If you fall to the ground, they'll kick you to death.
Posted on 08/31/2014 12:55:44 PM PDT by the scotsman
We drive on the left, but which side do we walk on?
'Some friends from Australia asked me this question as we battled down London's Oxford Street the other day, weaving our way through determined shoppers, rushing office workers and ambling tourists.
The answer is we don't. The British have little sense of pavement etiquette, preferring a slalom approach to pedestrian progress. When two strangers approach each other, it often results in the performance of a little gavotte as they double-guess in which direction the other will turn.
The British are ambulatory anarchists. We are oblivious to the Rules for pedestrians helpfully published by Her Majesty's Government. There are 35 in total but, frankly, who knew and who cares?
Rule Number One tells us we must "avoid being next to the kerb with your back to the traffic" which implies we ought to walk on the left of the pavement. Such advice is blithely ignored, as any stroll down a busy high street will confirm.
An attempt to bring order to this chaos was suggested in 2000, amid reports of rising "pavement rage". The Fast Lane Campaign proposed designated coloured lanes for pedestrians walking along Oxford Street in London - a fast lane for those rushing to get from A to B and a slow lane for window-shoppers and dawdlers.
Inevitably, the idea was laughed away. One group representing the rights of pedestrians dismissed it as anathema to the anarchic spirit of British walkers.
The British are bemused by countries which police pedestrians - treating those who don't use designated crossings as criminals.
Telling people how to walk is simply not British.'
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
NYers hate people to walk three abreast. The sidewalks are narrow and 3 tourists walking slowly in a row absolutely breaks the stride. I always have to repel the desire to give then a push.
If you fall to the ground, they'll kick you to death.
I have noticed this. In the U.k., they walk all over the place. In Australia, the walk on the left.
But Oz is much more organized and civilized than Englandistan...
Soooo..... I looked up nib for another meaning other than something to do with the end of a pen.
The closest definition I could find which might work was “a small pointed or projecting part “
Are you opening the door for her small, pointed, projecting boobs. :)
Seems I recall one etiquette rule (British?), that the gentleman walk on the outside or next to the kerb/curb and protect the lady from carriage splashes or other refuse (horse manure?) thrown up from the street.
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I was raised in Dallas TX in the ‘40s-’50s. Men always walked on the curb side of the sidewalk, with the women on the inside. Even in the late ‘60s that was generally the rule. I haven’t been to a downtown area in many years, so don’t know if it’s still done.
You mean make the bitch walk closer to the buildings so she gets the chamberpots emptied on her and not you!
That’s what I recall from “The Golden Book Encyclopedia”, appx 1961.
Not just British - also French and others... considered a common etiquette. Was in my Naval Officers etiquette manual as well. I always walk on the road side of my wife to this day - provided there is not a reason to do otherwise. Open doors for her too.
Actually Parisian men walked on the outside because the chamber pots tended to arc out away from the building a bit when emptied - in addition, to catching splashes from the wagons and such...
I’d like to join a group like that.
When you on an escalator in London doing down to the tube, it is advisable to stand on the right. Otherwise you’re liable to get trod on by the well-dressed business people running down the left side of the down escalator.
For a real adventure try a “B” road barely wide enough for one small car with oncoming Land Rovers, Bentleys and the occasional lorry at 60 MPH.
Hah! There are times my family would call me a nib!
It has to be “her nibs” or “his nibs”. (I was thinking of my wife when I wrote the comment.) There is speculation on where it came from. The best I’ve heard is that it’s related to British slang, “nob”, a noble or person in authority. Terry Pratchett uses “nob” frequently in his novels.
Did that.
Also navigated eight-spoke roundabouts and small villages with cars parked on both sides of the “street.”
...all this while driving on the left side of the road from the right side of the car.
White knuckles all the way.
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