Taking a Stroll

3May2006

There are several recurring themes I have noticed whilst I am here in California.

One of the main ones is the proclamation everywhere – PED XING. There are two things I can say about this:

1) It shows the American penchant for distilling the English language down to its lowest level

2) It’s completely redundant, because everyone here drives, so you very rarely see PEDs XING any street, and even though there are sidewalks everywhere, no-one walks.

10 Responses to “Taking a Stroll”

  1. haha, i somehow guessed you were irish. the ped xing thing, i always thought was the fault of those china men in america…

  2. I remember being in Los Angeles as a kid and seeing a sign for a mattress store called “Sleep-E-Z”. I couldn’t figure out what Sleep EEE ZED could have to to with beds.
    More recently, I was in NC and wondered why one would call a fast food restaurant Chick Fill Ahh. The sign of course was spelt “Chik-Fil-A”.

    Maybe the price of gas in CA now will result in a lot more PED’s XING. Remember to tell folks over there that we pay about $6.50 per US gallon here in sunny BDA.

  3. LOL

    I love the irony.

    Are you really Irish?

  4. … you wish … ;-)

  5. These proclamations are interesting in magazins with crosswords and similar mind games – rebus(?) I think they are called. Other uses fall short I think. Don’t U2?!

  6. Wow I’ve lived here for 6 years and never noticed! Ped Xing. How clever.

  7. It took me the longest time to uderstand what those english meant with this xing thing everywhere. I finally asked and those guys did they laugh!

  8. How many people do you think are reading this going “Ped Xing”? What the heck is that? But are just to embarrassed to ask?

    …

    So, like uhhh… what is a Ped Xing?

  9. Oh come on Dr. Bob. You know peds, those little socks they give you in the shoe store to put on to protect the shoe from smelling like feet before anyone even buys them.
    Right?

  10. ana – not irish, but born on St. Paddy’s day, 50% Scottish, 50% English

    gdv – yes, I just filled up with gas, and it was only $60 in my huge rental car. That’s as much as it is in BDA for my rollerskate

    doo dah – see above

    e.i. – even worse, you also see cows xing and sheep xing signs here

    sportychick/sio bd – it took me a second or two to figue it, especially as often you see it as you are driving, so you see XING then PED

    dr. bob – Pedestrian Crossing

    allykay – ha ha

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