ix900@sdccs6.UUCP (03/06/84)
I recently flew on a United Airlines plane, and noticed something of linguistic interest on the emergency instructions card. One of the illustrations shows people leaving the airplane through the emergency exits and sliding down the inflatable ramps attached to them. Underneath was this instruction: Run to clear area Corra hacia el area libre Courir pour degager l'endroit You'll notice that the telegraphic style of the English instruction has created an ambiguity reflected in the two translations. The Spanish says "Run to the clear area," while the French says "Run to clear the area." (There is a Japanese translation also; it would be interesting to know how it reads.) This failure on the airline's part to communicate its precise intention would be more serious if the phrase "to clear area" really meant anything. In fact, anybody looking at the picture understands perfectly well what is being communicated: "Get the hell away from the airplane, and move it so that the next guy doesn't land on top of you!" The card might just as well have said simply "Run!" The addition of a rather meaningless phrase has a calmative effect: you are not just running, you are running "to clear area," keeping the purpose of your movement in mind. Here's one case where doublespeak isn't altogether bad. David Sewell University of California, San Diego [...!ucbvax!sdcsvax!]!sdccsu3!sdccs6!ix900