Honk-y Talk

Recently, I talked about the odd glares we give bad drivers on the road. On a sort of related matter, I'd like to say a few words about "horn honking technique." Since I work near downtown Denver (and walk around for lunch there every day), I get treated to a wide variety of car horn honking, and I've noticed that different people have different approaches.

There's the short "solo staccato burst." Just one quick beep and out. This is as polite as a car horn gets. It's the driver saying, "excuse me, but I don't think you're paying attention. Terribly sorry." This is pretty common at a red light when someone at the front of the pack doesn't realize it's turned green.

There's the "rhythmic blast." I haven't really discerned different nuances here, just general variations on "HOOOONK! Honk-honk! HOONNK!" In this case, the target has generally done something that truly put others in danger. Maybe they haven't even realized it yet. Sometimes, this sort of honk is well-intentioned like that, but other times, it's just a non-verbal cussing out of a driver after the fact.

Finally, there's the "my horn could be stuck, you wouldn't know the difference" blare. This is someone just leaning on the button so long, you can hear the doppler shift as they drive by. In my experience, this sort of horn honking technique is never employed by the well-intentioned. Usually, they're the asshole in need of a good honking. (Well, a ticket -- but there's never a cop around when you want one, right?) They've crawled right up your bumper as you're in a right-turn only lane, and they're honking at you for slowing down in front of them to turn. Or some kind of situation like that. And they're giving you the "finger of car horns" to tell you how (irrationally) upset they are.

Any other varieties of "car hornery" that any of you can think of?