"Escalators are for passengers only."

Recording heard in Penn Station, NYC, near the escalators between Amtrak and New Jersey TransitNow, this one has stumped me for the past ten years. Just what kind of passengers are they talking about? Train passengers? NO way. There's no way anyone would make a rule like that. ("Losers ascending to the next ( Read more... )

"Please remember to take your personal belongings with you."

As heard on NYC subways every damned day

Can anyone explain what the point is of using the word personal in this context? Is there any reason it's not completely redundant? The implication is that we could alternately take our nonpersonal belongings with us. And what would that even ( Read more... )

There was huge drop in semicolon use from the 18th through the 19th centuries, from 68.1 per 1,000 words to 17.7. And that's just the start of the trouble...

"The punctuation mark that makes men tremble"

( Read more... )

10
And happy winter solstice!

Bad news about a much beloved cat. Log in to see.

Good news from the Parks Department ( Read more... )

Hey all,

Just a note to say that until further notice, I'll be friends-locking my blog.

Thanks...

When someone tells you, "His one flaw is using the wavy underscore to signal 'set ital,' " you know she's a copy editor.

(No, not my quote.)

I do have to wonder sometimes if copy editors just have a different set of standards... or live in an alternate reality.

Overheard exchange between twentysomethings today in the office:

G: What's Arsenic ( Read more... )

I guess it's the natural thing to come down with postnasal drip and a sore throat right before two vocal-cord-based public activities. Anyone have any tips on how to produce a strong, healthy-sounding voice quickly for a span of four hours ( Read more... )