Re: Illiteracy in America

From: Sean O'Leathlobhair (jwlawler_at_yahoo.com)
Date: 10/06/04 

Date: 6 Oct 2004 04:54:53 -0700

"*** T. Winter" <***.Winter@cwi.nl> wrote in message news:<I552yn.1Ly@cwi.nl>...
> In article <d1835a57.0410050216.77fd3078@posting.google.com> jwlawler@yahoo.com (Sean O'Leathlobhair) writes:
> > "*** T. Winter" <***.Winter@cwi.nl> wrote in message news:<I50CxF.CJM@cwi.nl>...
> ...
> > Thanks. Somehow I got the impression that the standard required the
> > English word "STOP". I thought that I had read it in this thread but
> > it seems that I dreamt it since I cannot find it now.
> >
> > It is odd that the English word is used in many countries where
> > English is not the dominant language. Does anyone know why that is?
>
> Why do you think "STOP" is only English? There are quite a few European
> languages where it is also a common word. Dutch is one, and as you may
> have read, Danish is one. In Germany it was "HALT" before (say) 1955 or
> something like that, but they now also use "STOP".

Are you suggesting that the common international use of "STOP" is not
derived from English? It is not surprising that the word seems
natural enough in related languages such as Danish and Dutch. But is
it likely that these languages are responsible for its international
spread?

That Germany has switched from "HALT" to "STOP" would seem to be
evidence against a German origin of the usage.

Unlike Torsten, if I wanted someone to stop what they were doing, I
would be certain to say "Stop!". I would only use "Halt!" if I was
joking e.g. "Halt, who goes there?". I cannot think of any other
candidate words for such an order.
 
> > What other languages have people seen on a standard stop sign?
>
> What I have seen in regulatory literature you can find at:
> <http://homepages.cwi.nl/~***/english/traffic/signs/B.html>.
> I think it is the EU that has additionally regulated that the common
> word to be used was "STOP". (Note that the first sign of that page
> does not yet have the versions with additional wording as used in
> some countries. I have still a lot to add...)

Thanks for that link. I have been to some of those countries that do
not use not use "STOP" but failed to notice it. This is probably
because I have not driven in them. The only non-English stop sign
that I could recall was Thailand where I have driven a lot.

What is used in Spain and Portugal? I have driven there but I don't
recall what is used on the STOP sign.

Seán O'Leathlóbhair

Quantcast