On the Road Again...
So, as I drive, I will generally read street signs. Good thing to do. Helps me get from here to there. Some signs, however, cause me to wish I could raise one eyebrow skeptically. For example:
"Battle Creek River"
Um... Identity crisis here? Or is it merely a creek with hopes of someday becoming a river? We may never know.
"Covert Road"
Now, perhaps I misunderstand the meaning of "covert." I have always thought that something wishing to be covert (an operation of some type, perhaps) would do well not to advertise.
And you will be glad to know that the fabled "Huggy Bear Motel" seems to be doing well since my post last summer. It has a nice, new, shiny sign with a picture of what I can only assume to be a Huggy Bear on it. Well, it looks pretty huggy to me. :)
posted by Jeanine @ 8/07/2007 05:56:00 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
Well, you seem in a good mood! My favorite sign is one I see nearly every day, "Lane ends, merge left." Normally, unremarkable. but with a picture showing the *left* lane ending and the right lane continuing, it's worth a giggle.
Considering how many miles I covered that week, much of which was on the same stretch of otherwise unremarkable highway, I thought it worth the effort to find the fun in the journey. :) I'm still partial to the "Don't drive on shoulder" signs, with the helpful arrow for clarification. Especially the one where the arrow points horizontally.
Out here we have "Do not drive into smoke" signs. What are we going to do? Stop on the turnpike and wait for smoke to pass over the road? Or if they're referring to something more specific, why don't they say it?
covert (n): 1. A covering; esp., a place that covers and protects; a shelter. 2. A thicket affording cover for game.
--Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary.
This elevated, straight, highway-esque road fulfilled none of Webster's definitions, though perhaps it had done in the past. Really, I think a name change is in order!
Given you part of the country, and the fact that, at least at one time, fox hunting flourished there, I rather suspect that the name has its origins in that sport. As the learned whw pointed out, one definition is that of a thicket. It is my understanding that "gone to ground" means to have entered a den; "gone to covert" means lost in a thicket where dogs cannot follow.
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