August 4, 2011

Words, Words, Words

Dwight Garner writes about the uses of communications in today's New York in "The Words We Live By," a column in the August 3rd New York Times. His tale takes in, among other things, MOMA, the Strand Book Store, a favorite candy emporium, several eateries and a bus; his comments concerning the interactions of words, laws, and deeds are delightful. A sample, from his discussion of a visit to Isaac Bashevis Singer Boulevard.


On that street sign Singer’s name is spelled entirely in capital letters — in all-caps, as word people say. This turned out to be worth noticing. New York City is in the process of eliminating its all-caps street signs; they turn out to be less legible than those in upper- and lower-case. The New York Observer has called this sign-swapping project, due to be completed in 2018, a “$28 million copy edit.”
More here.

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