01-04-2012, 09:25 PM
On dictionary.com it is listed as definition number 6. However it only list it as "median strip" with no definition. You have to click on it to get the definition. It is also a fairly new usage,starting around 1940, which was around the same time that the divided road came into existence. I think it may be an American thing, still it is a common usage here. When I am reading someone who is British, I am aware they may use words and phrases with which I am unfamiliar, or in different ways than I have known them to be used.
"I would wish for clarification of parts of a poem which are gibberish to me....not clarification of what a poem 'means'.....that is for me to ponder on."
One of the reason I harp on clarity, and about not introducing unnecessary ambiguity, is we do not have instant feedback as we do in verbal speech. In the real world, all the reader has is the text. He does not have the option to ask for clarification. That is who we should have in mind when we write, It is very dangerous to fall into the trap of writing for the people on the web site.
"I would wish for clarification of parts of a poem which are gibberish to me....not clarification of what a poem 'means'.....that is for me to ponder on."
One of the reason I harp on clarity, and about not introducing unnecessary ambiguity, is we do not have instant feedback as we do in verbal speech. In the real world, all the reader has is the text. He does not have the option to ask for clarification. That is who we should have in mind when we write, It is very dangerous to fall into the trap of writing for the people on the web site.
How long after picking up the brush, the first masterpiece?
The goal is not to obfuscate that which is clear, but make clear that which isn't.
The goal is not to obfuscate that which is clear, but make clear that which isn't.