February 15, 2018

"We gave a rubber band and a helmet to the woman"/"I do not know the quality of the rubber band and the helmet given to my wife."

"My wife and I were enjoying the ride on the go-kart. Suddenly, my wife's hair got loose and I heard her scream."

From "India woman dies after hair caught in go-kart wheel" (BBC).

ADDED: This makes me think of the poem "Amelia," by Charles Reznikoff, which is based on the facts of a real legal case:
Amelia was just fourteen and out of the orphan asylum; at her first job—
in the bindery, and yes sir, yes ma’am, oh, so anxious to please.
She stood at the table, her blonde hair hanging about her shoulders,
“knocking up” for Mary and Sadie, the stitchers....
Continue reading here.

28 comments:

LordSomber said...

"Affectations can be dangerous."

Fernandinande said...

Why "India woman" and not "Indian woman"? Because of the Dot v Feather confusion?

rhhardin said...

More evidence for the short hair movement.

A gf with butt length hair decided to go with shoulder length, handed me scissors, and I did the deed.

She spent several minutes with mirrors looking for something to criticize but didn't find anything.

Missed my calling as a hairdresser.

the 4chan Guy who reads Althouse said...

Prepare yourself for the Rubberband Man.

-6W

Earnest Prole said...

"Go-kart accidents are rare in India, and this incident has left many in the country shocked.

Thanks, BBC!

Ralph L said...

Shades of Isadora Duncan.

Ann Althouse said...

"Why "India woman" and not "Indian woman"? Because of the Dot v Feather confusion?"

Looking at other BBC headlines:

"Teachers 'warned' about Florida gunman" (not Floridian gunman).

"Ethiopia PM Hailemariam Desalegn in surprise resignation" (not Ethiopian PM)

"Australia PM bans minister-staff sex" (not Australian PM)

"Venezuela 'political prisoners' held hostage" (not Venezuelan prisoners)

But:

"German lawyer pestered with pizzas" (not Germany lawyer)

Wince said...

Ms Kaur and her husband were in the go-kart when her hair became stuck in the wheel. As the go-kart continued moving forward, her scalp was ripped from her head, police said.

This kind of scalp "degolving" injury was depicted to steal your face extreme effect in the teens-in-heat blood-bath movie Piranha 3D.

Not for the squeamish.

Ralph L said...

I wrote most of the headlines for my college weekly for a year. Sometimes you have to go with what fits.

Earnest Prole said...

Here you go, Six Words -- the greatest version, and a lost world.

the 4chan Guy who reads Althouse said...

Thanks, Earnest. Rubberband-powered Time Machine.

-6W

Ralph L said...

I blame the Czech Republic.

Is the BBC afraid of being seen to stoke nationalism or impose (or assume) ethnicity? The exception for Germany is odd, but a sane person must have used some good judgement.

Fernandinande said...

Ralph L said...
I wrote most of the headlines for my college weekly for a year. Sometimes you have to go with what fits.


I just poked thru the NYT (shudder) "world" headlines and they mostly avoid the bad grammar by using different constructions.

tcrosse said...

"Why "India woman" and not "Indian woman"?

Why India rubber or India ink ?

Leland said...

And here we see a visual of the concept with host, Amy Schumer. Warning, it's hard to unsee and disturbing.

Caligula said...

This sounds like a freak accident that could happen anywhere. Nonetheless, the reality is that India is not as safety-obsessed as the USA is (perhaps because it can not yet afford to be). For example, I can recall coming across a really large open excavation on a city street without even a single sawhorse or fence to keep pedestrians from accidentally falling into it- a hazard one would just never see in the USA.

It is, therefore, much more up to individuals there to assess risks before committing to something.

Of course, the flip side is that Americans often seem to assume that all risks have been mitigated (as they hike off-trail in the Grand Canyon, or take a swim above a waterfall in Yosemite, etc.).

Ann Althouse said...

Why Groundhog Day and not Groundhog's Day but Valentine's Day and not Valentine Day?

Ralph L said...

a hazard one would just never see in the USA.

Twenty years on, I don't think the tunnel columns against which Di died in Paris have guardrails around them. It isn't just a money problem.

DrMaturin said...

"Why Groundhog Day and not Groundhog's Day but Valentine's Day and not Valentine Day?"

Since we're on the topic most laypeople don't know that medical terminology has dropped the 's when discussing diseases named for people. So it's Down Syndrome, not Down's Syndrome, Hodgkin lymphome, not Hodgkin's, Chrohn disease, not Chrohn's, etc.

Ralph L said...

DrM, you have Alzheimer.

DrMaturin said...

@Ralph L

You're not the first person to speculate about that. But it's actually incurable pedantry.

chuck said...

When working with machines, keep your hair short, your sleeves tight, and don't wear rings. Even something as innocent as a clay mixer can kill you if your long hair gets caught up in the clay.

Isadora Duncan died when her scarf got entangled in the wheels of a car.

Helenhightops said...

My friend’s granddaughter, age seven, died in a similar way. Was visiting the other grandparents when they allowed her to ride without a helmet in a go kart driven by a twelve year old. She actually was wearing a helmet and redneck step grandfather took it off. Her hair caught in the engine or the wheel - I don’t know which - internal decapitation. Lifted her skull away from her spinal column. In Alabama.

cheddar said...

At Yale a female student got her hair caught in a lathe in the wood working shop.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/14/nyregion/yale-student-dies-in-machine-shop-accident.html

Gahrie said...

Why Groundhog Day and not Groundhog's Day but Valentine's Day and not Valentine Day?

Or even better..Saint Valentine day.

JaimeRoberto said...

A few years ago there was a protest at a local go-kart track because of their rules against headgear. Sikh men and Muslim women were hardest hit.

madAsHell said...

All I saw in New Delhi was young women riding side-saddle in beautiful flowing gowns that danced dangerously above the chain, and sprocket of the motor bike.

Earnest Prole said...

At Yale a female student got her hair caught in a lathe in the wood working shop.

At Emily Dickinson College, sophomore Fawn Leibowitz died in a kiln explosion.