English in Madrid

  Source: Ross Sokolovski on Unsplash Researchers suggest replac ing car honks with duck quacks Researchers are tackling sound pollution from loud car horns by developing a beep which apparently sounds like a duck's quack. The pleasant-sounding horn is designed to alert people to danger while not stressing out others within the vicinity. A quacking sound was chosen after different sounds were tested on 100 volunteers and it was found to be the most friendly for pedestrians passing by . The research was conducted at Soongsil University in Seoul, South Korea, and looked at the development of the vehicle klaxon since it was first introduced in 1908. The classical car horn's "ah-oo-gah" remains a famous sound in early motoring, but it came to be replaced by other attention-grabbing sounds. Some of those klaxons have come to be found very irritating, however. The team of scientists set about trying to find less distressing sound for passers...

Source: Wikipedia (Peter Isotalo)   Madrid tackles 'el manspreading' on public transport with new signs  Transport authorities in Spanish capital want to encourage men to respect boundaries on bus seats and keep legs closed  Madrid’s transport authorities are taking a stand against seated male selfishness with a campaign to tackle the social scourge that is manspreading. Fed up with men whose thighs fail to respect the boundaries of bus seats, the Spanish capital’s Municipal Transport Company (EMT) is to put up signs discouraging the practice. The EMT – which explains that “el manspreading” is “an English term that describes the posture of men who open their legs too wide and take up neighbouring seats” – said the new signs are intended to remind people of the need to respect the space of all bus passengers. Would-be manspreaders will hopefully be deterred by small pictures of a thoughtless , faceless red man invading the seat to his right. “Th...