What is the formal name for a circle with a line through it (often red in color) indicating that something behind the line is “off-limits”? For example, this sign indicating that one should not touch: Answer The general prohibition sign (official name, according to ISO 7010), also known as a no symbol, no sign, circle-backslash … Read more
What is the grammatical analysis of the sign “Road closed to through traffic”, specifically the prepositions “to through”? Answer Road subject closed verb to preposition through (or thru) adjective describing “traffic” It means the road is open to vehicles going to houses or shops on that road, but is closed to traffic passing along the … Read more
English is not my native language and I am currently living in Singapore. I encountered this sign in a stall: I understand this sign as “By buying this, you’ll lose money in an irrelevant product, what are you waiting for?” but it’s obviously not the good interpretation. Can somebody enlighten me ? Answer This may … Read more
I’ve seen parking lot signs in Spanish stating “en posición de salida”, literally “in exit position”, which means that you should back into the spot so your vehicle is facing out when it’s time to exit. That’s for safety reasons. That way it is less problematic when many drivers flee the location given a danger … Read more
Native speaker here, and recently I got into a discussion with my pops about the word ‘signage’. His contention is that the word ‘signage’ is entirely superfluous and is only used as a $5 alternative to the word ‘signs’. My contention is that there may be (maybe not, too) a valid reason for using signage … Read more
We have a sign on a door at work which slams when people aren’t careful. It originally read: Please be considerate of those here and close this door quietly. Someone crossed out the of and changed it to to. My question is: which variant is more correct? Answer TL;DR – they’re both right. It’s never … Read more
What does the term “without prejudice” mean in a legal sense (ie near your signature or credentials on a document or contract – binding or not) as opposed to the non-legal meaning? EDIT: Just to expand this slightly to cover an obvious ambiguity: Does it depend (ie have a different meaning) if the phrase is … Read more
How can I sign my name with the degree of “Doctor of Information Technology“ Is this all correct Dr.Full Name Full Name D.I.T Dr Full Name (Doctor of Information Technology) Dr.Last Name Can I use these king of signatures in my emails or letters? Answer I believe you may use any of these: Dr. Full … Read more
When my daughter asked me and my husband about a No Smoking sign, we explained that it means no cigarettes are allowed. (We had to explain cigarettes to her too.) Unfortunately, she now thinks that the red circle and diagonal line are called a “cigarette”, so she’ll talk about the cigarette in the No Parking … Read more
I saw a phrase on the curb. Literally: “NO DUMPING. FLOWS TO BAY”. Why there is no article before “bay”? Bay is countable, and I think article should be there. Or it may be Bay? (The curb situated in SF Bay Area, probably bay is Bay here)? Articles are pain for me. Answer Signage in … Read more
