July 10, 2006
Don't dare return in under an hour
More evidence, as if we really needed it, that linguists are needed out there.
Specifically, in trades such as
writing software user interfaces
and
designing
road
signs
it would be a good thing to have a few more employees with an analytical
understanding of language and its interpretation.
My friend Avi went to park a rental car in an unfamiliar city (it was
Cambridge, England) and found
himself looking at the sign that you see on the right. He was a bit
intimidated. It looked very much to him as if he was being told first
that he could only park there for a maximum of one hour, and second that
this was also the minimum — that he must stay away for a full hour,
and if he were to return to his car within one hour and try to get into
it and drive away, he could be ticketed for that. (Avi is from Israel, and
resides in Los Angeles.
How is he supposed to know what insane parking regulations might be in
force in an arbitrary English city?) I assume that the intended meaning
was that you can drive away any time you like, but the car must
not return and park in the same place for an hour afterward. Would it
really be so hard to devise a sign that expressed that meaning clearly,
simply, and unambiguously?