01-12-2020, 04:34 AM
[quote joatmon]catchinon and I were joking about the signs that say something like "Parking is Not Allowed on Both Sides of the Dike". Our plan (if we had gotten a ticket) was to point out that we only parked on one side of the dike, not both...
Seriously (?), our "Grammar" would like to point out that the signs should probably say "either side of the dike". You would think with the new construction they would have considered a parking area over there somewhere?[/quote]
Joatmon & BFT,
You were only parking on one side of the road and not both sides!
Funny, if not for it costing good law abiding people following signs to get $100 tickets.
There are signs in the construction zones of Interstate Highway 15 that say: "Use All Lanes" and there are solid white lines between lanes. Not wanting a ticket, I should comply with the sign. If I did comply with the sign, would I get a ticket?
To actually comply with the true meaning of the sign, I would have to swerve across all lanes back and forth because how else could I use all lanes? Yet this is the opposite of the intent of the stupidly worded sign!
There is ambiguity in signs. The very worst is "Hospital Next Exit." To this day, I don't know what that means. Is it meaning: "Hospital THIS Exit?" or maybe it means: "Hospital NOT THIS EXIT, BUT THE ONE AFTER THIS EXIT?" I have seen it both ways in many states. Sometimes the hospital isn't the exit after the sign and it is the next exit. Sometimes it is the exit immediately after the sign and going to the next exit would mean not finding the hospital there. Either way, picking the wrong choice of the ambiguous meaning is a substantial delay which can be the difference of life or death, so funny sign foolishness is not funny.
References:
https://onelook.com/?w=next&ls=a
https://www.businessenglish.com/grammar/...l?lang=eng
I agree on the ambiguity of signs. Often they are wrong yet rely, at best, upon "common sense" to figure out what is really meant. I think signs should be correct and without ambiguity.
But, common sense fails a lot as evident by the way people talk. If someone says: "Let's go ice fishing next Saturday" it is asked by the other person "Would that be this Saturday or the Saturday following that?" Happens all the time. Count how many times you hear similarly in the next few days and post your results.
This common need to question the meaning of next is evidence that the word next is ambiguous and that people are unsure of what is meant. While it is easy enough to simply ask the person and that is often done, what do you do about it's use in signs?
Now, quick, your situation is a sudden medical emergency that will be death in minutes, if you can't get a loved one to the hospital quickly. Fortunately, you see a sign on the highway that says: "Hospital Next Exit." Immediately following the sign is a exit. You have four seconds to think about it. Does the sign mean take that exit or the one after that? Which exit would you take? I have seen those signs are used both ways!
Sometimes the next exit is many miles. There are signs that say "Next Exit 106 Miles" or similar. Obviously, that isn't the exit you see right there after the sign, so it must be the exit after that which is 106 miles away, so you check if you have enough fuel, so what does "Hospital Next Exit" mean?
If the correct meaning of the sign were posted it would be: "The correct hospital exit is either the first one you see or the one after that and choosing the wrong one will mean a significant, perhaps deadly delay, so good luck guessing."
Example: https://www.google.com/search?as_q=%22ne...&as_rights=
Ronald
Seriously (?), our "Grammar" would like to point out that the signs should probably say "either side of the dike". You would think with the new construction they would have considered a parking area over there somewhere?[/quote]
Joatmon & BFT,
You were only parking on one side of the road and not both sides!
Funny, if not for it costing good law abiding people following signs to get $100 tickets.
There are signs in the construction zones of Interstate Highway 15 that say: "Use All Lanes" and there are solid white lines between lanes. Not wanting a ticket, I should comply with the sign. If I did comply with the sign, would I get a ticket?
To actually comply with the true meaning of the sign, I would have to swerve across all lanes back and forth because how else could I use all lanes? Yet this is the opposite of the intent of the stupidly worded sign!
There is ambiguity in signs. The very worst is "Hospital Next Exit." To this day, I don't know what that means. Is it meaning: "Hospital THIS Exit?" or maybe it means: "Hospital NOT THIS EXIT, BUT THE ONE AFTER THIS EXIT?" I have seen it both ways in many states. Sometimes the hospital isn't the exit after the sign and it is the next exit. Sometimes it is the exit immediately after the sign and going to the next exit would mean not finding the hospital there. Either way, picking the wrong choice of the ambiguous meaning is a substantial delay which can be the difference of life or death, so funny sign foolishness is not funny.
References:
https://onelook.com/?w=next&ls=a
https://www.businessenglish.com/grammar/...l?lang=eng
I agree on the ambiguity of signs. Often they are wrong yet rely, at best, upon "common sense" to figure out what is really meant. I think signs should be correct and without ambiguity.
But, common sense fails a lot as evident by the way people talk. If someone says: "Let's go ice fishing next Saturday" it is asked by the other person "Would that be this Saturday or the Saturday following that?" Happens all the time. Count how many times you hear similarly in the next few days and post your results.
This common need to question the meaning of next is evidence that the word next is ambiguous and that people are unsure of what is meant. While it is easy enough to simply ask the person and that is often done, what do you do about it's use in signs?
Now, quick, your situation is a sudden medical emergency that will be death in minutes, if you can't get a loved one to the hospital quickly. Fortunately, you see a sign on the highway that says: "Hospital Next Exit." Immediately following the sign is a exit. You have four seconds to think about it. Does the sign mean take that exit or the one after that? Which exit would you take? I have seen those signs are used both ways!
Sometimes the next exit is many miles. There are signs that say "Next Exit 106 Miles" or similar. Obviously, that isn't the exit you see right there after the sign, so it must be the exit after that which is 106 miles away, so you check if you have enough fuel, so what does "Hospital Next Exit" mean?
If the correct meaning of the sign were posted it would be: "The correct hospital exit is either the first one you see or the one after that and choosing the wrong one will mean a significant, perhaps deadly delay, so good luck guessing."
Example: https://www.google.com/search?as_q=%22ne...&as_rights=
Ronald