My wife and I saw this yesterday while exiting a parking facility.<\/p>\n
Problem:<\/strong> Explanation:<\/strong> My wife and I had just left a department store, and we were waiting in a queue of automobiles that were exiting the parking structure.<\/p>\n The sign appeared above an opening through which we had to pass and then make a sharp right turn (no left turns allowed) so as to travel up a one-way ramp that let cars enter a street.<\/p>\n The ramp began to the left of the opening.<\/p>\n What therefore became unclear was what the sign maker intended to say.<\/p>\n A possible but unlikely meaning was “Please caution the drivers of large trucks.”, but I could not tell you why I as a reader of the sign should caution the drivers of large trucks.<\/p>\n Here are two possible, rational meanings:<\/p>\n If I were to rewrite the first rational meaning in as few words as I could, then I would write, “CAUTION: Large Trucks Approaching from Left!”<\/p>\n If I were to rewrite the second rational meaning in as few words as I could, then I would write, “CAUTION: Turn Large Trucks Carefully!”<\/p>\n Notice that both rewritten forms had to include additional words but also had to include punctuation, which the original sign lacked.<\/p>\n In other words, brevity taken to the extreme can lead to confusion.<\/p>\n Solution:<\/strong> My wife and I saw this yesterday while exiting a parking facility. Problem: The significance of the caution sign was unclear. Explanation: The sign was a landscape-oriented sign above the exit from an underground parking structure, and “CAUTION Large Trucks” — with absolutely no punctuation — appeared in a single line on the sign. My…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,33,34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commas","category-hyphens","category-imperatives"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nThe significance of the caution sign was unclear.<\/p>\n
\nThe sign was a landscape-oriented sign above the exit from an underground parking structure, and “CAUTION Large Trucks” — with absolutely no punctuation — appeared in a single line on the sign.<\/p>\n\n
\nUse punctuation on a sign such as this one to ensure that readers know what they are supposed to do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"