speed humps

[Jonathan Lighter]

The following went to Michael alone, but it was meant for everyone:

My estimate is that the speed humps I met with were about three feet wide.

I can recall hearing the designation "sleeping policeman" only once in my
life, in NYC in the early 1970s.  It sounded very affected and cumbersome.

JL

On Sun, May 1, 2011 at 11:31 PM, paul johnson <paulzjoh at mtnhome.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       paul johnson <paulzjoh at MTNHOME.COM>
> Subject:      Re: speed humps
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> paul johnson
> Doesn't anyone else remember deadmen?
> Or sleeping policemen
> although Speed Hump does remind me of my youth.
>
> On 5/1/2011 10:06 PM, victor steinbok wrote:
> > In one of Boulder environs, I saw a sign that simply read "HUMP". Since
> it
> > did not have an exclamation point, I had assumed that this was not an
> > imperative. Indeed, about 50 yards further, there was a speed bump
> (unlike
> > other parts of the country, around there, the speed-bumps are actually
> > trenches, which is, perhaps, why they did not want to call it a "bump").
> In
> > other parts these are "bumps". I don't recall which specific municipality
> > decided to come up with its own version. But this is not universal, as
> > in Lafayette, CO, these are tagged as "DIP". I suppose, this is more
> > appropriate.
> >
> > Not sure where I saw "SPEED HUMPS", but, if IIRC these were the wider
> > variety that you may see on Milvia in Berkeley (~8 ft wide) rather than
> in
> > your average shopping mall parking lot (2-3 ft wide).
> >
> > VS-)
> >
> > On Sun, May 1, 2011 at 6:55 PM, Jonathan Lighter<wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com
> >wrote:
> >
> >> While driving in an unfamiliar part of town this week, my glance fell
> upon
> >> a
> >> roadside sign advertising
> >>
> >> SPEED HUMPS
> >>
> >> Naturally I assumed I'd strayed into a demi-monde area. But imagine my
> >> chagrin when I found that the sign was merely warning motorists against
> >> what
> >> us regular people call "speed bumps."
> >>
> >> It was an official municipal-type sign, too.
> >>
> >> JL
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