Blog Archives - Reading the Signs

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New name for street

27/2/2015

Sitting across the road drinking my morning coffee, I have had time to contemplate the signage on the Spice House.

I always knew the street as Bridge Street – as the streetsign reads. As it links St. Patrick’s Bridge and St. Patrick’s Hill, one can understand why some might think it is St. Patrick's Bridge Street.

I wonder if this sign will lead to the street being called a new name. Could it happen? How long would this take to become the norm?

If one or two more premises put up their address with the new name…….

If……

Easy to recognise that I have a large coffee in the morning.

The Lineout

27/2/2015

Not an advertisement for a shopping powder.

During the summer, I was travelling to Athlone and had to stop when I saw this outside Roscrea.

Straight out of the washing powder advertisement, but also a sign that a community spirit and doing it for the club does exist is at least one location.

Discrimination in Dingle

26/2/2015

The owners of the shop, Finn McCool’s, thought that they were deserving of an apostrophe.

They also granted an apostrophe to ‘men’.

‘Ladies’ were not so honoured.

If you know why, you know more than me……..

You might also know why the extra ‘l’ in ‘apparel’…..

Seeds & Manure

26/2/2015

I am close to finishing Peig (as Béarla). Leaving the coffee shop this morning, I got talking to CC about it being a record of social history – of a time past.

Then I saw a picture on the front of The Irish Examiner of a family in 1991 kneeling to say the rosary at home. The image was by Richard Fitzgerald and features in a spread in US Black & White Photography magazine. It reminded of a discussion with a, now retired, friend who said that when he married, he and his wife knelt to recite the rosary before entering the matrimonial bed – another prod towards a history of times past.

Then when tidying up my record of photographs, I remembered this recently taken in Cloyne. Similar to the Horse Repository, I really like the old plaster moulded signs as they survive well beyond the trade or activity ceases – more record of social history.

I cannot imagine any retail company surviving now specialising in seeds and manure but maybe it is just not my market……

Pumps

25/2/2015

A while back, Ian’s blog reminded me of old petrol pumps, Sine then, I have recorded the few that I have come across – in varying stages of neglect. And one unusual installation at Begley’s Forge.

MeticulousMick’s update today prompted a picture gallery.

Whitebeam v. White Beam

23/2/2015

With thanks to POF who spotted this on travels

A Whitebeam is a small deciduous tree. Its name in Latin is Sorbus Alia.

It translates into Irish as Fionncholl – except when it is used in a streetname.

Whitbeam Road is off Clashduv Road in Cork .

I suspect that the translator of the streetname may not have had an interest in plants and horticulture. A space has been introduced to create a translation of ‘White Beam’.

According to Logainm.ie, Whitebeam Road/Avenue exist also in Dublin and Athlone – and they all have introduced the gap in translation.

“Bíoma” appears to relate to a beam for a ship or construction whereas a beam of light appears to be “léas” or “ga”.

After mentally reconciling all of this theory, I came across Foclóir.ie which has “Bíoma bán” for “Whitebeam” – another hurdle to be crossed in attempts to improve one’s Irish.

I wonder if this inclusion in Foclóir.ie prompted the translations of the streets or whether it was a legitimisation of them……..

“bán adjective

graded báine, plural bána

white

dubh agus bán black and white “

Pota-Focal

“1 noun piece of wood, metal etcbíoma masc4 c m usail fem2 c m uwooden beam bíoma adhmaid

2 noun PHYS line of light etcléas masc1 c m uga masc4 c m ubeam of sunlight ga gréine”

Pota-Focal

“bíoma, m. (gs. ~, pl. ~í). 1. Beam. ~ meá, bar of balance. ~ trasna, cross-beam. H-, I-, T-, bhíoma, H-, I-, T-, beam. Nau: An ghaoth ar a ~, the wind on her beam. ~ fir, huge, tall, man. 2. Bot: ~ bán, whitebeam.”

Foclóir.ie

An Acknowledgement

22/2/2015

Acknowledgemen Cards

I would have thought that, of all enterprises, a printing company would be one of the most diligent with regard to spelling, grammar and proofreading.

Obviously, I was wrong.

PrintSave have opened recently on Cornmarket St – I hope that they have a spare ‘t’ hanging around. I suspect that every time I head to the Coal Quay Saturday Market, I will be looking o see if the ‘t’ has been added.

Blind Leading the Blind….

21/2/2015

I always understood that Braille was for those without sight or of partial sight.

This sign is at the offices of the Revenue Commissioners in Cork.

I took the photograph earlier this week and since then I have failed to come up with any reason for inclusion of the words ‘BRAILLE SECTION’. I did an image search on ‘Braille Signs’ and could find any with the words ‘BRAILLE SECTION’.

If someone cannot read ‘POST’ they will most likely be unable to read the smaller printed ‘BRAILLE SECTION’. If someone can read the word ‘POST’, they do not need to read ‘BRAILLE SECTION’.

If a blind person is accompanied by a fully-sighted person, will the fully-sighted person say aloud the message on the sign or would he tell the blind person as to the location of the BRAILLE SECTION so the blind person can read himself. This latter option is the only reason for the words ‘BRAILLE SECTION’ that I can imagine.

Renew or Change?

20/2/2015

Many will walk past this van parked in Patrick’s Street and not even notice.

Many more may just glance at the name.

I am well used to being in a minority. I am in the (very) small group that slows or stops to actually read signwriting on vans and trucks.

I did pause at this van longer than I generally do. I was wondering:

ANY – Is ‘any hard surfaces’ correct? It doesn’t sound correct to me. I would have thought ‘any hard surface’ sounded better. The web has thrown up exceptions but that both singular and plural may be correct. Something new learnt.

CARPET – I would never have considered carpet to be a hard surface.

OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE – Maybe I need to take a break from this sign-reading lark…..

More Medical Negligence

19/2/2015

Last Friday was the 13th. Not a day some may select to visit a medical consultant but it was the day that the consultant chose to see me.

Michael Harding - Glór - 19th Feb

18/2/2015

Last year, I received a gift of ‘Staring at Lakes’ by Michael Harding.

JG very much enjoyed his articles in the Irish Times but me purchasing the Irish Times was a victim of the Celtic Corpse, so Staring at Lakes was new to me.

Maybe it was the ‘me’ at the time, but the book really hit home. It shot up the list of favourite books. Nearly a year later, it still remains high up the list.

Dublin Under Attack

18/2/2015

Images of Elsewhere – Page 4

At the weekend, I learnt of this on Rogha Gabriel.

This so captures so many of my likes – public poetry – especially in unexpected places ; improving my Irish; and, what is ignored by many will give thought and me-time to a few.

Oh to have caught one of the airplane messages………

Trying to Work Out EBS

17/2/2015

I spotted this sign at the weekend and was planning a blog pondering what EBS were asking me to ‘work out’ (as in resolve).

“workout noun a session of physical exercise or training. See also work out (sense 2) at work.”

Chambers Dictionary

“work out 1 to be successfully achieved or resolved • It'll all work out in the end. 2 to perform a set of energetic physical exercises • She's working out at the gym. See also workout.”

Chambers Dictionary

However, I have now learnt that ‘work out’ and ‘workout’ are interchangeable when referring to resolving or calculating. I am not sure if I know of any other word that can be split in two and retain the same meaning. (Note Collins insist on there being a hyphen as ‘work-out’)

It could be argued that the interchangeability is restricted to use as a verb and so EBS’s use is suspect but one would need a more qualified judge than yours truly for that.

Ignoring the Innocent

16/2/2015

John Spiers               Thomas Perrott            James Byrne             Charles Penrose Johnston

William Finn            May Hall                       William Donoghue

Sean Hegarty           John Sisk                        Richard Arthur

If only I could communicate in numbers.

15/2/2015

No Such Thing as Bad Publicity - Chapter 23

My mind is mathematically trained.

What is right is always right. What is wrong is always wrong. There is little room for exceptions .

Yesterday, I waffled on about anomalies and exceptions in the use of Irish. Later, I spotted this new van with sign-writing that didn’t sit right with me.