Free Seating

I was wondering, what's a "Free Seating" sign doing here in a food centre? Isn't it universally understood that we can sit at any table that we want at a food centre, without having to be assigned to a table? And so I snapped a picture of it. Haha.

I looked up "free" as an adjective in the Longman Web Dictionary. And wow, there are 19 definitions for "free"! Haha.

free
1. something that is free does not cost you any money
2. not held, tied up, or kept somewhere as a prisoner
3. allowed to do or say whatever you want, or allowed to happen, without being controlled or restricted by anyone or anything
4. if you are free, or have some free time, you have no work, and nothing else that you must do
5. something that is free is available to use because it is not already being used
6. not suffering from something
7. not containing something
8. if something is free of tax, you do not have to pay tax on it
9. used to tell someone that they can do something (feel free)
10. relaxed, friendly, and without many rules (free and easy)
11. someone who lives as they want to rather than in the way that society considers normal (free spirit)
12. to let someone do whatever they want or need to do in a particular situation (give somebody a free hand/rein)
13. used to say that you should not expect to get something good without having to pay for it or make any effort (there's no free lunch)
14. used, usually humorously, to say that you are or should be allowed to do something, after someone has said that you should not do it (it's a free country, British English)
15. to get something without paying for it or working for it, because other people are paying or working for it (get/take a free ride, informal)
16. to be very generous with something (be free with something)
17. to use something that belongs to someone else when you should not (make free with something)
18. something that is free is not held, blocked, or restricted
19. a free chemical substance is not combined with any other substance (technical)

Out of all the 19 definitions, I guess only meanings No. 1 and No. 3 are relevant in this context. Yes, we can also take the sign to mean that we do not have to pay to sit at a table at the food centre. But isn't this "universal knowledge" too? Haha. And yes, the sign can also mean that we have the choice to sit at any table that we want at the food centre. =)

You've Got Mail!

Oops! The comic doesn't seem to be very clear again. Haha. But just click on it for a clearer picture! =)

When the computer told Jason's dad that he'd "got mail", he thought that he had received letters in his mailbox, and so he went out of the house to open his mailbox, but did not find any letters. And so he came back, thinking that the computer had lied to him about receiving new mail, when there weren't any.

The word "mail" is lexically primed for Jason's dad only as letters in the mailbox, and not as email in his inbox. But "mail" is primed for Jason as email, since he was attempting to explain the situation to his dad in the last panel.

I looked "mail" up in Dictionary.com, and found that "email" is listed as one of the meanings too! (Meaning No. 5)

1. letters, packages, etc., that are sent or delivered by means of the postal system: Storms delayed delivery of the mail.
2. a single collection of such letters, packages, etc., as sent or delivered: to open one's mail; to find a bill in the mail; The mail for England was put on the noon plane.
3. Also, mails. the system, usually operated or supervised by the national government, for sending or delivering letters, packages, etc.; postal system: to buy clothes by mail.
4. a train, boat, etc., as a carrier of postal matter.
5. electronic mail; e-mail.

I checked Longman Web Dictionary, and "messages that are sent and received on a computer" is listed as one of the meanings too.

Luckily "mail" is lexically primed for me as email too. Haha. =P

N.E.mation!

Saw this doorknob hanger when I was on the bus on my way to school. The word "N.E.mation" caught my eye, and so I reached up and plucked the doorknob hanger from the bus railing above.

It says "N.E.mation! 4", and "Why I Care about Singapore" below, and so if you look at it, you'll know that it's something to do with National Education, and that "N.E." stands for National Education. If you flip behind, it says that "N.E.mation! 4 is an animation competition for students".

If you say "N.E.mation" fast, linking the "N" and "E" together, and not pronouncing "N" and "E" separately, "N.E.mation" will become "animation"! I find this tagline rather cute and creative. Haha. =)

I did a Google search for "N.E.mation", and all that was churned out was information regarding this particular animation competition. So I guess the word "N.E.mation" is only used exclusively in this case.

Rather creative, ehh? =)

Cooked Food Centre

I saw this sign post at the food centre near my house, and snapped a picture of it! The words "Cooked Food Centre" caught my eye. Of course of course, there's nothing seriously wrong with it. However, on second glance, it occurred to me that "Cooked Food Centre" can have two meanings! The first meaning is that this is a food centre where cooked food is sold. This is when the adjective "cooked" modifies the noun "food", to give "cooked food", and "centre" is added at the back of "cooked food", to mean a food centre where cooked food is sold. It was mentioned in class that "shopping centre" is a quasi-phraseme. So I guess "cooked food centre" is a quasi-phraseme too.

"Cooked Food Centre" can have another meaning too! It can mean a food centre that is cooked. HAHA. But of course, this is not the intended meaning of "Cooked Food Centre". In this case, "food" and "centre" form a compound first, and then the adjective "cooked" modifies the compound "food centre". This would give the meaning of a food centre that is cooked.

If a person is not lexically primed to recognise the words "cooked food" (perhaps the person only eats food that is raw), he/she will not have any idea what "Cooked Food Centre" means.

The phrase "Lock Up Stalls" caught my eye too! I was thinking, what could "Lock Up Stalls" possibly mean? Stalls that are locked up? Then wouldn't it be "Locked-up Stalls" instead? But I seriously have no idea. Haha. =)

Please do not alight when door closing light is on.

Hello everyone! A very Happy New Year to all of you! Hope all of you have had a great New Year! Haha. =)

Oh gosh, I realised that having to create this lexical journal for class has caused me to be constantly looking around, keeping my eyes peeled for potential "targets" to include in my blog! HAHA.

This time, I was on the bus on my way to school, looking around at the various signs inside the bus, in the hope of finding something to include in my blog, and aha! I found something when I was about to alight from the bus!

This sign was pasted on one of the doors at the exit:

"Please do not alight when door closing light is on."

Most of us would have no problems understanding what this sign is trying to convey, from the situation of being about to alight from the bus, and also when we spot the box with the words "DOOR CLOSING" written on it, located just above the doors. But for someone who is not lexically primed, the sign might cause some confusion at first glance. What does "door closing light" mean? The door closing the light? Of course, this sounds hilarious. One way to get rid of the confusion would be to construct the sign as this:

"Please do not alight when 'door closing' light is on." Sounds better?

Another thing that we can point out is the word "on". But this doesn't really pose much of a confusion, since "on" is being used as an adverb over here, meaning "switched on", and not the transitive verb introduced in TCEED2. We can also reword this sign as:

"Please do not alight when 'door closing' light is switched on." Perhaps it sounds cumbersome?

Or how about:

"Please do not alight when 'door closing' light is flashing." Sounds better?

On the whole, this highlights the importance of lexical priming, which we tend to take for granted in our daily lives. We are able to understand the sign, precisely because it is lexically primed for us.

Comfortable and Clean Journeys. Let's Clean Up, Just Bin It.

Caught another interesting thing on the bus!

"Comfortable and Clean Journeys. Let's Clean Up, Just Bin It."

Looks familiar? Saw these words on some sort of a poster on the bus. It's actually part of the "Litter-Free Bus Services" programme by the National Environment Agency (NEA). You can read more about it over here: http://app2.nea.gov.sg/hit_the_road.aspx

Nope, there's nothing terribly strange about these words. But I was just thinking about the word "it" used here. Just bin it. What does "it" refer to? I would suppose "it" here refers to litter. We can also do some inference from the surrounding words. If we want to have comfortable and clean journeys, we have to clean up and bin, what? "Litter", then, would come to mind. This illustrates an instance of collective lexical priming, or the notion of "frames". Here, readers who share similar cultural experiences would, upon seeing these words on a poster on the bus, invoke a clean-and-green context, and understand the poster to be part of a campaign by the NEA to promote a clean environment on the bus, by urging commuters to throw their litter into the dustbin instead of on the bus. And thus, readers would know that "it" here has to refer to litter.

I found the usage of "bin" interesting. "Bin" is used here as a verb instead of as a noun, which as we all know, refers to the dustbin in which we throw our litter. As for me, I'd usually use "bin" as a noun, to refer to the dustbin, but not so much as a verb. I looked up "bin" as a verb in Longman Web Dictionary, and this is what it says:

bin past tense and past participle binned, present participle binning [transitive]
British English informal to throw something away:
Just bin that letter.

So apparently, you can say something like:

I've binned the letter yesterday.

Or

I'm binning the letter now.

Hmmm.. Interesting discovery. =)

I did a Google search for "Just Bin It", and there was actually a photography competition for it! Check it out here: http://www.nea.gov.sg/just_bin_it/

Chelmsford Borough Council (in Britain) also has a "Just Bin It Campaign": http://www.chelmsford.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=11457

And East Ayrshire Council (United Kingdom) also has one too: http://www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/comser/waste/binit.asp

Just Do It. Just Bin It. =)