english 101 - drink, drank, drunk
ok, I dont know if this is just me, or if this is actually proper english, but whenever I read an article that says "man arrest for DRINK driving" my skin crawls, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up on end and I just want to scream and shout.
There is an article in the Yahoo news from Singapore headlines reads "Car crashes into stationary lorry, driver arrested for suspected drink driving" and in the blurb it reads "The driver of the car was suspected for drink driving and taken away for further investigations". I might be no expert, and I am sure that written in the penal code or law books it is written down as 'drink driving' but I believe that to be improper english. I mean, you are either 'drinking and driving' which means you have a drink in your hand or located next to you and you are drinking while driving at the same time, or you are drunk when you get into the vehicle and have no drink in your hand but continue to drive while impaired by alcohol at which point you are a 'drunk driver'. I guess to prove my point you could say how many people out there have said "man, I was totally drink last night."? no, you were drunk, not drink. A drink is what you do "let's drink to that!" or it is an object "I need a drink", it is not a state of mind "I am drink".
So, please, anyone out there, stop using the term 'drink driving' or if you are going to use it that way, have the -ing ending on the correct word and throw in an 'and' and make it 'drinking and driving'. So the headline should read "Car crashes into stationary lorry, driver arrested for suspected DRUNK driving " and the blurb in the update should be "The driver of the car was suspected for DRINKING AND DRIVING and taken away for further investigations".
Mind you, it is usually a pretty cut and dry case in this sort of instance, at least here in Canada. I mean, a car crash happens, police show up at the scene of the crime, smell alcohol on the man's breath and have him blow into the little breathalyzer and if it pops out a limit higher than .08%, there really isnt a suspected case there now is it? and how can they do further investigations if the individual has sobered up? they cart him away, put him into a cell then try to collect evidence that he was drunk at the time of the accident? But then again, never really got Singapore law and the whole police procedure/news paper reporting thing. Who knows, perhaps he was charged and tried on the spot, but the newspaper can't report that like the Canadian papers can so they just say 'investigations are underway'.
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/070304/5/singapore261786.html
There is an article in the Yahoo news from Singapore headlines reads "Car crashes into stationary lorry, driver arrested for suspected drink driving" and in the blurb it reads "The driver of the car was suspected for drink driving and taken away for further investigations". I might be no expert, and I am sure that written in the penal code or law books it is written down as 'drink driving' but I believe that to be improper english. I mean, you are either 'drinking and driving' which means you have a drink in your hand or located next to you and you are drinking while driving at the same time, or you are drunk when you get into the vehicle and have no drink in your hand but continue to drive while impaired by alcohol at which point you are a 'drunk driver'. I guess to prove my point you could say how many people out there have said "man, I was totally drink last night."? no, you were drunk, not drink. A drink is what you do "let's drink to that!" or it is an object "I need a drink", it is not a state of mind "I am drink".
So, please, anyone out there, stop using the term 'drink driving' or if you are going to use it that way, have the -ing ending on the correct word and throw in an 'and' and make it 'drinking and driving'. So the headline should read "Car crashes into stationary lorry, driver arrested for suspected DRUNK driving " and the blurb in the update should be "The driver of the car was suspected for DRINKING AND DRIVING and taken away for further investigations".
Mind you, it is usually a pretty cut and dry case in this sort of instance, at least here in Canada. I mean, a car crash happens, police show up at the scene of the crime, smell alcohol on the man's breath and have him blow into the little breathalyzer and if it pops out a limit higher than .08%, there really isnt a suspected case there now is it? and how can they do further investigations if the individual has sobered up? they cart him away, put him into a cell then try to collect evidence that he was drunk at the time of the accident? But then again, never really got Singapore law and the whole police procedure/news paper reporting thing. Who knows, perhaps he was charged and tried on the spot, but the newspaper can't report that like the Canadian papers can so they just say 'investigations are underway'.
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/070304/5/singapore261786.html
posted by Capt_Canuck at 8:57 PM
2 Comments:
how about 'drink-driving'? the hyphen would imply that the 2 words are related...
still I find it irksome. no matter what the drink is, it really doesn't give a state of the person's mind. 'drinking and driving' is needed, at least in my mind. I mean, that would be like a 'drink-party' instead of a 'drinking party'.
Post a Comment
<< Home