Onomatopoeia is fancy word meaning the sound of the name imitates its definition (or something along those lines –you’d think the word would want to incorporate its own definition.) The words boom or bang are explosive examples. But as we know from a previous discussion even animals speak differently in Swedish and English.
Which brings us to the sound a bicycle bell would make. I’d say ding, the Swedish husband would say pling. In truth it’s rather unimportant since thanks to onomatopoeia (hearing the desired sound regardless) even if you had to yell it out (say you don’t have a bell on your bike) the message would get through.
Or would it? What in fact is the message?
Here’s another cultural clash…well, designed ultimately to avoid a clash or a crash ( that’s onomatopoetic, isn’t it?) For me, the use of a ding is to get people out of the way the same way you’d beep (onomatopoeia at work again) your car’s horn.
But Swedes will also pling to give a courteous warning that they’re passing you on their bikes. I guess it’s to avoid startling you as they wiz quietly by on silent un-motorized wheels. Accordingly, it seems the Swedish pedestrian is expecting that pling.
I rarely polite pling. I just can’t get the outtamyway honk sound out of my ears. Instead, I try to kindly give a wide berth or slow down while passing and that ought to serve the same purpose.
And so now I’m back at odds with my dilemma: To ding or not to ding. Or perhaps I should be struggling over whether or not to pling.
So. Do you pling or ding? And what is your message?
Tags: bicycle, bicycle bell, bike, cultural clash, ding, pling, Swedish customs
The ‘Pling” phenomenon resulted in disaster the first time I encountered it as a new resident of Goteborg.
I was already an anxious pedestrian struggling to remember from which direction cars, buses and trams were going to come hurtling past me at every junction. But added to this was the concern of sharing the same narrow stretch of tarmac with cyclists. Granted a painted white line acts as demarcation between sedate strolling and brisk biking but as Midge Ure aptly said “this means nothing to me”. Distracted by the sheer number of good looking people I regularly found myself wandering dreamily across the divide. Continuous narrow misses shredded my nerves.
By the time I heard my first ‘pling’ I was in such a state of heightened readiness for evasion that I interpreted PLING, PLING! as GET OUT OF THE WAY! PLING, PLING.! as DANGER, IMPACT!. With seconds to spare l threw myself from safety into the path of the civic minded cyclist.
My pride is stilled bruised.
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Blatte:
Why must you always buck the trend?
This is one of those times when we all do the same thing so that we can have an orderly, stress-free and efficient flow of pedestrians and cycles. If we all do the same thing, then we can relax and travel briskly to where we need to be.
Of course the Yanks have to be individuals and “do their own thing”, throwing a wrench into our perfectly functional arrangement.
It’s people like you what cause unrest, mate!
Gustav
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@Michael. Gorgeous Swedes can be hazardous and certainly those plings were of the “make way” kind.
@Gustav. Now even you know that just ain’t true. Everyone hates the bicyclists and no one –Svenne or Blatte– cuts us a break.
BB
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You know what I find to be unacceptable? Talking on one’s mobile telephone whilst cycling.
Said cyclists think that they have the reaction time to make the necessary adjustments, but they clearly are putting us all at risk.
Do you know how hard it is to stagger home from Dalwhinnie after many Ardbegs with all these pesky prattling pedallers polluting my path?
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I miss 1954. Sigh.
Shit, I miss 1854.
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I can’t understand the bicyclists who bike with an umbrella. Seems it should make sense, but it just doesn’t
BB
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Steering a cycle is just one of the many activities that work best when we use two hands.
No excuse for holding a mobiletelephone or paraply on a cycle, unless perhaps one is the rearmost member of a tandem team.
Speaking of umbrellas, were you ever a Mary Poppins fan? Who does this remind us of? http://mommaoh.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/marypoppins-book.jpg
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I feel very familiar with this article. I’ve ALWAYS been overly cautious when it comes to cars, bikes, and even walking. The few times that I’ve tried to be as fluid as most of the people I watch weaving around me I got hit by a car. A horrible experience, that taught me to follow my own intuition of being extra careful despite how willy-nilly others around me may be. Drivers hate everyone who is not them, especially cyclists, pedestrians dislike cyclists a bit more than they dislike cars, cyclists dislike cars whilst knowing they will be able to avoid pedestrians no matter how much the pedestrians worry about the cyclists. The roads and crossings are where all meet, and in such an environment of impatience with eachother, accidents constantly happen.
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i don’t ding nor pling. in my language is drin. but i need to use the english version for a cartoon I’m editing (I work for a schoolbooks publisher). just this morning i was looking on the internet the English sound of the bike bell. and you gave me the answer! thank you!!!
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@Gwrhyr. As a cyclist I have less against cars than pedestrians or even other cyclists who decide that the need to look before turning is removed by simply putting out an arm to indicate a turn. More than once I’ve nearly been smacked by that hand.
@Francesca. That’s a nice reason to have found the entry. I’m glad I could help.
BB
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I, actually, CLIN, NOR DING, NOR PLING
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I am here in london enjoying all your ding pling exercises. This life such small and you all have time to waste on bicycles when theres no time to love. Let all cyclist cars pedesterian live in harmony like an eternal flock of birds returning home in evening. By the way I use to think that the noise was actually “tring”
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very very useful for me thankyou.
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