while waiting in a long, long airport security line at lester b. pearson international airport today, i saw a sign warning unruly passengers that they may "be denied boarding and/or prosecuted."
oh, and/or. apparently, you're not as straightforward as i imagined you to be.
i'm pretty sure this particular sign used "and/or" wrong, because it implies that there are two possible punishments for being unruly: (being prosecuted) OR (being prosecuted and being denied boarding.) thaaaat's fairly silly. if they're going to prosecute you, i really doubt they'll let you board! but that's just my gut talkin'.
the sign should probably read: "unruly passengers may be prosecuted and/or denied boarding." subtext: being a jackass won't help you get on the plane faster. not even if you're a cabinet minister.
don't you dare let yourself believe that this issue doesn't apply to you! pondering such grammatical nuances has effectively diverted and distracted me as i've stood in long, long airport security lines. were it not for those distractions i may have become unruly!
and we all know what happens when you become unruly in an airport. or we would, if the sign was clearer.
3 comments:
hahaha
You made me laugh.
But to be honest, I noticed no problem with the way the sign was worded. Order affects the meaning of "and/or"?
well-spotted! sign- and grammar-critiquing can definitely help pass the time, especially in long lines that have already helped put you in a critical mood. let us know if there are any signs at touch-down on the other end touting "delicious sandwich's."
have (hopefully have had, by now) a pleasant flight.
michelle, i think most people use "and/or" to mean "either of these things, or both, could happen." like a venn diagram (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Venn-diagram-AB.svg). this is fine.
in this case, though, there are probably no instances where someone faces prosecution but is *not* denied boarding. the venn diagram wouldn't look like the one above. it would look like a big circle (denial) with a smaller circle inside it (prosecution).
in all likelihood, unruly passengers may be either prosecuted AND denied boarding OR simply denied boarding. the best way to accurately express this while using our beloved and/or is to reverse the order of the elements.
maybe, like "i could care less," the way the sign employs and/or has attained collocation status and thereby defies parsing. it now just means whatever people think it means... but i'm known for fighting losing battles such as these. :)
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