how's your hooter?

So... We rented a little VW citi golf for the week we were in Cape Town. The car had largely been behaving itself -- until tonight. We were just driving back from Stellenbosch, where we were hanging out with a friend. Stellenbosch lies outside Cape Town, with the airport situated between them. The car gave some strange random hoots when we started it up in the parking lot, but nothing really seemed amiss, and it had no immobilizer or random and confusing security system of which we were aware. We got petrol and started on our way back to the city.

We hadn't gotten very far when the car's horn began hooting of its own accord -- just one long continous sound. It only stopped when I turned the car off. We phoned the rental company, who in turn phoned one of their maintenance sub-contracters. A fellow named Erik called us, and after advising us to play around with the horn itself (which had no effect), he suggested that we simply return the car to the airport. We weren't very far away, it would take some time for his people to reach us, and we weren't in a very safe place to just hang out in the dark for a while.

So we drove the car to the airport and through what seemed like the entire airport complex to get to domestical rental car returns, hooting all the way. (No, we weren't at all conspicuous; why do you ask?) The folks at the rental company were lovely. The man helping us asked us if we wanted another citi golf. I told him we weren't picky. Then he said (I thought): "I'll give you the Ford car."

Now, mind you, the South African final 'r' is much, much softer than your average American final 'r' (except perhaps in Boston). What the man actually said was: "I'll give you the Ford Ka."

Earlier this week, a South African friend pointed out (correctly) that I had begun modifying my spoken English to adhere to local pronunciations. It appears, however, that my listening skills still need some work...