• @[email protected]
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    69 hours ago

    I’ve always heard it called that regardless of what you’re driving on. I assumed it referred to the circle of tire tracks it leaves.

  • Zeppo
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    38 hours ago

    I’ve heard people call doing a u-turn “whipping a shitty” and always thought it was a dumb term.

  • @[email protected]
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    1512 hours ago

    Idk about the etymology of the American “whipping shitties”, but seeing it’s popular a saying in States where there have historically been Finns, I guess there could be a connection. Or not.

    But in Finland we call it “ajaa paskarinkiä” “driving in a shit circle”

  • @[email protected]
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    411 hours ago

    Maryland can be included in this. We have parking lots…and empty roads…and neighborhoods…and intersections.

  • @[email protected]
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    521 hours ago

    NJ here and at no point could you drive on lakes. It doesn’t get that cold. Most of the winter you cannot skate on ponds.

      • @[email protected]
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        411 hours ago

        Where? I have lived here since the 1970s and 85% of the winter it would be dangerous to skate on most of the ponds let alone bring a car onto ice

        • @loopedcandle
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          611 hours ago

          Fellow NJ-ian here. I have definitely driven on frozen lakes when I was a stupid teenager. TBH they were more like tiny ponds though.

          • @[email protected]
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            27 hours ago

            Motorcycles are lighter and 100 miles from NJ could place you in a much colder climate as you moght be in the mountains.

  • @[email protected]
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    831 day ago

    We should reframe climate change as an attack on winter recreational activities. Then Republicans might actually give a shit about it.

    “Oh, I’m not worried about climate change. But I’m very concerned about the impending demise of snowmobiling.”

    • @[email protected]
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      110 hours ago

      Sadly it still doesn’t matter when people believe that God guarantees four seasons in the Bible

    • snooggums
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      511 day ago

      “How will the homeless freeze to death without cold winters?”

    • Maven (famous)
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      18 hours ago

      That’s what I know it as in Minnesota. No idea where people are getting the donuts thing from.

      The last time I saw a meme like this I asked around and everyone else said “whipping shitties” was an illegal U turn.

    • Scott
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      1 day ago

      That’s also what I’ve known it as in Texas

  • @[email protected]
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    1 day ago

    It has been a long time since most of those places have been cold enough, long enough, to have a lake become that solidly frozen. It has been 30+ years since I have seen this happen in the mid atlantic.

    • @[email protected]
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      281 day ago

      The water’s really deep there, too, so it’s riskier. Isn’t that were the Titanic sunk?

      • Zagorath
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        101 day ago

        I think by “mid Atlantic” they mean a city in the US on the Atlantic coastline, but not the northern tip of the country, or the southern end. The mid part. But they’re talking about lakes or rivers in those areas, not the ocean itself.

    • Semi-Hemi-Lemmygod
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      71 day ago

      I’ve lived in the mid Atlantic my entire life and have never driven on a frozen lake.

      I do my donuts in parking lots that haven’t been salted or plowed yet.

      • @[email protected]
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        31 day ago

        back in the 90s there was a couple times lakes in western PA/NY froze over enough people were out driving on them.

  • Hemingways_Shotgun
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    121 day ago

    Wait until they learn about parking your half-tonne on it, building a hut and sitting there fishing with some beers for hours.

    • @[email protected]
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      26 hours ago

      And having your house warm enough to fish in your underwear while drinking said beer and fishing.

    • @[email protected]
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      10 hours ago

      But snow isn’t particularly slippery, the only way that works properly is if there’s a layer of ice underneath. So you need a warmish day with some rain, followed by a bitter cold night, followed by a dusting of fresh snow to really lose traction in a parking lot.

    • Mike D.
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      323 hours ago

      There was one particular parking lot near my house that was not plowed for years. The snow would fall, melt a little during the day, and then refreeze. Spent many evenings there.

    • snooggums
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      51 day ago

      You are missing out then, frozen lakes are so much fun.

  • Rhaedas
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    51 day ago

    You know the old trope about how people in the South can’t drive in snow? We do donuts on the roads unintentionally once the snow falls and refreezes to ice. No lake needed. I guess if you only have snow on the roads you have to seek out places where the car will slide around.

    • @[email protected]
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      210 hours ago

      In the PNW, we don’t get a lot of snow and it doesn’t get cold enough to freeze lakes, but we do get plenty of black ice. Rain + tons of shade under evergreen trees can cause a lot of issues.