Paintball Gun Prohibition

Recently, I was surprised to find this sign posted at my neighborhood park: "Paintball gun activities prohibited."

What can be inferred from this message? What does infer mean?  It means 'guess' or 'figure out from some kind of evidence' the meaning of something else.

First, what is the key word in this sign? How do we know it's the most important word? The sign is printed in black on white, but one word stands out because it is written in larger and thicker letters (= in bold type or 'bolded'). That word is 'PROHIBITED.'

Second, what do you think it means? Since this sign hangs below the city's regulations sign, 'prohibited' probably has something to do with the law. It's a long word (four syllables, like 'regulations'). In addition, this sign has the words 'gun activities.' Most people fear guns and gun use, especially in a city park. If you know what a paintball gun is - even if you think it's a kind of 'play-gun,' you know that balls of paint make a mess! One time use of paintball guns will create paint stains on the grass, plants, picnic tables, sand, and dirt that will make the park unusable for families with little children and destroy the natural appearance of this outdoor space.

Therefore, imagining this, do you think 'prohibited' is a word that is positive or negative in meaning? The construction of the word could be confusing because the 'pro' to many Americans means 'to be for' something or to support it. For example, if someone says they are pro-immigrant, it means that they are supportive of immigrants and immigrant rights. However, in this context, prohibit means 'to hold back.' (to be for holding back). The legal explanation for this regulation is given below.

"Under California law, paintball guns fall under the banner of "imitation firearms," along with BB guns, pellet guns and toy guns. ... Therefore all laws applicable to this broad category of firearm are applicable to paintball fans and their paintball activities." from the Legal Beagle.

If you guessed or inferred that prohibited  has a negative meaning and that you should NOT shoot a paintball gun at this public park, you are correct!  Paintball gun use is banned from any city open space.  

Signs that fail to warn

Recently my husband and I were taking a short hike in Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve and were surprised to find this cautionary sign. I wondered if a non-native speaker would understand that this is a warning sign of what lies ahead for a visitor or if (s)he would recognize the meaning of steep stone steps.

Why write a warning sign as a tongue twister? What are tongue twisters? Every language has them. They are often poems or lines with combinations of words that are difficult to say in quick succession, such as "She sells seashells by the seashore." In the example above, after the number "118," there are three words all beginning with the two-letter combination of "st" (steep, stone, and steps).  Try to say these three words as quickly as possible. Here you have a sign written as a tongue-twister.

The important part of the sign, however, comes at the end "proceed with care." It is great to have fun with native speakers visiting the park, but what about the non-native speaker who fails to understand that this is a warning sign to be cautious or careful? I think it fails.

My Life As a Cra_?

Often the way students spell words is directly connected to the way that they pronounce the words. In this case, a German-speaking student could not hear the difference between the unvoiced and voiced final consonants, 'p' and 'b.' Consequently, the title of the student's essay unintentionally created the image of dog poop when she had been carefully observing a crab. Although German does have most of the same consonants as English, when the voiced consonants come at the end of a word, they are often cut short so that a 'd' sounds nearly identical to a 't'. The more that you know about the language background of your students, the better you can anticipate some of their errors.