Seeing as I am in the land of linguistic research, I've done a bit of studying on my own....."off the record" that is. With the plethora of languages and dialects found in Cameroon, I've discovered another one: the language of the horn.
Granted, this language is not found all over the world, and in some countries (I won't mention any names, Switzerland...) this language will get you a stout fine. However, here in Cameroon, if your vehicle doesn't have a working horn you might as well just get off the road!
My findings: (some of these are mainly for taxi-speak, but others use them too.)
2 short beeps = I have room in my taxi, holler where you are headed.
1 short beep = (after telling the driver where you want to go) Yep, I'll take you to your destination. Or, when traveling down the road, another way to inform people the taxi has room for more. (That's 3 in the back and 2 in the front seat...not counting the driver).
2 longer beeps/ or 1 longer beep = pay attention! I'm going to pass you so don't hit me.
1 long holding beep = basically, this is the "expletive" in horn-speak. This is generally accompanied by hand waving and hollering if the car(s) in front of you are not moving or blocking the way.
The "musical" beeping to the tune "Happy Birthday" (or whatever song comes to mind) = what we like to do when traveling down the road and we just feel like honking our horn too, since everyone else is doing it. The funny thing is, no one even bats an eye at this here! Go figure.
Stay tuned for more "findings" in future posts.
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