This is the warning in the parking lot at Stone Zoo:
"No live parking? What's that?" I asked The Boy.
"Dunno," he said. "Maybe it means no tailgating."
I had to search around online before I discovered it meant "no sitting in the parking lot with the engine running."
In other words, no idling.
Why couldn't they just say that? It's a much more common phrase. A Google search shows 93,000 results for "no idling," but only 30 for "no live parking." And they were almost all in Massachusetts, so it's obviously a regionalism (and therefore the logical wording to post at a location that may attract out-of-state visitors).
Copyeditor General's ruling: make sure your audience understands what you're trying to tell them.
Sigh.
On the other hand, I did get this fabulous shot of the jaguar:
Hey, I have one of those at home:
2 comments:
I saw the 'No live parking' sign at the stone pond as well. Thanks for posting its meaning.
I was just at the Stone Zoo on Sunday with my family and we all had the same question about the sign. I even sent some pictures to friends. One of them responded "Because that's the zombie parking lot, live parking is on the other side." Haha. I was just about to post the pic to my FB and see what kind of responses I get. I figured a google search couldn't hurt. I must tell you though, in regards to it being regional, my brother-in-law is a native of Mass and he also had no idea what it meant. we all had a great laugh over it anyway. Don't know how effective the signs will be for them if no one knows the meaning. At any rate, thanks for clearing up the confusion. =)
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