Thanks Be To Spotters

 

I was out of town when a friend’s email alerted me to a church reader-board sign I might want to photograph. Fortunately, when I got back to Spokane it was still there. Naively, or boldly, it invited all those passing by to “Expose Yourself to Jesus.” Quite apart from the profound theological issues the sign raised, I immediately captured it on film (well, digitally).

I’ve since added it to my slide presentation of unusual signs, and “Expose Yourself to Jesus” got its first public viewing at a Rotary club lunch in Spokane last Thursday. I think the audience received it with a mix of amusement and disbelief: amusement at this message’s double entendre, disbelief that anyone could be that unaware of how passers by might interpret the message. Just as astonishing is the fact that it was left up for public viewing for at least two weeks. Maybe the church has subsequently changed it, perhaps after someone stopped by the church office and said, “Um… about your reader-board: have you considered the possibility….?”

This posting serves as a thank-you to friends like John, who steered me toward this gem. Other examples in my collection come from alert spotters aware of my delight in photographing unusual signs. Someone told me about another Spokane reader-board, which proclaimed: “Do It Yourself—We Can Help.” And a friend near Washington DC introduced me to “No Parking On Railroad Tracks Except When Train Is Coming.” Yes, you read that correctly; no, I won’t tell you the context.

Another example, spotted by one of my students, was at a small cemetery. It read, with charming brevity, “Cemetery: No Dumping.”

The moral of the story? Every communication, especially easily misunderstood signs, requires careful checking before you go public. Lest you, er…, expose yourself to my always-alert spotters.

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About What is This Blog Post?

In the early 1990s I had the opportunity to study Spanish as part of a Whitworth University program. I could never get a handle on the difference between para and por, prepositions each meaning “for” but with subtle differences in usage.

My quandary made me think of non-native English speakers trying to figure out English prepositions. Other parts of speech, like nouns and verbs, are generally easily understood. But prepositions…. They are shaped more by idiomatic usage rather than rules.

Making things worse are those pedants who insist that one should not end a sentence with a preposition. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill is credited with responding to some clumsy English by saying this was something “up with which I will not put.” Or so the story goes. Like several quotes attributed to Churchill, however, this anecdote had its origins elsewhere.

Americans often add needless prepositions to phrases like get off of my cloud or head up a committee. One can turn this into a game: try stringing together as many prepositions as possible. Think of the boy sent to bed when Mom promised she would come upstairs and read him a story. The book she chose wasn’t his favorite so he asked her, “What did you bring the book I didn’t want to be read to out of up for?”

Then there’s what is supposedly the world record for the most prepositions ending a sentence: “What did you turn your socks from inside in to inside out instead of from outside out to inside in for?”

But back to the matter of dealing with pompous wanna-be grammarians who delight in pointing out that you have ended a sentence with a preposition. Feign ignorance and ask, “What are you talking about?” Or say, “Too late. The rot has set in.”

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