ix900@sdccs6.UUCP (David Sewell) (02/06/84)
I had a stopover in the Dallas - Fort Worth airport recently, and saw
this message imprinted on the horizontal metal bar going across an
emergency exit door:
A L A R M E D E X I T
The alarm box on the door facilitated the interpretation of this curious
new meaning of "alarm" (v.), but I was amused nevertheless. Is this a
Texan bid for linguistic independence, or have any of you seen this
usage elsewhere?
David Sewell
University of California, San Diego
[...!ucbvax!sdcsvax!]!sdccsu3!sdccs6!ix900smeier@ihuxt.UUCP (S. Meier) (02/06/84)
.....
About a year ago, at the Computer Science building at USC, a large red
sign appeared on one door which read:
``THIS DOOR IS ALARMED!''
Everyone had a good laugh, wondering what event could be so shocking as
to alarm a door. After about a month, the sign disappeared.
S.Meier (ihnp4!ihuxt!smeier)grw@fortune.UUCP (Glenn Wichman) (02/06/84)
Out here in California, I have even seen signs saying: WARNING! DOOR IS ALARMED! I guess doors become unpredictable when startled. -Glenn
ntt@dciem.UUCP (Mark Brader) (02/08/84)
"Alarmed door" (which I've also seen) isn't a new usage of the verb "alarm"; "-ed" can also turn nouns into adjectives, as in "man is a two-legged animal". Mark Brader