It appears that the two weeks I spent hunting the skunk ape in Florida made me rather sensitive to the sounds of Brooklyn. Perhaps it was the nights I kept my ears trained for tell-tale sounds of bipedal shuffling, or the days I spent communing with lowing alligators and mourning doves. Blame it on the skunk ape or blame it on Florida, the result is that I have spent the last few days jumping at the normal sounds of New York: blaring sirens, explosive horns, the thundering subway, hordes of children screeching down the streets.
Which brings us, naturally, to today’s word.
Klaxon (pronounced klak-suhn) is a noun meaning a loud electric horn or alarm. First used in the early 1900s, a klaxon was specifically found on motor cars and the word came from the name of the manufacturing company. Nowadays, a klaxon is a loud warning signal and can be used to describe any horn or alarm sound.
And it’s fun to say, isn’t it?