The way I know it to be, a short little honk means ''hey, pay attention!", a medium-length honk (usually x2) means, ''Asshole!" and a long blaring honk means ‘‘Oh my fucking god you almost caused one of us to die.’’
Only twice that I can remember have I ever laid on the horn like that. I was once in the right lane on a three-lane highway, I decided to pass a semi truck. I signalled, got into the middle lane, and came within feet of colliding with a car that was STOPPED in the center lane of the goddamn highway, with its blinker on, waiting to get over into the right lane so it could take the exit it missed. With that one I basically just laid on the horn until they drove away. It still gives me a heart attack just thinking about it.
I do wish there were two different sounds you could make with your horn - you know, a little “beep beep” that means “hey, excuse me, just fyi the light turned green!” and a great big “HONK” that means “OH MY GOD YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE”.
As others have noted, it depends on circumstances, and how the horn is used. A quick tap on the horn to alert a distracted pedestrian to your presence, or wake the distracted driver sitting at the green light is usually not taken as an insult.
The last time I took offense was when I was on my bike, in a marked bicycle lane. A man was waiting to leave a church parking lot, and started to pull out in front of me, which I was half expecting, so I braked to a near stop. Then he saw me and stopped. So I continued on, but since his inattention had caused me to stop without taking time to downshift, I was moving fairly slow. As I passed in front of him, he layed on the horn and momentarily let off the brake and feinted toward me. As soon as I cleared the driveway I was off the bike and in his entitled face. Yes dumb, and I regret losing my temper, but it was asked for and I was willing to give it in that moment. I was also probably a bit amped up on adrenaline from the near miss he caused at the outset.
Yes, it is a huge insult. It’s pretty much right between spitting in someone’s face and wiping your dick on someone’s curtains. Most normal westerners would still be mad about it this far after the fact, and I can say with absolute certainty that the driver is probably plotting to cause further injury. All you can do to save yourself it to walk exclusively at night wearing dark clothing and cross mid-block. In case this complete psychopath is still able to find you I’d recommend also wearing earmuffs. Some people might advise you to conceal an air horn on your person, but how would you know who was honking at you and who was maybe just a concerned citizen returning honks on the actual bad guy? You could honk at innocents in the crossfire! Don’t be a hero, drop and play dead.
The west is a funny place. We honk at people, but frown on stoning women to death for committing adultery by letting themselves get raped. Kind of a tossup actually.
Here you go (49-second mark). The horn is on the left stalk. A rocker switch on the under side of the steering column switched horns, though it was hard to tell which was the YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE horn.
Due to the extreme lack of zebras in the “West” there almost no places for Zebras to cross streets legally. Assuming you are a zebra, I can understand your dilemma and I do think the driver was probably being a bit rude. But generally getting beeped at is not a black and white issue.
Leave it to beowulff to use Pre-Norman Anglo-Saxon English…
But why are we discussing types of honking, when the real asshole here is the one who wants to stab a stranger? I’m hoping it’s because nobody’s taking that seriously; I just hope griffon isn’t either, or it’s time for an intervention.
I’ve found that quite a number of people believe something is the law, when, in fact, the law is directly contrary to their beliefs. For example, quite a number of people I’ve met believe that “the pedestrian always has the right of way.” They are wrong.
They do, however, have right of way at the places i listed: unmarked crosswalks, marked crosswalks, signal crosswalks (when the light so indicates), and sidewalks that intersect with property entrances.
Many drivers seem to believe that pedestrians only have license to use such places if they’re not inconveniencing cars.