Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Mixing up Drunks and Driving

Sanjeev BMW-hit-and-run Nanda is likely to be out in a few months, news reports say. For a change, I'm not dwelling on how justified or unjustified the quantum of punishment will be for him (the rich lad ran over and killed six in Delhi in a post-drinks rampage and spent a little under 2 years in jail since the incident in 1999). Instead, I'm amused at how media writes about someone who drives after drinking (drinking alcohol, that is, and not juice or lassi).

The majority of reporters or subeditors call such acts "drunk driving" or "drunken driving" (the latter sounds like taking drunk driving to sunken depths). But some papers also write it as "drink driving" (Imagine, DRINK driving! As if you can hand over the steering wheel to your favorite bottle of vodka).

Actually, I'm just thinking, why not add "drunkard driving" to the list as well. With this appellation, whenever we see a Merc or Beemer swerving and speeding toward some unlucky chaps, we can at least shout out: "Hey, look! Drunkard driving!"

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