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Discussion Groups / English Usage / November 2006Safe and courteous drivers
While on the highway I spotted this on the rear panel of a semi: "We hire only safe and courteous drivers". What does it mean? 1. We hire only drivers, no typists, receptionists, politicians, aviators... 2. We may have hired non-drivers in the past but now, if we hire, we hire only drivers. 3. We hire only safe drivers, and also courteous drivers, but not necessarily drivers who are both. Or...? > While on the highway I spotted this on the rear panel of a semi: > [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > Or...? It means that the trucking company that employs the driver of the truck you saw hires only truck drivers who are safe and courteous when they drive. From that you can infer that they will fire any driver who is reported to be unsafe and discourteous (that may not be true, though), and that if you want to drive a semi for them, you will not be hired if you have a record of accidents (that means you're unsafe) or nasty behavior. You have to be both to be hired and, presumably, to keep your job.  SignatureFranke: EFL teacher & medical editor Native speaker of American English; posting from Taiwan. Unmunged email: /at/easypeasy.com "Impatience is the mother of misery." Bob G filted: >While on the highway I spotted this on the rear panel of a semi: > [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > >Or...? Or: 4. We hire safe and courteous drivers; other companies hire unpredictable lowlife scum who can't be trusted. 5. We hire safe and courteous drivers, but we don't do anything else for them, like makking sure they have their insurance and licensing up to date. ....r Signature"Keep your eye on the Bishop. I want to know when he makes his move", said the Inspector, obliquely. Bob G.: >> "We hire only safe and courteous drivers". >> [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >> 2. We may have hired non-drivers in the past but now, if we hire, we >> hire only drivers. 2A. And consequently, our trucks are not maintained and there's nobody to dispatch them to the right places. >> 3. We hire only safe drivers, and also courteous drivers, but not >> necessarily drivers who are both. R.H. Draney: > 4. We hire safe and courteous drivers; other companies hire unpredictable > lowlife scum who can't be trusted. > > 5. We hire safe and courteous drivers, but we don't do anything else for > them, like makking sure they have their insurance and licensing up to date. 6. If the only drivers we can find to use aren't ones who are safe and courteous, we acquire their services on a contract basis rather than hiring them. 7. We, Alan and Allan, hire only safe and courteous drivers. Other drivers should see Alun and Allen, in the next office, to be hired by our company. 8. Time flies like an arrow. SignatureMark Brader | "Modern security actually worked most of the time. Toronto | There hadn't been a city lost in more than five years." msb@vex.net | --Vernor Vinge, "Rainbows End" My text in this article is in the public domain. > Or: > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > for them, like makking sure they have their insurance and licensing > up to date. 6. We hire safe and courteous drivers; then we give them deadlines that can't be met unless they're kept awake with pills and drive over the speed limit at all times. 7. We hire safe and courteous drivers, and give them supplementary training in tailgating; but the truck is on the road full-time, so we never did get around to fixing the brakes. SignaturePeter Moylan http://www.pmoylan.org Please note the changed e-mail and web addresses. The domain eepjm.newcastle.edu.au no longer exists, and I can no longer receive mail at my newcastle.edu.au addresses. The optusnet address could disappear at any time. > While on the highway I spotted this on the rear panel of a semi: > [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > Or...? It's good to see how much fun some people can have with a quite ordinary English sentence that has only one sensible interpretation. Perfect clarity being unattainable, you have more raw material available for this sort of analysis than you can possibly work through in your lifetime. Have fun. On the placement of "only," see any decent book on English usage. SignatureBob Lieblich Who wishes he could be perfectly clear (by which I do not mean "invisible") > It's good to see how much fun some people can have with a quite > ordinary English sentence that has only one sensible interpretation. Ditto that. Aloha ~~~ Ozzie Maland ~~~ San Diego Robert Lieblich filted: >It's good to see how much fun some people can have with a quite >ordinary English sentence that has only one sensible interpretation. >Perfect clarity being unattainable, you have more raw material >available for this sort of analysis than you can possibly work through >in your lifetime. Have fun. This may explain where lawyers come from....r Signature"Keep your eye on the Bishop. I want to know when he makes his move", said the Inspector, obliquely. >> While on the highway I spotted this on the rear panel of a semi: >> [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] >> >> Or...? > It's good to see how much fun some people can have with a quite > ordinary English sentence that has only one sensible interpretation. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > On the placement of "only," see any decent book on English usage. It's an ambiguity in English. We <verb> only <adjective> <noun>s is capable of being interpreted as "Every <noun> we <verb> is <adjective>" or "Everything we <verb> is a <adjective> <noun>". I don't think rules on adjective placement entirely resolve the ambiguity, I think We only <verb> <adjective> <noun>s is similarly ambiguous - it would be nice if the two were universally interpreted differently, but they aren't. It's generally context which resolves tne ambiguity, but in spoken English stress also does the job. Matthew Huntbach On 13 Nov 2006, Matthew Huntbach wrote >>> While on the highway I spotted this on the rear panel of a >>> semi: >>> >>> "We hire only safe and courteous drivers". >>> >>> What does it mean? -snip- >> It's good to see how much fun some people can have with a quite >> ordinary English sentence that has only one sensible [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > It's an ambiguity in English. -snip elaboration- > It's generally context which resolves tne ambiguity, but in > spoken English stress also does the job. In practice for native speakers, though, cases like the OP's posted sentence tend to involve false rather than actual ambiguity: surely no one who uses English idiomatically could honestly be confused as to the meaning of "We hire only safe and courteous drivers". SignatureCheers, Harvey Canadian and British English, indiscriminately mixed For e-mail, change harvey.news to harvey.van > > While on the highway I spotted this on the rear panel of a semi: > > [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > It's good to see how much fun some people can have with a quite > ordinary English sentence that has only one sensible interpretation. My most charitable interpretation is that when Bob G said "spotted," he meant "was stuck behind that truck for a long, long, long time." > > > While on the highway I spotted this on the rear panel of a semi: > > > [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > My most charitable interpretation is that when Bob G said "spotted," he > meant "was stuck behind that truck for a long, long, long time." The first image that came to my mind was of Bob G leaning out of his car window, brush firmly in hand, applying spots of paint to the rear panel of the truck that spelling out the offending words. Shame on him for such ambiguity! SignatureBob Lieblich Still seeking perfect clarity (and failing) > > > > While on the highway I spotted this on the rear panel of a semi: > > > > "We hire only safe and courteous drivers". > > > > What does it mean? > > > > 1. We hire only drivers, no typists, receptionists, politicians, > > > > aviators... > > > > 2. We may have hired non-drivers in the past but now, if we hire, we > > > > hire only drivers. > > > > 3. We hire only safe drivers, and also courteous drivers, but not > > > > necessarily drivers who are both. > > > > Or...? > > > It's good to see how much fun some people can have with a quite > > > ordinary English sentence that has only one sensible interpretation. > > My most charitable interpretation is that when Bob G said "spotted," he > > meant "was stuck behind that truck for a long, long, long time." > The first image that came to my mind was of Bob G leaning out of his > car window, brush firmly in hand, applying spots of paint to the rear > panel of the truck that spelling out the offending words. Shame on > him for such ambiguity! It seems the time may have come to tell once again about my experience with the sign on the back of a truck that was driven by a "safe and courteous" driver. I was heading up the 405 freeway at an very early morning hour after a session at a computer facility where we were buying time. My back seat was piled high with boxes of cards, printouts, and related items. The freeway was practically deserted, except for a light panel truck directly ahead of me. He signaled for a right turn and started to take an exit ramp. At the last moment he suddenly changed his mind and swerved back into the traffic lane. I slammed on my brakes and stopped in time, but listened to the dismal sounds of cards and printouts crashing to the floor behind me, with cards spilling from boxes and becoming unsorted. Meanwhile, I was able to read the commercially lettered sign on the back of the panel truck: "Bardahl did it again!" I have no doubt that some ad man was real* proud of himself for dreaming up that catchy slogan for Bardahl. I wondered what he would have thought if he had heard of that application of it. Whenever I've told that story, I've invariably gotten the question, "Is that a true story?", or "Did that *really* happen?" It is and it did. Maybe the other times I've told it, I've said I was heading toward the computing facility. I don't remember which, for sure, but I don't think it matters much. * ObAUE: In case anyone is wondering, _Merriam-Webster's 11th Collegiate Dictionary_ says Main Entry: 3 real Function:adverb Date:1718 : VERY *he was _real_ cool H. M. McLuhan* usage - Most handbooks consider the adverb _real_ to be informal and more suitable to speech than writing. Our evidence shows these observations to be true in the main, but real is becoming more common in writing of an informal, conversational style. It is used as an intensifier only and is not interchangeable with _really_ except in that use. I, for one, would feel pedantic if I were to right "really" where the adverb "real" seems right. [...] > I, for one, would feel pedantic if I were to right "really" > where the adverb "real" seems right. But I wouldn't feel at all pedantic is I were to write "write" instead of "right" when I meant "write". Bob Cunningham filted: >But I wouldn't feel at all pedantic is I were to write >"write" instead of "right" when I meant "write". My head hurts....r Signature"Keep your eye on the Bishop. I want to know when he makes his move", said the Inspector, obliquely. [Having written "right" for "write"] > Bob Cunningham filted: > >But I wouldn't feel at all pedantic is I were to write > >"write" instead of "right" when I meant "write". > My head hurts....r Sorry, what I meant to say was 'if I were to write "write" instead of "right" when "write" was right'. The Bob Cunningham entity posted thusly: >I, for one, would feel pedantic if I were to right "really" >where the adverb "real" seems right. Oy! > The Bob Cunningham entity posted thusly: > >I, for one, would feel pedantic if I were to right "really" > Oy! And I would feel like a fool if I ever used the horribly tiresome cliché "Oy". } On Mon, 13 Nov 2006 22:10:50 -0600, Oleg Lego } <rat@atatatat..com> said: } }> The Bob Cunningham entity posted thusly: } }> >I, for one, would feel pedantic if I were to right "really" } }> Oy! } } And I would feel like a fool if I ever used the horribly } tiresome cliché "Oy". Especially if "Oy!" was rite. Signaturerjv > Bob Cunningham <exw6sxq@earthlink.net> wrote: > } Oleg Lego <rat@atatatat..com> said: [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Especially if "Oy!" was rite. It is rite[1] around here. [1] In the sense of "ritual", of course. SignatureFranke: EFL teacher & medical editor Native speaker of American English; posting from Taiwan. Unmunged email: /at/easypeasy.com "Impatience is the mother of misery." > While on the highway I spotted this on the rear panel of a semi: > [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > Or...? The drivers we hire are both safe and courteous while driving on public highways. Not likely, but possible, and much to be hoped for. SignatureFrank ess |
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