Why do cars horn

[robjh]

Horn is a verb.
View attachment 363508

I'm not sure which sense is being used above, though
(thank you Oxford Dictionary)

The OP's usage is intransitive though, so that looks like a novel feature that has so far escaped the OED. I have an idea from memory that 'to horn' in this sense might be common in some non-UK Englishes, maybe Indian English, but I haven't been able to back that up with a few moments googling so don't quote me on it.

 

[JtB]

Why do nouns verb?

I always assumed it was an annoying Americanism, but I noticed last week that even the BBC verbed "Gift".

 

[robjh]

I always assumed it was an annoying Americanism, but I noticed last week that even the BBC verbed "Gift".

It's a perfectly normal feature of English and has been for centuries. Without it you couldn't hammer a nail, paper a wall, book a ticket, table a motion, and many thousands more.

 

[jefmcg]

The OP's usage is intransitive though, so that looks like a novel feature that has so far escaped the OED. I have an idea from memory that 'to horn' in this sense might be common in some non-UK Englishes, maybe Indian English, but I haven't been able to back that up with a few moments googling so don't quote me on it.

I'd say "horn in on a conversation", so I guess that's part of Australian (and USA) English.

 

[smutchin]

As Prince once said, "You got the horn so why don't you blow it." I'm not sure he was actually talking about cars though. I think it's meant to be some kind of metaphor.

 

[MikeG]

.......Were you home sick they day they taught grammar?.........

Really, is there any need for this? Argue the point, but keep the little personal snipes out of it.

 

[smutchin]

Why do nouns verb?

Why is it that a fly can't bird but a bird can fly?

 

[damj]

Because they got it for Christmas

 

[Tim Hall]

Why do nouns verb?

so gay?
And lovers await the break of day?
Why do they fall in love?
Why does the rain fall from above?
Why do fools fall in love?

 

[ufkacbln]

I always assumed it was an annoying Americanism, but I noticed last week that even the BBC verbed "Gift".

As in Gift Aid

 

[mcshroom]

Why are you blaming the poor car?

Why do drivers use their horns so much? I believe that it's partly because driving is sold as a dream of open roads and freedom, and turns out to be a series of stopping for lights and being stuck in traffic jams. The disappointment leads to anger and shouting, especially at more vulnerable people who are unlikely to shout back, is a common method for people to vent their anger. The car's horn is used as a substitute for their own cries of frustration.

Or they're just nobbers

 

[mjr]

The drivers have got into a habit of blasting there horns to alert me because they can't be bothered to get out of there vehicle's and press the intercom button.

JOOI why isn't it an intercom with IR activation and/or mounted at cab height?

Were you home sick they day they taught grammar?

No, I was taught near enough to where I lived, plus I wasn't born when my nan went to school

Without it you couldn't hammer a nail, paper a wall, book a ticket, table a motion,

IIRC "table a motion" has near-opposite meanings in different countries.

 

[jefmcg]

Really, is there any need for this? Argue the point, but keep the little personal snipes out of it.

He "corrected" my statement that the dictionary entry proved the was a verb "horn", when he apparently doesn't understand how verbs (or dictionaries) work. I think that makes him fair game.

If you don't anything about a subject, it's ok to say nothing.

 

[jefmcg]

IIRC "table a motion" has near-opposite meanings in different countries.

There are lots of contronyms that have opposite meanings in standard english.

 

[MikeG]

He "corrected" my statement that the dictionary entry proved the was a verb "horn", when he apparently doesn't understand how verbs (or dictionaries) work. I think that makes him fair game.

If you don't anything about a subject, it's ok to say nothing.

Why are you talking about me in the third person? And rather than take the point that correcting me could be done without personal comment, you add another couple here for good measure.

I was wrong, and you were perfectly right to point out I was wrong. However, there was simply no need to get personal about it in the way you did. My original comment contained no such snide-ness. So, as you choose to defend ill manners rather than just move on, and as I have a low tolerance of boorish and ill mannered interlocutors, I'll simply adjust my forum settings and continue to enjoy the company of those capable of civil discourse. Cheerio.