tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post5488532904993875207..comments2024-03-16T00:21:43.240+00:00Comments on Separated by a Common Language: on the highway/motorwaylynneguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comBlogger73125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-38260273940418272952023-07-13T00:52:29.046+01:002023-07-13T00:52:29.046+01:00I guess a "long trip" would sound like a...I guess a "long trip" would sound like an oxymoron, then. ~_^Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-82710436283160743192020-08-06T19:46:18.871+01:002020-08-06T19:46:18.871+01:00BrE (Scot, late 60s) My wife and I like to “pootle...BrE (Scot, late 60s) My wife and I like to “pootle”, which for us means “explore by car” (not pointlessly, which is what the spellchecker thinks: is that just spellcheck in AmE). Typically, we will drive to a town we don’t know, Park up, and have a look round. For larger towns, we will use the local park-and-ride. To get to, say, Ayburgh, we will follow signs that say Ayburgh. Sometimes we might see a sign for Ayburgh (S). This means the southernmost of two or more exits from a manor road, all of which will take you to Ayburgh. The hey point is that, all of the way through the suburbs, the signs will continue to say Ayburgh. Eventually, I would expect “Town Centre” to start appearing, with lots of directions to car parks. For coastal towns, I would expect signs for the beach, or a “promenade”.<br /> Early this century (only just) I was pootling through Florida, heading south from Orlando to the Keys, and planning to have a look round Miami. At some point the signs stopped saying Miami, and started giving me street names, and the names of towns further south. Not even a sign for “Downtown”. I never did see any of Miami. Perhaps a better understanding of grid systems and street naming conventions would have helped.Shy-replyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01891566073375322808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-26199685433456024132015-06-24T18:37:20.796+01:002015-06-24T18:37:20.796+01:00I don't think you can equate A-roads with trun...<i>I don't think you can equate A-roads with trunk roads. If there are four digit (as in the A4097) it almost certainly doesn't qualify as a trunk road. Even three digits is rather a lot. I would roughly equate trunk roads with the like of the A46 — with green signs and two digits (or one).</i><br /><br />There are actually two parallel classifications. There is the sign colour: blue (motorway), green (trunk route) and white (everything else), and there is the lettering M, A, B.<br /><br />The primary motorways are all Mx, but there are some motorways that are Ax(M) - particularly the A1(M): the A1 switches back and forth between A1(M) and A1 several times. Generally the ones with an M number were built specifically as motorways, while the Ax(M)s are upgraded roads.<br /><br />Virtually all trunk routes are A-roads (I'm sure there's a B-road somewhere just to trick us all out), but the reverse is certainly not true. The number of digits is a rather loose indication of importance; the big dual carriageway where I grew up was the A580, while the A58 was a smaller road into town.<br /><br />Maps, by convention, show the motorways in blue, the trunk routes in green, the other A roads in red and the B roads in yellow.Richard Gadsdenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10545595590359552775noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-62719495114100351572012-10-27T23:27:27.248+01:002012-10-27T23:27:27.248+01:00Harry
But my question remains why this rather old...Harry<br /><br /><i>But my question remains why this rather old-fashioned way of phrasing it (travelling "to the north") when "north" would be the usual and more concise way of expressing the idea of "northwards". </i><br /><br />Again, there's a distinction that can only exist in the written language. <i>To the <b>n</b>orth</i> is a direction <i>to the <b>N</b>orth</i> is a destination.<br /><br />I''ll accept you're right about the Borders being the the eastern part of the South of Scotland. But the fact remains that we don't say 'the South East' — at least I don't remember ever hearing it.<br /><br />Nobody is confused when they read <b>The NORTH</b> because they know where they're going, and they know that the destination is/isn't in their personal sense of what <i>the North</i> is.David Crosbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01858358459416955921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-10931621005662997242012-10-27T14:28:32.328+01:002012-10-27T14:28:32.328+01:00The North and The NORTH, what, like spam (email) a...The North and The NORTH, what, like spam (email) and SPAM (meat)? It's a novel interpretation but I wonder how many motorists would read such a vital semantic role into the use of capital letters. I'd say upper case on road signs tends to be used for visual effect rather than fine lexical distinctions. The "THE" is surely redundant clutter, as the pictures of signs show. They don't write "The Motorway", or should it be "The MOTORWAY". What are they playing at with <b>The N. WEST</b>? Surely <b>NORTH WEST</b>.<br /><br />But my question remains why this rather old-fashioned way of phrasing it (travelling "to the north") when "north" would be the usual and more concise way of expressing the idea of "northwards". <b>The North/South</b> is a rather vague concept whose boundaries no-one can agree on, more cultural than precisely geographical, as in the US perhaps, and not a term that's very useful on roadsigns. <br /><br /><b>The (Scottish) Borders</b> are nothing like synonymous with the South of Scotland. They are just one, eastern, part of southern Scotland.Harry Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01675794936870568336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-88179657878699471332012-10-27T11:52:21.728+01:002012-10-27T11:52:21.728+01:00Harry Campbell
As a Brit I find the use of "...Harry Campbell<br /><br /><i>As a Brit I find the use of "The NORTH" on motorway signposts a bit puzzling. The North generally refers to a particular region, albeit ill-defined (which Nottingham and Tamworth probably do belong in), not a direction.</i><br /><br />The answer to the puzzle is that <b>The NORTH</b> and <b>The North</b> are different concepts. The former is a (potential) destination, the latter is a mega-reagion. Of course, the distinction can only exist in the written language. In the spoken language, the destination goes by the name of <b>north</b>. <br /><br />Two rather different terms are <br />• <b>northward(s)</b> denoting direction rather than destination <br />(a rather fancy word, usually replaced by simple <b>north</b>) <br />• <b>northbound</b> referring to the destination of traffic on one carriageway<br />(a word large confined to traffic reports on the radio)<br /><br />Roads lead TO <b>The NORTH</b>. Places are situated IN <b>the North</b>.<br /><br /><b>The North</b> is the serious name for the (usually) facetious <b>up North</b>, sometimes (never seriously) written <b>oop North</b>.<br /><br /><b>The North</b> is sometimes said to begin at Watford Gap — the first service area driving north from London. (At least, it used to be.). More seriously, <b>the North</b> is sometimes said to be 'north of the Trent'. By this criterion, Nottingham is in <b>the North</b>, but only just. In fact, people almost always place Nottingham in <b>the Midlands</b> or, more specifically <b>the East Midlands</b>. Similarly, Tamworth is in <b>the (West) Midlands</b>.<br /><br />The concept of <b>Central England</b> exists, but hasn't really caught on, because the notional centre of England is London. Here is Scotland we speak (and write) of <b>the Central Belt</b> which includes the capital Edinburgh, the chef metropolis Glasgow and most of the high-population centres. The rest of the country is usually divided into named regions, but we can speak of <b>the North</b> or <b>the North East</b>. We rarely speak of <b>the South</b>. Rather, it's <b>the Borders</b>.<br /><br />East and West are important concepts at the edges. The spelling of my surname is reckoned to be an <b>East Coast</b> convention; Bing's origins allegedly lie in <b>the West Coast</b>. The terms have escaped to England through the names of the two railway routes between London and Scotland.David Crosbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01858358459416955921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-65049118836859615472012-10-27T03:10:10.616+01:002012-10-27T03:10:10.616+01:00Like some other Brits who have commented, I find t...Like some other Brits who have commented, I find the term <i>M-road</i> extremely strange, I never use it, and I don't recall hearing anybody else use it. It's just occurred to me why... <br /><br />There are two ways of looking at these roads: as system of numbering or ads a system of grading. This is somewhat conflated with British A-roads and B-roads. A roads go from one sizeable (by British standards) town to another. B-roads go between smaller towns. For this reason, A-roads are generally broader and generally easier to drive on than B-roads. The prefixes are mutually exclusive: the same road cannot be both A and B.<br /><br />Roads prefixed with M are motorways. However M is not in the same mutually exclusive relationship. Not all motorways are prefixed with M. For example, unless it's been renamed, there's stretch of road numbered A1 (M).<br /><br />Motorways are clearly defined in law. There are different restrictions as to which vehicles can drive on them and the default speed limits are different. Some of the most up-graded A-roads may seem similar but you can tell you're on a motorway because the signs are blue, not green. In any case, you can't drive onto a motorway without passing a sign which lists the restrictions.<br /><br />The photos above show that you are on good A-roads subject to ordinary regulations but that you may come ahead to roads subject to motorway regulations. The second sign has three colours:<br />• green for the major A-road (the A46)<br />• blue for the two accesses to the M42<br />• white for the relatively minor A road (the A4097)<br />The overall colour is green because you're on a major A-road. The last exit (we drive clockwise around the roundabout) has a white sign; it's the less-than-major A4097 road and everybody can drive on it. But the blue bit signifies that it leads to a new (to us) type of road; a toll motorway. It shares it number with the regular M6 because it takes traffic to the same destinations. (The other road with two exits from the roundabout doesn't qualify for any indication, implying that it's B-road — or even an unclassified road.)<br /><br />I don't think you can equate A-roads with trunk roads. If there are four digit (as in the A4097) it almost certainly doesn't qualify as a trunk road. Even three digits is rather a lot. I would roughly equate trunk roads with the like of the A46 — with green signs and two digits (or one).<br /><br />So, yes there is a class of M-roads, but we don';t speak about them. They're examples of a distinct type of road — motorways — which we do speak about.David Crosbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01858358459416955921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-75870704133356130242012-10-26T16:04:54.967+01:002012-10-26T16:04:54.967+01:00That's true (to some extent) of big, limited a...That's true (to some extent) of big, limited acces M-roads, but I've never seen a sign that advertises the B274 South or any such thing.<br /><br />And that the direction is in parentheses is also relevant. In my hometown, Route 88 South is an address one can have--the 'south'--is part of the name of the (part of) the highway. Not true in the UK context. lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-39911916027506988222012-10-26T14:05:24.964+01:002012-10-26T14:05:24.964+01:00This is not really true, when approaching a motorw...This is not really true, when approaching a motorway in the UK it is common to see signs saying for example M4 (E) and M4 (W).<br /><br />Also, in South Africa there are a mixture of signs showing near and far destinations. For example in Port Elizabeth you'll see signs both for Cape Town and Humansdorp on the N2.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-39457807296559620372012-10-01T12:27:04.986+01:002012-10-01T12:27:04.986+01:00Grace
For this British speaker, an atlas isn'...Grace<br /><br />For this British speaker, an <i>atlas</i> isn't just any old book of road maps. It's a complete set of maps for a substantial geographical unit: e.g. Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, Western Europe.<br /><br />In a petrol station (=gas station) you can generally buy a road atlas for one country, and perhaps a road atlas for a wider region. But for somewhere removed from the country/region where you're driving, you'll need to visit a bookshop (or Amazon).David Crosbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01858358459416955921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-37098806158925639742012-10-01T02:34:41.134+01:002012-10-01T02:34:41.134+01:00Is it just me, or does it feel odd to other Americ...Is it just me, or does it feel odd to other Americans as well to refer to a book of roadmaps as an atlas? To me, an atlas is not the sort of thing you buy at a gas station and stick under the seat of your car. It's a formal reference book that sits on the shelf of your home and has lots of colorful maps of the different states and countries, quite possible without showing any roads at all.<br /><br />Also, as others have pointed out, just because it's a highway doesn't mean you don't have to stop. The Daniel Webster Highway in Nashua, New Hampshire has an awful lot of traffic lights.Gracehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14644859183662353936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-40304497303782411582012-08-21T20:52:40.677+01:002012-08-21T20:52:40.677+01:00Hey, I've been a couple of miles south of Lynn...Hey, I've been a couple of miles south of Lynne's home town! And I know NY 31, my US base was about 100 miles east of Newark near the start of itm in Verona. There's a stonking great casino there now but that's since my time there. We went to Rochester (where my ex went to college) on I-90 not NY 31. If I'd known I'd have waved!<br /><br />Anyway, major routes out of London tend to have compass directions. 'North' seems to be a rather elusive concept on British roads; signs on the A1 in north London say "The NORTH, Hatfield". In Perth, Scotland, signs on the A9 point to "The NORTH, Inverness". In Lerwick, Britain's northernmost settlement recognisable as a town, signs on the A970 indicate "Hillswick, The NORTH". Past the turning for Hillswick the sign still pointed to The NORTH but it was January and getting dark at 3 in the afternoon so I gave up looking for The NORTH. There isn't much left for the road to go to though.<br /><br />enitharmonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17829757748223670291noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-76480582618014320622010-10-01T16:38:14.586+01:002010-10-01T16:38:14.586+01:00@John Cowan It would never have occurred to me to ...@John Cowan It would never have occurred to me to associate the computer router /u:/, for me, with the router /au/ that makes holes in things, and indeed they appear to be unrelated etymologically. Interesting that the older /au/ in "route" has disappeared so completely from BrE over the last century or whatever that it now feels alien, but has remained in the related word "rout".Harry Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01675794936870568336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-68826853405998253682010-10-01T16:18:23.486+01:002010-10-01T16:18:23.486+01:00As a Brit I find the use of "The NORTH" ...As a Brit I find the use of "The NORTH" on motorway signposts a bit puzzling. The North generally refers to a particular region, albeit ill-defined (which Nottingham and Tamworth probably do belong in), not a direction. Same for "The S. WEST" on that sign.<br /><br />Scotland and Wales and indeed the island of Ireland also have their "The North". To get to Edinburtgh from London you pass right through what English people mean by "the North", ending up to the north of The North. If you kept on to Inverness, you'd be entering a different The North.<br /><br />But travelling north on a motorway, you never seem to reach "the North". You get to, say, Nottingham and they're still directing you to the North. You pass through Leeds, Newcastle, wherever, and still you're not there, it's all "[name of next landmark] and the NORTH". There's probably a big sign at Muckle Flugga saying "Iceland and the NORTH". <br /><br />So motorway sign-makers must be using it as a direction, which would more naturally be written "North". Of course you can speak of travelling "to the north" (lower-case) but surely more normally in modern English of travelling "north", just as we more usually turn "left" than "to the left". Is this just a slightly archaic turn of phrase that dates back to the dawn of motorways in the 1950s? Or could it possibly be that they originally did mean "The North (of England)", back in the day? I speculate wildly.Harry Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01675794936870568336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-1524515125079812009-09-18T01:06:13.836+01:002009-09-18T01:06:13.836+01:00Hmmm....I live in Sacramento, and I don't know...Hmmm....I live in Sacramento, and I don't know of anything that one could possibly call a "roundabout," unless you mean that 3-level cloverleaf nightmare downtown. I don't think that qualifies.<br /><br />We don't say "the 5,", but like Rulial said, "I-5," for the interstate. And "route" can be pronounced either way...I think I use both, but may have a slight preference for rhyming it with "out."<br /><br />A freeway is, by definition, limited access and relatively high speed, with four lanes or more. A highway may be a simple two-lane road connecting rural communities, so long as the state gives it a number and maintains it.<br /><br />A new highway is generally called by number. It may have a name, but no one uses it. An older highway may have a traditional name, often the name of the community at the other end of the road. "Jackson Highway" would be a good Sacramento example.<br /><br />A highway in (rural) Mendocino county is still called "the Willits road" or "the Fort Bragg road" depending on which end of it you live on. The state calls it a section of (California) Hwy 20. If you keep going on Hwy 20 past Willits, you have a wrong-way concurrency with (US)Hwy 101, which we do NOT call "the PCH," as they do in L.A. It is the same highway, though, running the length of the state.Juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14376545097377854998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-58364688082688295982009-07-08T01:09:29.138+01:002009-07-08T01:09:29.138+01:00My friend's GPS said "Take the motorway&q...My friend's GPS said "Take the motorway" to him and he was pretty perplexed. Fortunately I knew what it meant! (It was telling him to get on the NYS Thruway/I-90 East in Amsterdam. The GPS didn't even say the name or direction of the road, just "the motorway.").<br /><br />I think it's important to point out that State Highway shields only look like the one you pictured in New York State. Each state has its own design. I'm just a roadgeek though.<br /><br />Also, I always pronounce route, as in road, to rhyme with root. But in pretty much any other context it rhymes with grout (such as "paper route.").<br /><br />Fun fact (one of your example images reminded me of it): US-20 is the longest road in the United States. I've only been on it between NY-10 and NY-80, though.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-78883708965209386202008-08-14T15:33:00.000+01:002008-08-14T15:33:00.000+01:00Extremely late to the party, but in my English hom...Extremely late to the party, but in my English home town of Towcester (pronounced toaster, to the delight of all), we have an interesting road name quirk.<BR/><BR/>The A5 Watling Street runs from London in the east to Holyhead, Wales in the west. Along the way it runs through Towcester where it forms the high street. Fascinatingly, addresses on the high street are either Watling Street East (for the eastbound side) or Watling Street West (for the westbound side), even though the addresses are directly opposite one another. It's a single carriageway, even.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-58444548613230753152008-07-12T13:22:00.000+01:002008-07-12T13:22:00.000+01:00I find it odd that Freeways/highways/motorways hav...I find it odd that Freeways/highways/motorways have numbers. In Australia all roads and highways are called by names. They have numbers as well but they are NEVER used. You take Canning highway, or Stirling highway or, old coast road.<BR/><BR/>Tourists are often confused because they ask where route### or highway ### is and they locals don't know as they NEVER use the numbers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-44993078691629810342008-07-10T15:32:00.000+01:002008-07-10T15:32:00.000+01:00Dunce, the road rage blog you referred to... it's ...Dunce, the road rage blog you referred to... it's interesting to hear of the complaints to what one is accustomed to and what seems to work well. Usually there are a few signs before an exit telling you that the exit is coming up, some even tell you how far, 1 mile, 1/4 mile, it is to the exit, and the exits are often numbered, so you know you're getting closer or that your exit is the next one at which point you should get in the far right lane where traffic is going slower anyway, and you should slow down as you approach the exit. True, approaching the exit going seventy is not wise. Usually the recommended speed limit as you get off on the exit ramp drops down to 45 at first and then drops further. <BR/><BR/>When getting onto a road, that far right road where people are also slowing down to take the exit, and you should be speeding up in order to get left onto the highway, I guess growing up here, it feels very natural - so that that road is kind of like part of the ramp, you know - or I know not to stay in it, but to put on one's left blinker automatically and merge onto the highway. <BR/><BR/>I was wondering with all the roundabouts vs. four-way stops, which method is more efficient on time and gas usage. They are relatively rare in my experience and so they always seem a novelty. I like them, though I'm not sure how I would feel if they were more frequent. There are two roundabouts that I know of within fifteen or so minutes of my house, one in New Braunfels, Texas and one on McCullough Ave. At both of these roundabouts there is something in the center, a park in New Braunfels, and a stone fountain or something or statue, on McCullough, I will have to pay better attention, and the roads come in at strange angles- also there may be five roads onto the circle, come to think of it. Whee!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-72576433858799903282008-07-10T07:01:00.000+01:002008-07-10T07:01:00.000+01:00I live in San Antonio Texas where there are two ri...I live in San Antonio Texas where there are two ring roads or loops, so far, circular roads that go around the city. San Antonio has sprawled so much that there is an inner ring road and an outer ring road. When I first moved here it took me a while to get used to approaching 1604, the outer loop, from the East on I-10 and choosing 1604 E or 1604 W, when the loop at that point was crossing the road going north/south. <BR/><BR/>Also, I grew up near I-95 and also Rte 1 in Connecticut, and there, even though it is a North/South Road, it runs along the coast in Connecticut, which is East/West. There wasn't ever any confusion though for me there.<BR/><BR/>I love reading maps and navigating and am almost always impressed with American road signage.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-18456076064323825642008-07-07T17:51:00.000+01:002008-07-07T17:51:00.000+01:00kpo'mI've been having lots of recent discussions a...<B>kpo'm</B><BR/>I've been having lots of recent discussions about Chicago highway names vs numbers. The general consensus seems to be that there's a city/suburb divide. People living in the city use names and suburbanites use numbers (as do out-of-towners). As a non driving Massachusetts transplant I mostly stay out of such things, but it can get very heated.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02215839051185974104noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-79256483235070385712008-07-07T05:23:00.000+01:002008-07-07T05:23:00.000+01:00It is possibly relevant that, in the U.S., words l...It is possibly relevant that, in the U.S., words like "freeway" and "expressway" have formal definitions in law. To wit, an "expressway" is a highway to which abutters do not have the right of access. A "freeway" is one which has only grade-separated intersections -- it is "free" from conflicts requiring traffic on the road to yield/give way to other traffic, regardless of whether it is funded with tolls or gas taxes. (In many places, the only expressways are also freeways; they might be called by either name, but "expressway" predominates in the older eastern cities and Chicago, "freeway" elsewhere.) A "parkway" is either a road through a park, or a freeway on which trucks/HGVs and buses are prohibited, and often both simultaneously. A "tollway" is a freeway operated by the Illinois Toll Highway Authority.)<BR/><BR/>As for the definite article: using "the" is standard practice in Southern California and adjoining regions, in Buffalo, in Ontario, and in Montreal; elsewhere it marks the speaker as (at best) an outsider (and at worst, a Californian/Buffalonian/Torontonian/Montrealer). Other regional markers: calling a freeway by its name -- particularly if the name includes the word "Expressway" -- marks one as a northeasterner or a Chicagoan (or, with "Autoroute", a Montrealer). People from South Texas say "I.H." to refer to an Interstate Highway (and may also say "S.H." for a State Highway). Anyone who recognizes the word "Trafficway" as a kind of road is probably from Kansas City or Topeka.<BR/><BR/>On rotaries/traffic circles/roundabouts: traffic engineers and consultants working for companies pushing the construction of British-style intersections here (often in the service of "traffic calming") insist that a "roundabout" is something completely different from a "traffic circle" or a "rotary". This is not so: they are simply regional names, and the distinctive features the roundabout lobby call out are simply the difference between 1940s and modern design standards. In Massachusetts, the name is "rotary" (a shortening of the legal term "rotary intersection"); in New Jersey it's a "traffic circle". (Warning to Brits driving in the northeastern U.S.: priority rules at such intersections vary from state to state. In Massachusetts, the rule is "yield when entering", but this rule changed within living memory, so not all drivers have quite figured it out yet. In every state, the overarching traffic rule of "give way to the vehicle with the most momentum" is still a good idea to observe -- better to be alive than right.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-87183844744080435372008-07-05T01:41:00.000+01:002008-07-05T01:41:00.000+01:00I'm tring to remember who has made what joke, but ...I'm tring to remember who has made what joke, but the one I remember off the top of my head is comments about A303 winning the "Best British Trunk Road Award," or "the A-such-and-such is, of course, the favorite route to travel to such-and-such section of England." It's always said in this deadpan throwaway manner as if there are big deals made of roads winning awards or everyone caring which road a celebrity might take to his destination.angelinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01368916339133608163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-81468653044467480882008-07-04T22:45:00.000+01:002008-07-04T22:45:00.000+01:00I don't know the bits that you're thinking of, but...I don't know the bits that you're thinking of, but the English (especially the male of the species) like to talk about the best ways to drive places. Bill Bryson sends this up in the first chapter of <I>Notes from a Small Island</I>, which you can read <A HREF="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Notes-from-a-Small-Island/Bill-Bryson/e/9780380727506#EXC" REL="nofollow">here</A>.<BR/><BR/>Some people read this as a way to make small talk that doesn't involve the disclosure of anything very personal.lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-2739559586050919732008-07-04T19:41:00.000+01:002008-07-04T19:41:00.000+01:00I've been following the comments to this post with...I've been following the comments to this post with interest, though I've never driven on my many trips to the UK and so thought I had no relevant experiences to relate. I just realized I do have a question though: I follow a lot of British comedians, and an absurd number of them make jokes about the road system in a way I've never understood. The list includes Stephen Fry & Hugh Laurie as well as the more recent John Oliver & Andy Zaltzman, and I'm fairly certain I came across a number in Neil Gaiman books as well. Is there something Brits find inherently hilarious about the highway system that I'm missing?angelinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01368916339133608163noreply@blogger.com