What I don't get...

[Kraco]

In that case, what's the "eh" in front of e-ner-GI that I hear every single time someone says that?

For example: at 15m30s here

http://youtu.be/f1MqEDEnNM4#t=15m32s

What are you talking about? I can't hear anything like that there. His "e" in energi is just a bit long. You have to realise both the "e"s in the word (first and third letters) sound the same in the Japanese. It's just English where they mysteriously sound different, despite being the same letter.

[shinta|hikari]

It sounds like e-ne-ru-gi to me. He just says it fast and silences the u, as usual in Japanese.

[Buffalobiian]

It sounds like e-ne-ru-gi to me. He just says it fast and silences the u, as usual in Japanese.

Ah.. yes. That's the missing link.

"e-ner-gi (hard g)" makes sense, but I always heard "energy" pronounced with 4 syllables and could never figure out what was wrong with it.

[MFauli]

I've heard the English word energy pronounced both as "energy" (ie pretty close to English) and "e-ne-ner-gi" or something similar in anime. What factors influence people pronouncing one or the other (and understanding one or the other)?

Pretty sure that "e-na-ji" is the proper anglo-japanese usage of the word "energy", whereas "e-ne-ru-gi" is hipster-germanic-japanese pronounciation (because that´s pretty much how you pronounce it in German), aka Japanese people love German no matter how weird its application lol.

[shinta|hikari]

Though both are used, enerugi- is actually the more common word in Japan. Japanese language adopted a lot of German words and use them everyday, like arubaito. I don't understand where you got this hipster thing from.

[MFauli]

Because Japanese using German words for no good reason is pretty much "being hipster" :P

Also, I never understood the term "arubaito". They don´t even use it as it´s used in German, where it describes your "jobs", as opposed to the Japanese meaning, where it is used for "mini jobs" or any kind of small-ish, part-time job, usually for pupils during vacation or free-time.

[Kraco]

Because Japanese using German words for no good reason is pretty much "being hipster" :P


You are underestimating the importance Germany had during industrialisation.

[David75]

And also how words are borrowed and used in other languages.In France for example "bon week-end" (have a good week-end) became "bon week" with simplification in very familiar language.


And I would not be surprised people use one or the other prononciation for energy depending on which was in use in their surronding. As simple as that ? It is after all a foreign word, so I do not think they put too much thought in its use

[Buffalobiian]

I see videos online every now and again about "This is why you don't brakecheck (a truck)" and proceed to show a vehicle braking abruptly, and the vehicle behind them colliding into the front vehicle.

(I've since learned that brakechecking is the deliberate, abrupt braking when unnecessary, with the intention of scaring the driver behind or to deter them from following too closely)

It's the first I've heard of the term, and I don't get why it's a big deal. To me, if the car behind couldn't brake in time, they're at fault for not maintaining a safe distance.

[Kraco]

It's the first I've heard of the term, and I don't get why it's a big deal. To me, if the car behind couldn't brake in time, they're at fault for not maintaining a safe distance.

You are only talking about the "valid" case, assuming such behavior could ever be valid, as I'd personally never risk it. That is, when you are driving normally, minding your own business, but then from somewhere comes a car that starts hugging your rear bumper for no intelligent reason.

However, the videos clips on Youtube, that I've seen a hundred of, are mostly cases of scumbags that pass a usually more or less normally driving car, return to the same lane very close to the front of the target car, and then hit the brakes like there's no tomorrow, allowing the passed car very little time to react properly, especially if it's a heavy truck. This is for two reasons: An insurance fraud (since, like you said, the car behind is supposed to keep a safe distance to the car in front) or because it's some brat that thinks it's so awfully funny. Sometimes the cases in the videos have been more muddy road rage ones, where there might have been some beef between two drivers, but the one uploading the video typically cuts the upload so that the other party is the only one driving haphazardly.

[David75]

Vengeance:
you drive too slow for my tastes, you stopped me from overtaking you multiple times. Now that I'm in front and "won" here's my brakecheck and then how it feels to have a slow car in front blocking you...

Road interactions are more like MadMax than they are like highly intelligent and sentient beings...
Come to Paris streets if you don't believe me :D

[Buffalobiian]

You guys are right in that I forgot about the overtaking-then-slowing scenarios.

My thoughts on that I guess, is that if you merge in front of someone then cause an accident, you're at fault for not merging safely - even if your car could physically fit into that space.

If there's enough of a delay between the merge and the braking, then when someone merges, the car behind should start slowing down to ensure the safe distance is met. The behind-car's slowing down should start once you've mentally registered that someone's merging into you (and will successfully do so), but will end up with an unsafe stopping distance.

[Kraco]

If someone merges in front of you haphazardly and even ends up braking, making you brake as well, I'd just call it poor traffic behavior (that happens often enough), but not really brake checking. Brake checking assumes an intention of doing it just to scare or piss off the driver behind, or at worst cause an accident deliberately for fraud purposes.

I haven't personally ever seen brake checking personally. It can't be overly commonplace over here, fortunately.

[Buffalobiian]

I don't recall ever being brake checked personally. I remember dad doing it once to someone who was right up his ass, but he tapped the brake while accelerating so the brake light came on but he didn't actually slow down. It's not common at all here from what I can tell. Maybe youtube just makes it seem common elsewhere.

[David75]

brake lighting: I've been forced to use that for some people who don't realise they're way too close when they can easily overtake.
A long time ago I had a car with very powerful cleaning jets. So powerful some of it splashed over the roof to a car that would be way too close :D
By the time they find their wipers, they are the right distance.
I'm very careful with cars behind and somehow people are way too close, and not because they are overtaking. Maybe it's a french thing.

[Buffalobiian]

Talking about French things and driving (though maybe not actually uniquely French), is the parking technique where you actually hit other people's bumpers as you parallel park. That's not a thing in Australia - if you touched someone else's car you're doing it wrong.

On the other hand, I've only recently learned that undertaking is illegal in some parts of the world. Here that's just normal, free-for-all driving.

[David75]

Parking without touching bumpers in Paris? Are you sure you want to search for a another 50 minutes or more? hahaha
Undertaking is prohibited in France.

[Ryllharu]

Undertaking, aka "Passing on the right" is something I have grown to accept as simply necessary. Hogging the passing lane is not well enforced in America. Germany we are not. Drivers either "don't want to be bothered" with on-ramp traffic, feel that they are policing the speed of the freeway/highway/interstate, or want to diddle away on their mobile phone. Make it quick, do it decisively, and aggressively, and it's fine. My personal record is 11 cars in a line.

But brake-checking? Reckless behavior and is always road-rage. It's not fun or righteous or deserved when someone does it to you for HOURS on the interstate. I've had it happen to me, it's honestly terrifying. It's indicative of the behavior that acts as a red flag for, "Do not Stop, Do Not Pull over, and Do Not Confront another driver exhibiting road rage in the United States...that's how you die [read: get shot]."

If another car is riding your ass, the correct procedure is to let off the gas and coast until you are going so far below the speed limit that they realize what they're doing and back off or pull over and attempt to pass you...where you then resume back up to the speed limit and/or flow of traffic. Problem solved.