The Transportation Security Agency has advised that
We encourage everyone to pack gel-filled bras in their checked baggage.
Bruce Schneier asks
Everyone? Do I have to as well? Where should I go buy one?
This reminds me of a point about intonation and meaning. About 35 years ago, I heard Martin Kay describe a sign on the London Underground that read (as he performed it) "DOGS must be carried". (Here's a more modern version of the sign, courtsy of Annie Moie's London Underground Tube Blog.) I've never figured out a really convincing explanation for why stressing "dogs" seems to encourage the interpretation "everyone must carry a dog", while stressing "carried" encourages the interpretation "if you have a dog, you must carry it".
Posted by Mark Liberman at August 20, 2006 09:37 AM