Pedants' Paradise

[Bryn]

Now that that's all settled - what are drivers supposed to do? Pull over into the 'bus lane and have a snooze?

Not the point of the Thread, I know - but the money wasted on these things ...

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/503534/INF159_150216.pdf

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

As it stands 'Don't drive tired' is, I think, correct; 'tired' is an adjective.

I think this is just laziness, meaning "Don't drive when tired."

[kernelbogey]

Memo to Highways Agency:

Don't use word-restricted signs for complex messages.

(Or: Don't write abbreviated.)

[jean]

I think this is just laziness, meaning "Don't drive when tired."

But why stop there?

Why not demand even greater effort, and insist on "Don't drive when you are tired"?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

How about a car sticker: "Don't State the Syddin' Obvious"?

[french frank]

But why stop there?

Why not demand even greater effort, and insist on "Don't drive when you are tired"?

Or, "Do not drive when you are tired." Is it also laziness to use 'Don't' for 'Do not' and all the similar contractions?

Text messages have spawned new ways of communicating verbally. Not laziness - efficiency.

[kernelbogey]

But why stop there?

Why not demand even greater effort, and insist on "Don't drive when you are tired"?

Because it won't fit on the electronic sign!

[Serial_Apologist]

Because it won't fit on the electronic sign!

Or because by the time you get halfway through the correctly lengthened message, you'll have passed the sign!

[teamsaint]

Or because by the time you get halfway through the correctly lengthened message, you'll have passed the sign!

Doesn't stop them using the mostly useless yellow metal " night time closure " signs, which are dangerously unreadable in many cases.
Driving after about 9.00 pm at night anywhere the motorway system is often a hideous experience now, with the next lengthy diversion seemingly never far away.

[jean]

Because it won't fit on the electronic sign!

Exactly!

So what was your objection to the neatly filleted version?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Exactly!

So what was your objection to the neatly filleted version?

"Neatly filleted" - that's a nice way of putting it.

I'm afraid things like this can be a distraction when driving. I start chuntering about the signwriter's shocking use of the English language, rather than paying attention to the car pulling out if front of me.

[kernelbogey]

Exactly!

So what was your objection to the neatly filleted version?

It doesn't look right, sound right or feel right. I remain unconvinced by the grammatical arguments above. But I accept that others' use of language is bound to irritate me from time to time.

I'm done, thanks.

[Serial_Apologist]

"Robert Mugabe has been fired" said the lunchtime news announcer a short while ago. What do people think about the use of this Americanism? I thought it undignified when referring to the fate of a head of state, even if it was Mugabe. "Sacked" I feel would have been preferable, with its image of a person being made to quit, carrying a bag full of their past history out of office.

[jean]

Turns out he hasn't been either...

[kernelbogey]

Turns out he hasn't been either...

'up' was missing!