lgb

POTD: Which Side Are You On?

/ Leave a Comment

Which Side Are You On?
Nogales, Arizona
2022

Walking around Nogales, Arizona I realized, that not much seems to distinguish one side of the border from the other, at least language-wise. Wandering into a store invariably produced the greeting “hola”, with the staff quickly switching to English if I answered “hello.” Probably the same thing happens on the other side of the border, although I’ve not been there for almost 50 years. But I imagine if you drugged me and dropped me in the area without knowing which side of the fence I was on, it would take me a while to figure it out.

Another question of interest: is it more correct to say “which side of the border” or “what side of the border”? I believe in this instance “which” is correct, but there is strangely sparse advice on the issue compared to other grammar questions on the internet.

POTD: Which Side Are You On? Read More »

POTD: Get It to Go

/ Leave a Comment

Get It to Go
Rawlins, Wyoming
2022

I thought the tag line on this old gas pump was a pretty clever play on words–a very literal meaning of the term getting something to go. Not only are you going to take the gas with you (of course) but also, if you don’t get it, you can’t go! I also though it was interesting to see the big “at” symbol on a gas pump that clearly predates it’s internet ubiquity by multiple decades. It’s been a while since gas pumps only allowed gas prices less than a dollar a gallon and registered total sale amounts under $10. This pump is not longer in use but some similar ones are. We filled up our campervan at the only diesel fuel pump in Zortman, Montana last month. It was a very antiquated pump, not as old as this one but with similar limitations. As a result, neither the price per gallon or the total price were displayed correctly–only the total gallons purchased were (as long as it was less than 100 gallons). Some arithmetic was required to arrive at the cost we had to pay.

POTD: Get It to Go Read More »