I like this, and have never heard or seen it. It’s a shading of the usual postfix.
A few others, categorized, are here: http://justin.justnet.com.au/rudestuff/uses-of-the-word-fuck.html/
The “da” gives the meaning of incredulous stupefaction, implying breathless omission of “wha’…” (Is that tmesis on top of postfix?)
I’ve seen it on the net as “Da Fuck?” and “Da Fuuh?” come to think of it.
There seems to be as many reasons for this as there are writers. So I guess I can add mine.
Rally drivers will do this on just about every corner when they are on a loose surface such gravel, dirt, snow etc. The purpose is to use the polar momentum created by the sudden opposite movement of the steering wheel after counter-steering away from the corner to point the car toward the exit from the corner. It works best with 4-wheel drive.
I think Scandinavian drivers were the 1st to do this in the '60’s often in combination with the handbrake.
Don’t try this at home!
In driving terminology “fading/fade” is a common term used to refer to a reduction of brake function as a result of component/system overheating (due to aggressive use, or overuse on a long downhill for example) - I’ve never heard it used to describe the wide-turning behavior described by the OP.
This behavior is ubiquitous in China, and given that the vast majority of drivers are new drivers, we can’t blame it on driving experience with 1960’s Lincolns. Unfortunately this behavior is often taken to the extreme, in that the driver who does this doesn’t just go slightly to the left (for a right hand turn), but often goes half- or even a whole lane to the left.
In general I blame it on the Chinese lack of spatial awareness (which I’m certain is social and not biological). They really, really have no idea how small their cars are and tend to give a super-wide berth to everything, except when they’re in a hurry (and then they’ll get to within a centimeter of you).
In the US, I can see how this might be called a farmer’s turn. I probably tend to do this while trailering with a large vehicle. I’ll have to try to catch myself.
The “Scandinavian Flick!”
It’s called the Scandinavian Flick, or just Scandi-flick. Certainly not the same maneuver as the OP is talking about on normal roads and not racing.
When I’m on deserted snow covered roads I’ll do the flick for fun, or if I’m wanting to go around a turn at a higher than normal speed I’ll pre-load the opposite side of the car by briefly snapping the wheel in the opposite direction, then proceeding through the turn and having the car’s suspension swing the mass of the vehicle to the outboard side of the vehicle. However, I’ve never done this stuff with any other traffic around in 30+ years of driving.
Most of what I’ve seen from the OP is inexperience or just plain bad driving. Swinging wide in the turns is a good sign that the driver hasn’t been taught how to take corners properly.
The fact we see it on US roads more commonly when turning right versus left indicates to me that it’s a perception problem by the driver.
They aren’t confident they know how much room they have between the right wheels and the curb on the right. So they want a little extra room. Which they get with that annoying and occasionally dangerous swerve to the left.
Around here U-turns are much more common than in other parts of the country. A good way to predict an imminent U-turn is to see a rightward swerve starting from the left lane.
Proper driving includes being in the proper part of your lane for the maneuver planned. Most of the time that’s in the center; at other times it’s appropriate to hug one side or the other. Many folks don’t plan; they just do. Those folks are the swervers.
I think that most drivers just aren’t aware of where their vehicle corners are at any given moment. I saw a lady trying to leave a parking spot in a garage today do the up and back thing at least five or six times. Each time she stopped, in reality, she had another 6 feet of space to back up. She could have easily done it in at the most two up and backs. Meanwhile the parking garage ramp fills up as we all wait for her to get monstrosity of a vehicle out of our way.
I’ve only heard of fading when applied to brakes. Moving out from your lane before a corner is only done when you have a long vehicle (lorry, stretch limo etc) or otherwise cannot make the turn.
Or maybe I’m misunderstanding the OP in regards to ‘making’. If you’re driving a long vehicle and are stopped at a T-junction or crossroads, it’s quite common to have to temporarily be in the lane of the oncoming traffic.
aka: initiate a drift?
I’m referring to making a standard, 90-degree left or right turn.
ETA: OP **Mister Rik **jumped in while I was typing. Not trying to pile on. …
Agree I’ve never heard the term “fading” applied to this prior to the OP. “Counter-swerve” is the term I’ve always used.
As to the rest of your question …
Maybe the drivers where you are don’t have this habit. The typical behavior around here is someone driving an ordinary car in the curbside lane and intending to make a 90 degree turn onto the curbside lane of a similarly sized intersecting road. In the US this’d be a right turn; in the UK a left.
Immediately before arriving at the intersection the driver will swerve abruptly in the opposite direction, then immediately turn in the correct direction. Typically they’ll only move laterally a few inches, but occasionally they’ll cross into the adjacent lane. If the former, it’s startling to folks driving alongside who may themselves swerve defensively. If the latter, there’s likely to be a sideswipe collision. It’s very rare for the swerver to pay any attention to any cars alongside them; their focus is around the turn they’re about to make. I suspect many of them have no awareness that they swerve at all.
The practical benefit of the small swerve is just about zero. It’s more of a nervous tic rather than a useful approach to driving. The question being discussed is why do so many people do this. It definitely seems to be regional, where somehow it becomes a semi-standard thing to do and folks learn the behavior from their herd-mates.
As you say, this sort of *planned *maneuver is perfectly sensible when trying to make a sharp turn into a narrow road while driving a long / large vehicle. But it’s stupid and dangerous when done unconsciously / unwittingly while driving a small car from one wide lane on one wide street into another wide lane on another wide street.
I used to do this pulling into a particular parking lot from a busy street, there was no way to get my truck into the lot and keep it on my side of the road without a swing to the left edge of the lane. That however is a rare type of event.
It also happens when you’re on a bicycle: when you make a left turn, you first turn the wheel slightly to the right (and vice versa). It’s a matter of keeping balance.
Most people are unaware that they do it on a bicycle until it’s pointed out to them.
Du fuk?
This is my description for it too. I think we even had a thread about it.
I also never heard the term fading to refer to what the op is talking about. I do see people swerve left to turn right and visa versa. Like a big truck needs to do.
As others have said, they just don’t have a very good perception of how big there car is.
Side note - Jeeping/4-wheeling/off road driving will cure this very fast. That activity requires that you know where every part of your vehicle is.
That’s only effective if your speed is high enough, otherwise you’ll just turn the way your front wheel is pointing. And - if riding a motorbike at speed - you continue pointing the front wheel slightly away from the direction you’re turning into, until you want to straighten up; at which point you turn the front wheel the opposite direction. How hard you turn the front wheel the opposite direction will directly result in you straightening up more quickly or slowly, which depends on how the corner straightens up.
I only do it when making a left turn into my driveway, which is a fairly steep incline from the street. I “fade” so that my car hits the slope head-on instead of at an angle.
Untrue. Start with this basic fact of singletrack vehicles: at any speed, if you are traveling on a curved path, you (meaning the combined center of mass of you plus the vehicle) are leaning into the turn. Therefore, at any speed, to initiate the turn, you have to move the wheels out from under you by countersteering. Many riders don’t notice it at very low speeds because at very low speeds the countersteer force/magnitude is very low and the lean-in happens very fast. But you can initiate snap-turns at parking-lot speeds by executing a very deliberate twitch of countersteer. Beginners who aren’t consciously aware of countersteering will simply wait until their bike happens to be teetering in the correct direction, and then go with the flow; these are the people who appear very unsteady/uncertain at parking lot speeds.
Watch this video of low-speed countersteering at 1:29, and you’ll see it.
Also untrue. If you’re on a motorcycle or bicycle with a fairly ordinary amount of rake/trail in the steering geometry and you are in the midst of a turn, the handlebars will be pointed in the direction of the turn (this assumes we’re not talking about speedway racing, in which the rear wheel is power-sliding). The reason you push forward on the inside handlebar (i.e. the one closest to the center of the turn) during the turn is because if you don’t, the road forces will make the handlebars turn even tighter, getting the wheels back under the rider, bringing everything back up to vertical and ending the turn. Such is the nature of stable steering geometry.