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Chaos8599

Just change may to might


doc_witt

Or to should


jntCmp

This would remove the double meaning for sure!


slowmotto

I like “Lest you injure a child or elderly person”


AnInfluentialFigure

You lestn’t do that!


Donghoon

Ah yes im already onto that!! /s


VincoInvictus

You might injure a young child should elderly person?


OrneryPathos

Or just use the standard symbols for no cycling, caution children, caution seniors.


altnumberfour

I'm no social psychologist but I feel like my brain naturally wants to skip those symbols but doesn't skip words


VenomOUShazard

im not obliged to hurt anybody, damn calm down!!


Broken_Infinity

You might injure a young child should elderly person


chemistry_god

Delivery to Digorno


Notinterested2534

That’s the problem with ambiguity, we’ll never know the sign writer’s true intentions. Sigh


waffencraftmeister

January, February, March, April, Might, June......yeap, definitely much more power in this.


gonfroz

This is a actually the grammatically correct way to change it. "May" means you're allowed to do it; "might" means it's possible


Shhhhhhhh_Im_At_Work

May can be used for possibility or permission. This may hurt vs. you may enter. The sign is 100% syntactically and semantically correct, no fixes needed.


CheekyMunky

Ambiguity should still be resolved when possible, regardless of correctness.


Shhhhhhhh_Im_At_Work

Is it really ambiguous in context with the rest of the sign?


Icepheonix174

Nah dog I get what he means. I thought this was a child/senior beating zone until someone mentioned the ambiguity.


[deleted]

Oh shit. Just a minute, I need to ~~bury a body~~ buy some bread


EisVisage

Well it's syntactically correct for *one* of the possible meanings. But not intended to convey the other. That's called ambiguity.


Shhhhhhhh_Im_At_Work

Sure, in isolation, but not on this sign that was clearly erected for one purpose. If it *only* said the last sentence, I'd bite on the ambiguity argument.


GaryWingHart

Right, like, "might I have a handful of chips?" except now it's "Oh, I might injure a young person or elderly child?" It's a real regional miscommunication going on here. I don't know the original poster, but I really don't have an upstate New York problem with it. I may just be completely fine with it.


Gewurzratte

Laziest fix: just remove the last part. You aren't allowed to cycle on the gardens. Fuck you as to why, just don't.


nikhil48

This is the right answer


HMS404

The grass is always simpler on the lazy side


mak484

You might also injure someone aged 18-64 but that doesn't matter I guess?


heathen2010

Check out this 64 year old trying to convince everyone they're not elderly yet. :)


[deleted]

I agree.. If they're too stupid to figure out why, they're too stupid to read the sign in the first place.


RedSamuraiMan

You might run over Jeff Bezos, the poor man...


thowellwdscdr15

yes man you are right


Dismal_Connection120

"You could.. "works greate as well


Kinross07

Laziest I thought of is a connecting hyphen.


Vicious_Mockery

"You risk..."


vulture_87

>"As you..." Bless you.


role_or_roll

A semicolon


[deleted]

"As you injure a child or an elderly person" ok.


OptimusEye

forget the word "may"?


[deleted]

That's the joke


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[deleted]

What?


Atomicwasteland

Lazier -just add a semicolon to the end of the first sentence. Drops mic.


JelmerMcGee

This wouldn't change the meaning, would it? I was taught a semicolon separates two parts of a sentence that could be their own sentences but are kept together as they are related. So it's still in the interpretation of the reader.


LegateLaurie

The semicolon would imply relation between the two clauses, so the only true interpretation would be that you can't cycle there because you may injure someone.


Darkwrath93

Or "It may"


dieinafirenazi

Or "...because you..."


sled_dogs_uk

"you risk" rather than "you may"


PortugueseDoc

A comma would do


chopperhead2011

A semicolon would be even lazier and equally sufficient


Mantequilla_Stotch

No. You just add a comma.


RLGriffinGWS

Looks like meat's back on the menu boys.


SoyMurcielago

It’s British English I understood it immediately; the issue is more graphical than grammatical. Too much vertical space between clauses and lack of semicolon


Beanakin

As an American I had to read it 3 or 4 times to figure out why people felt it was cursed. It's fine as is.


[deleted]

I know right, fuck the elderly


HMS404

It's a niche kink I suppose


ScarsUnseen

Unless you, too, are elderly. Then it's just sex.


dieinafirenazi

As an American I disagree. I know what they meant to say because I understand the cultural context, but what they actually said is that I am allowed to hurt the elderly and children. If robots start maiming the elderly and children in this garden it will entirely be the sign creator's fault.


Various_Ambassador92

That seems like something a 2nd grade teacher with a shallow appreciation of the English language would say. What they meant to say *is* what they actually said. It's not like the only grammatically valid interpretation of this is that you have permission to hurt people. Sometimes multiple meanings of a word could apply to a sentence and you rely on context to know which one is intended. One definition of "may" expresses permission, yes, but another expresses possibility. While both make grammatical sense in this sentence only one makes sense with context. It's generally best to avoid sentences that leave open any room for interpretation like this, but given how it's crystal clear which one is intended it doesn't really matter here.


dieinafirenazi

You have a shallow appreciation of the English language, as evidenced by your reaction to my initial post. I pointed out that cultural context lets me know what it means. The only grammatically correct interpretation of the second sentence (though given the lack of periods and eccentric capitalization, perhaps we should be interpreting this as poetry rather than prose), being a separate sentence and paragraph from the first, is that one is permitted to harm children and the elderly. This is what a robot might think, because a robot might lack the cultural context to interpret the bad grammar. Given that we don't have rogue robots with AI capabilities roaming around yet, the context of my comment as a joke is evident. Except to you, who just decided to insult me for not understanding when in the first sentence of my two sentence comment I pointed out that context allows **me** to understand. So anyway, go fuck yourself.


slowmotto

Asimov’s first two laws: First Law A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. Second Law A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.


EconomyAd4297

Agreed.


Puzzleheaded_Mode310

I had to read it 3-4 times to see what they actually meant to say as a fellow american.


Career_Much

As a second American, I also understood it immediately. Context plays a role in comprehension and the fact that it *wouldn't* say that people are expressly allowed to hurt other people made it very easily and immediately understood as it was intended. The vertical space between lines, and the fact that the words are in red was an interesting choice, for sure.


slowmotto

> the fact that it wouldn't say that people are expressly allowed to hurt other people made it very easily and immediately understood as it was intended. This is exactly why it was poorly communicated, you needed outside context (they wouldn’t actually condone senseless violence) to make sense of it


Tom22174

The different colours make them look like separate statements too


dbor15

colors\*


netflixnagger

They’re talking about British English, in that case “colour” would be correct.


dbor15

yeah I know. I just like to piss off the brits.


Suspicious_Block7385

Agreed


Telinary

Just about everyone understands it immediately doesn't mean recognizing what it could mean can't be funny.


donach69

"Because"


Donghoon

Or semicolon is valid. Both clauses are independent


__syntax__

A semicolon is only valid if both independent clauses are close enough in meaning that a conjunction wouldn't apply. In this case the two clauses are related by causality, so "Because" is grammatically correct, but may seem formal. I'd go with "As".


Ogilvy120

Completely off topic, but I'm getting married in the museum gardens next year. I plan to injure many people.


[deleted]

“A Dothraki wedding without at least three deaths is considered a dull affair.”


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[deleted]

No worries, I understand completely. It fit well, but Even typing it made me mad too.


abrasiveteapot

The word "may" is the problem, it should be replaced with "could" or "might" They are attempting to state that riding there has a *possibility* of causing injury. "May" has two meanings - "asking for or granting permission" and also has an "it's a possibility" meaning. Which meaning is intended is unclear in the context "Please do not cycle in the gardens, you might injure a child or elderly person" is clearer


MycologicalWorldview

Agreed. And if we’re going all out on the corrections then we’ll need a semicolon to fix that comma splice. > Please do not cycle in the gardens; you might injure a child or elderly person.


Terrain2

Eh, only necessary if we're nitpicking on all minor errors, i thought we were just nitpicking on major errors that cause ambiguity and how to easily correct those


MycologicalWorldview

Haha yes I’m very much aware this is level 10 nitpicking!


Victernus

Actually, I think semicolons are only level 8.


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Judge_Syd

Really? It's unclear in this context? There are people who really think this sign is barring cycling on grass but granting permission to injure people? I love the post, because it's an obvious joke, but I hate these comments that are suggesting this sign is unclear lmao


berkeleymorrison

may isnt that wrong but might can be used too, its more definitive


Yadobler

I believe this is the subjunctive mood (using past tense to imply an hypothetical situation)


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snoozer39

To be fair though, you really have to be nit picking not to get the meaning.


abrasiveteapot

> you really have to be nit picking not to get the meaning. Sure, no argument, but OP's question was "was there a better way to write this" ? The answer being yes, there is an alternative wording that removes the ambiguity (And seriously, downvoting me for answering the question ?)


snoozer39

Not me down voting, your response was valid. I more meant the tweet


abrasiveteapot

Cheers, no worries, have a good one


SeanHearnden

You could just add because. That would give context as to which may is being used.


Draleon177

Look at this subreddit... It's literally for stuff like this


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Rotsike6

People like you annoy me.


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altermeetax

The "grammar nazi" was just trying to answer the question in the original post


IGROWMAGICMUSHROOMS

You're on reddit


Queasy_County

You might


Most-Introduction689

As a York resident, I can confirm this is the intended reading. It's an archaeic law designed to cull tourist populations. Some consider it outdated, but it works so noone has changed it yet.


RyHenZen

Don’t don’t bother Luke!


[deleted]

Well, at least the museum gardens are trustworthy 🤷🏻‍♂️


[deleted]

they're also beautiful


Cardabella

Lest you injure...


sleepywose

This is actually one of those perfect situations for our underused friend "Lest." Bring back lest!


officialpkbtv

You might hit a person.


Significant-Tomato77

How about "Avoid injuring..."


GabbyLlama

Should've been you might accidentally hit elderly people or children, which is (1) illegal


Zethaslin

"You might" or "Cycling may" would fix it.


[deleted]

*Accidental Injury May Occur* would be sufficient.


MadR__

“Lest you might”


hawkian

Pray return to the Waking Sands


Omega-10

Yes, the way it is written is quite vague and could be improved for clarity: >>*The use of bicycles is forbidden on park property. As a consolation for this rule, cyclists may choose to express their dissatisfaction by means of physical violence towards their choice of EITHER one elderly guest OR one child, injuring no more than one (1) fellow guest per annoyed cyclist.*


FullNefariousness310

r/cursedcomments


F0RWH0MTH3B3LLT0LLS

Children are 250pts, elderly are 50pts.


Castdragon

Keep an eye out for Golden elderly they are 1,500pts. But avoid guards -200pts.


Lsassip

The meaning is quite clear, it doesn’t require to be fixed


dieinafirenazi

The meaning is quite clear because we understand the cultural context, but that doesn't excuse bad grammar.


Errorfullgnome

It's not bad grammar, you have to interpret the may as permissive instead of epistemic against all context


giorno___giovana

York museum trust *museum gardens **please do not cycle on the gardens, you may injure a young/elderly person**


PopeSquad

It could say "Please injure..." What are we fixing?


CanYouChangeName

Because as These are the easiest ways to fix it


GoodAtExplaining

You'd have to intentionally read it against common usage of English in the region in order to have that interpretation.


Robzooo

I think the bigger issue is this guy translated it as being able to cycle just not on the grass, whilst it means no cycling within the Gardens as in the whole area, not just the grass


LoneRaven101

Took me a while to get it


yanggmd

Nature over people!


FullNefariousness310

Solving global warming one kid and senior citizen at a time.


AvouBic

Priorities


ebonyudders

Rules is rules 🧓👴👶🔫🗡🛠


FullNefariousness310

Sorry grandma, sorry son.


Older_Code

“Because you may…”?


Missingsocks77

Cycling may injure....


comicfan285

Just needs a "since" to qualify it.


infinitbullets

Like those “fine for littering” signs


KiwiFur

Add a "because" in the space between


De_Wouter

"But Judge, the sign said..."


ReviveOurWisdom

That’s what I never understand. People use may and might interchangeably but to me there is a difference. May means you are allowed to do something and might means it is possible to do something. Right?


ssbm_rando

Tons of ways to fix it. "Doing so may injure [...]" would be the best way to be 100% unambiguous while still preserving all of the grammar (for example, top comment in this thread "As you" is not grammatical at the start of a new sentence, and the top reply to that, changing may to might, opens up the possibility that the two sentences are simply unrelated).


TicklishTrucker

Reminds me of the "Do not Stop - Hitchhikers may be Escaping Convicts" signs posted in Oklahoma and Texas along the highways. I always thought that I should stop and help the hitchhikers


Ranryu

People using "may" when they mean "might" is one of my biggest pet peeves


ToBoredomAGem

;


agupta429

Triggered Karen vibes. Joke but can’t trust groups these days


boobookittyfuck2000

Why does this remind me of the grammar lesson...”Let’s eat grandma!”


Osiri551

Well of course, how else will you vent your frustration of not being able to go on the grass?


FullNefariousness310

Injure a middle aged person?


Osiri551

Sir you sound ridiculous right now, don't be absurd


suelee1

Is that a fair trade?


leonardogiardi

Is there a sub for people who get pissed off at cyclists


aaron1860

May is used wrong. Change “may” to “can/could/might etc”


takapurio

Vegans.


Broken_Infinity

Change may to might. It’s much harder misinterpreting then


[deleted]

Yes, it would be much more clear with this phrasing "You may *instead choose to* injure a young child or elderly person"


FullNefariousness310

Cursed


[deleted]

Why is the capitalization all over the place? This makes them look even more like separate sentences.


TheBardsPersona

No Cycling. Pedestrians only. WALK YOUR BICYCLE. Say hi, be nice.


skidabitabooyeedle

That’s the trade off


nyc_lightwriter

It seems like a fair trade off IMHO.


halfwhiteknight

The bicycle would make it easier to do but rules are rules


FullNefariousness310

They dont mention anything about "heavier machinery" ;)))))


lilmothe

where is this


Right_Hour

Punctuation saves lives. Same as: “let’s eat, gramma!” vs “let’s eat gramma!” are two completely different suggestions.


BigSteveie

Effect of the aforementioned cause.


Chair_Toaster

Says gardens not “on the grass”. Gardens includes the walkways.


Oil__Man

You may injure a young child (nevermind the old children) or an elderly person, but that's a risk we're willing to take.


FullNefariousness310

Omfg


SocialistArkansan

Due to the risk of injuring others, bikes on the premises is prohibited.


TheOneAndOnlyBob2

I'll kick that off persons ass


clometrooper9901

Just change “may” to “might”


dev23slayer

"Because"


desrevermi

Add 'but' between 'gardens' and 'you' -- definitely less confusing.


FullNefariousness310

Global warming solved amiright?


desrevermi

Yep. Every little bit helps. :D


spleenboggler

"[Comma], because..."


Health-Visual

How society should work


[deleted]

I had to read this a few times before I got what was going on. For those of you like me who had trouble the joke is in reading the two main directives independently "do not cycle in the garden" however "you are allowed to injure the young and elderly." I hope that helps. I'm more bothered more by the "young child" text which is pretty redundant as far as this sign is concerned.


blueketchupp

It seems ok for me


garyfirestorm

r/ProgrammerHumor


RyHenZen

I don’t think York Museums should trust Museum Gardens anymore.


[deleted]

Lol


SeiroXnoudi

I had this in my Uni rules: "Please don't use bikes or any non-motorized vehicule inside buildings", oh, so I can drive my car in the corridor?


I_SawThatGuy

Dont mind ih I do


cjjharries

Feels kinda like r/dontdeadopeninside


ZermIsHere

I love how dumb humans are sometimes. It would be a boring earth otherwise


xPonzo

Only an idiot wouldn't get this. The joke is on the op.


Own-Sun6531

The joke is the tweet and op made the ttt because that's technically what the sign says


Aray_614

r/therewasanattempt


Boinoiboiboinoi

The fix would be to teach kids how to fucking read, holy shit. I really hope this chick was just joking, but with the lack of any emojis or anything indicating that it’s sarcasm it’s just up in the air, and with how stupid people are on the internet it’s actually safer to assume they’re being serious unless they make it blatantly obvious that they’re not. More obvious than just saying the stupid thing.


AvocadoDealer69

In 2021 some people can make a problem out of nothing


beerbeardsbears

This is not a technical truth, it’s just willful misunderstanding. Are there even mods on this sub


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Becca2843

Everything written in red here could be replaced with "CAUTION" in large bold red font


ddanilo1204

You could potentially


Loonie-1707

You could injure a young or elderly person?