rumble strip

[Jonathan Lighter]

I.

And what do you call that security device that shreds your tires if you try
driving over it without push-button authorization?

II.
And how come the Eskimos know 217 different words for snow and most of us
don't even know one word to describe some of these too-familiar items?  Are
we that deep in denial?

JL

On Mon, May 2, 2011 at 3:06 PM, Alice Faber <faber at haskins.yale.edu> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Alice Faber <faber at HASKINS.YALE.EDU>
> Organization: Haskins Laboratories
> Subject:      Re: rumble strip
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On 5/2/11 11:44 AM, Joan H. Hall wrote:
> > I know them as "rumble strips."
> >
> > While we are on the subject; what is the term for the rough roadway
> > that generates an infernal racket when a car approaches a toll booth?
>
> Those are the ones I think of as rumble strips. I'm not sure what I'd
> call the rough stuff designed to keep you from drifting off the road.
>
> --
> ========================================================================
> Alice Faber                                       faber at haskins.yale.edu
> Haskins Laboratories                            tel: (203) 865-6163 x258
> New Haven, CT 06511 USA                               fax (203) 865-8963
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