two short beeps: I am unlocked now. Hey, did you see that pedestrian jump? Hilarious!
Series of short beeps: Help, I’m being stolen!
One long beep: Fuck you!!
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