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stop light and traffic signal

W

wilson ind

Well-known Member
To some this may be nuts or say I am to hung up on words. This has happend to me several times in both giving and receiving directions. When I tell a person to go to a stoplight I MEAN YOU HAVE TO STOP. If the light might be green its not a stoplight , it's a traffic signal. Had fellow get really mad once as I told him to go to stop light turn etc etc. He came back after heated conversation I asked if the light was green when he was able to turn. No it was green WHY did I ask. If it was green then it was not a stop light. In my defence few confuse a yellow light. Its a yellow light or caution light.I have been told a stop and go light which tells me correctly where to turn. No I do not have too much time on my hands, just trying to save time. Another problem is when some says a certain place is so many min. or hours away. Once in Denver I was told to drive 5 min north. Speed limit was 55 mph. I went aprox 4 or 4 1/2 miles to find the business. Turns out it was only 1 mile from the turn. The idiot said well when she drove it there was always a lot of traffic at 8 am. I went at 10 when hardly any traffic. The manager got very aggravated at the woman for such stupid direction and told her to use a map and figure out distance before giving customers directions.. Ok second cup of coffee finished, time to get busy
 
So what you're calling a stoplight is what every other person calls a stop sign? I'm going to say you're nuts, and this has nothing to do with terminology. If you told me to turn right at the second stoplight, I would turn right at the second intersection that had actual lights. The only place I could see this being confusing is if the stop sign has a flashing red light above it, so people know it's there. So to recap: no light=stop sign. :Light=stoplight or traffic signal.
 
(quoted from post at 09:10:15 11/25/13) So what you're calling a stoplight is what every other person calls a stop sign? I'm going to say you're nuts, and this has nothing to do with terminology. If you told me to turn right at the second stoplight, I would turn right at the second intersection that had actual lights. The only place I could see this being confusing is if the stop sign has a flashing red light above it, so people know it's there. So to recap: no light=stop sign. :Light=stoplight or traffic signal.
Click to expand...

Ditto!

Rick
 
so if the second intersection had only a yellow light which is an actual light as you say you would turn if I had said STOP light. Your words!!
 
No, I think he's defining a flashing red as a "stoplight" and the red/yellow/green ones as a "traffic signal".

Knowing that those definitions will be confusing to the many who interchange "stoplight", "traffic light" and "traffic signal", I'll bet he doesn't take any pains to explain his definitions when he gives directions, because that would take away the fun he has telling the irate folks he mislead about them.

I've found getting through life is a lot more pleasant if you try to minimize other folk's irritation and confusion, even if you have to compromise a little. Guess Wilson isn't there yet (and I'm surmising, will never be).
 
Concerning the other issue - using time as a measure of distance - that drives me crazy too. Someone will tell me, "Yes, it's about 30 minutes up the road." I'll look at them as ask, "Really? I can walk there in 30 minutes?" Sometimes the confused look on their face is precious.

Time is not a measure of distance! Okay, I'm better now. Where's my coffee? Oh there it is - about 30 seconds away.....
 
on the contrary I usually try to explain the difference sometimes folks reply with OK I know what a stop light is.. As an example of my younger days of having several emploeys I recall one new guy saying Wilson makes me so mad. The others on the same crew asked why.. He gives so detailed instruction you know exactly what he wants if you will just listed. One older guy said he would not work again for any one else that did not get as detailed as I did as there was never any doubt what was to be done. When I closed down because of health all the fellows and the office lady expressed how good it was to work for me because they always knew just what their job was.
 
Well, that is why I always give the address so that a person or my wife can figure it out for themselves on how many minutes, miles it is.
My wife, is bad with directions (like most women) and she has a GPS now which allows her to go farther and not get as lost.
 
I often just say "light" or sometimes "stop light" but never "traffic signal", though I would know what it meant if it was said to me . I sometimes say "blinking light" when I mean what you call a stop light. We don't have too many of those around my immediate area so it does not come up much.
Zach
 
You're wrong as you have no idea whether it'll be a Stop Light or a Go Light when he gets to it.Everyone but you that I have ever heard refer to a stop light also means its a Red/Yellow/Green traffic signal.
 
Once we were lost in Rural Kentucky so I was forced by the first wife to stop n ask directions (Id never do that) so this lady says drive down this road to the church n turn right CANT MISS IT(heard that before huh) ..........Soooooo we drive n see a church n turn n get totally lost worse. I see an old farmer n I ask him n he says NOOOOOOOOOOOOO you should have turned at the THIRD church grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.


WHILE ON THE SUBJECT

Some people will state something then turn to you and ask "IS THAT NOT TRUE"

I HAVE NO FREAKIN IDEA HOW TO ANSWER THAT

A) Is it YES! that's NOT true, meaning its false?

B) Is it NO that's NOT true, meaning its false?

I tell them to ask me a legitimate yes or no question instead of that mumbo jumbo gobbily goop they think sounds so upscale and like a dern YUPPY and I will give them a straight yes or no answer

IS THAT NOT TRUE?????????????

Ol John T
 
With a traffic signal I don't know why we have a yellow light to caution us that it's gonna turn red soon.

We should be cautioned after a green light to make sure the others are stopping from the other direction before we proceed.

PROCEED WITH CAUTION...
 
I've always considered a stop light a "Red Blinking Light" a traffic signal is a "Red, Green, Yellow" fixture.
 
When I had my rural route with FedEx Home Delivery, asking directions was at my own risk! Everything was by landmarks! One town was so small it had lost its own postal designation, so Tennant Iowa had an ------ Iowa address! Mind you, these were 6ish miles apart! Also had an Avoca Iowa 'Oak' street, but the county had an 'oak' road. FedEx gave us 'turn by turns' according to the packages out for the day. The silly TBTs got those 2 mixed up! I was so green I had no idea-WHAT A MESS!
 
What gets my nanny goat is.
Some one will ask directions to my place and I will tell them how many miles, and they will ask how long it will take to get here?
I usually say how long it will take depends on whether they are walking driving riding a horse how fast they are driving, there are a lot of factor to consider.
 
Wilson ind,

Are your directions still accurate if the red'yellow'green was before your blinking red, and it happened to be red when driving up to it?

Maybe too much to think of , but I may be of the few that differentiate betwixt stoplights and stop signs. Any light that may force me to stop is a stoplight.

D.
 
A "stop light" (flashing red light), a "caution light" (flashing yellow light), and a red/yellow/green light, as well as walk and don't walk lights are all "traffic signals".
Stop light, traffic light, traffic signal are all pretty much interchangeable depending on location. Some people just call them "lights".
I gotta say the OP's post was the first I've ever heard of anyone saying a "traffic signal" (red/yellow/green light) was not a stop light.
 
ditto that.

if the light CAN stop you. IE.. if htere is a red lamp in there even if there are other lamps.. it's a 'stop lamp'.....

if it's a blinking ( yellow or red ).. we call it a blinking light.. etc..
 
Heard the story about the old farmer standing at a crossroad when a young man in a car stops and asked him how to get to a friends farm. The old farmer points down one of the roads but then stops and scratches his head, nope. He then points down another road but again scratches his head,nope. He points down another road with the same result. He finally scratches his head and says" you know, I don't belive you can get there from here."
 
What man is dumb enough to ask directions? I bet you are the kind of guy that leaves the depot with no map then blames dispatch when you get lost!
 
I was not however I did want to tell them what I wanted. I have grain elevators built that I have never seen that my foremen erected. They did know what motel I wanted them to stay in and if I wanted to pay overtime. But they did have directions to the job so work was not done on wrong elevator in the case of maintence in a small town with 3 different elevators.
 
I get that a lot!!!!!!!!! Actually I have been diagnosed with mild aspergers which is what Sheldon has, hopefully more than I.
 
Some people don't know north from south or their right from their left.

Its a good thing GPS, that way they can be led around by their hand.
 
A lot of the areas I was referencing the streets would be named but NO house numbers! Or at farms you would have 2 '911' addresses at the road, but non on the houses! I got in trouble on one farm for delivering to the wrong house when they were 10 feet apart!
 
You know it's funny you posted this today because this morning I pulled into the parking lot at work and a car pulled in and stopped right behind me, a spanish speaking fella gets out with a gps in hand and starts asking directions I couldn't understand a word he said and he was pointing at his gps which was in spanish.I finaly convinced him I wasn't from around here and he left.It wasn't a total lie I drive an hour to work.
 

Years ago, to me, asking directions was the last resort. If you did, it was turn right at the third White Castle, or some confusing thing. Thank goodness for the GPS.
 
You want to get really confused? In the 60's I was in Korea. Their traffic lights sequence Green, Red Yellow. Green=Go, Red=Stop, Yellow=Left Turn. (=our green left turn arrow). Had a situation where a Koprean highway went across an army base. If you were on the highway you had Korean sequence lights. If you were carossing the highway you had American sequence lights. Fun, fun ,fun.

Areo
 
People ask directions is different ways.
Three old men setting a bench in front of a store on a corner. A young man drives up next to them and ask, Where is Clear Lake. One old man answers with, same place it has always been, haven't heard of anyone moving it.
 
.... But what about a red/yellow/green light that has been programmed to blink red? sometimes they do that certain times of day, then go back to the r/y/g, and others just blink red or yellow all the time!!
 
All I know is,we don't have either one here in Sheridan. The DOT sent a letter to the village council one time and told them they had to put a FLASHER at the intersection of Main Street and the county road so they sent Keith Bush and Jake Beardslee out to take turns standing there in a raincoat.
 
Ahhh so that is why so many people toot their horns at me in America........You have to stop at a flashing red light?
And here I was wondering how so many nice Americans knew me well enough to toot at me!!
LOL.....Sam
 
Next time someone gets hinky with you about helping them with directions, tell them to head south and keep going. (I live up north)

Tim
 
The worst driving directions I remember getting in a new town started with:
Go down this street to where the old post office used to be and turn right, then ... I stopped listening.
 
Lots of interesting replies. Local thing, like pop, soda, soft drink, coke, etc.
Couple examples-
A few years ago my sister, who moved to southern Ca back in 63, was in Rockford Il, on her way to Kenosha Wi. Asked locals how to get to freeway. All she got was dumb looks. In Ca it is the freeway, some areas it is the Interstaate, but in Il it is the Toll Road. She ended up calling me in central Mn for directions.
I was making a delivery to a warehouse in Greenford Oh. All they gave was a phone number, so I called. Young lady said "when you come to THE INTERSECTION in town, look through the trees over your left shoulder". She was right, there is only ONE intersection in that town.
 

Around here a three color signal light has always been called by everyone a "working" light as opposed to a red light. Everyone knows that a red light will not be yellow or green. Of course now that we have GPS no one asks directions anymore.
 
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