Sometimes I'm tempted to reply to people that they shouldn't capitalize cardinal directions :-D
"Dude, Interstate 85 is in The South, but you never go Southbound on Interstate 85. You can, however, go southbound on Interstate 85."
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F2.bp.blogspot.com%2F-jmdX2hWasQw%2FUGCDXLaucgI%2FAAAAAAAAFvM%2FMVdJIHxKZhk%2Fs1600%2F11grammar.jpeg&hash=17353ad1cb8c8315a86aeabfd9a7d4614b910aa5)
Otherwise it's impossible to disambiguate Main Street South from Main Street south(bound) when talking about signs.
Some people think "US 31 East" is not allowed, and that it has to be "US 31E". Other people think "US 31 East" is allowed though.
Some people insist "3di" is used by everyone who speaks English to mean "3 digit route of any sort".
The use of "east" or "west" for a suffixed route is one of my pet peeves. I don't know how many times I've heard a newscast reference "US 25 West" or "US 25 East" when they really mean 25E or 25W. Especially when the story is about a wreck and they talk about a vehicle traveling northbound on US 25 East.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2Ff7QoSvC.png&hash=38ee937e46833cddb7074df6c12a319d88a66835)
AASHOwned.
On a related note,
http://www.komonews.com/younews/225704611.html
http://www.city-data.com/forum/portland/1292535-road-trip-portland-seattle-26w-101n.html
drives me insane
Quote from: Alps on March 01, 2014, 10:04:47 PM
Some people insist "3di" is used by everyone who speaks English to mean "3 digit route of any sort".
On a related note, I accept that the initialisms are written as "3di" or "2dus" but I don't understand why neither the "i" nor the "us" are capitalized. Is there any reason, other than accepted usage?
Quote from: hbelkins on March 02, 2014, 12:09:03 AM
The use of "east" or "west" for a suffixed route is one of my pet peeves. I don't know how many times I've heard a newscast reference "US 25 West" or "US 25 East" when they really mean 25E or 25W. Especially when the story is about a wreck and they talk about a vehicle traveling northbound on US 25 East.
Worse, for me, is when the cardinal direction refers to neither a direction of travel nor a route suffix, but rather a location relative to an assumed starting point. A widely-known example would be "Route 93 North" for the portion of I-93 north of Boston; I-95, US 1 and MA/US 3 are often similarly referred to. That's not so bad because it's well-established practice, but when a small-time business in a one-horse town advertises its location as being on "Route 123 North" (of said podunk town), even if it's actually on the southbound side of the road, that really grinds my gears.
I've had a bit of trouble with capitalization. From childhood, I capitalized "Interstate," I think because I read it that way somewhere. A lot of people don't. I'm referring to use such as "an Interstate highway," not such as "Interstate 95." For a short while, I stopped capitalizing it because so many others don't, and then started again after thinking about it.
To me, it's the name of the system, although not the full official name, still a proper noun. My reasoning is that US 30 is an interstate highway, but not an Interstate highway. I-345 is an Interstate highway, but not an interstate highway. One is a name, and the other is a description.
Obviously, "US" is capitalized, but I don't capitalize "state highway" unless referring to a particular one, as a name. Texas has a State Highway system, and by my reasoning above I think it would be proper to refer to a particular road on it as a State Highway. Maybe the difference is that there's no such thing (that I can think of) as a generic state highway while there are many generic interstate highways (a highway in more than one state). If I'm wrong for capitalizing the generic form of one ("I'll be driving on the Interstate") but not capitalizing the other ("I'll be driving on the state highway"), I think where I'm wrong is by not capitalizing "state highway," the official name of the system (in this state although not in all states).
In regard to Wxfree's comments:
* I also capitalize Interstate in the phrase "Interstate highway." The colloquial usage of interstate (uncapitalized) as a synonym for freeway makes me break out in hives.
* Sentence-case State highway is a dated usage that summons up 1930's issues of CHPW and mental images of dignitaries showing up for highway openings in three-piece suits. State Highway makes sense as a reference to a part of the state-maintained highway system in a given state, in which case it is being used effectively as part of a proper noun.
Quote from: J N Winkler on March 02, 2014, 01:13:28 PM
In regard to Wxfree's comments:
* I also capitalize Interstate in the phrase "Interstate highway." The colloquial usage of interstate (uncapitalized) as a synonym for freeway makes me break out in hives.
You could fight against it, but it'd only end up being a band-aid effort – mere scotch tape. Just relax with any brand of coke you like rather than crying into your kleenex about it.
I-64 is an Interstate highway. US 60 is an interstate highway.
Quote from: Pete from Boston on March 02, 2014, 02:27:29 PMYou could fight against it, but it'd only end up being a band-aid effort – mere scotch tape. Just relax with any brand of coke you like rather than crying into your kleenex about it.
This is why I don't bring up this concern outside of boards such as this--nobody likes a nitpicker, especially when the matter being nitpicked is considered fairly esoteric.
Quote from: hbelkins on March 02, 2014, 02:31:23 PMI-64 is an Interstate highway. US 60 is an interstate highway.
Yup. And before it was an interstate highway, US 60 was an inter-state highway (another dated 1930's usage).
The Interstate 97 is an intrastate interstate.
Quote from: jeffandnicole on March 02, 2014, 03:12:31 PM
The Interstate 97 is an intrastate interstate.
As well as 2, 17, 19, 27, 45, and more.
Quote from: jeffandnicole on March 02, 2014, 03:12:31 PM
The Interstate 97 is an intrastate interstate.
* intrastate Interstate. :P
Anything involving "Federal Route" is a problem, if talking about the United States.
Quote from: US81 on March 02, 2014, 07:34:25 AM
Quote from: Alps on March 01, 2014, 10:04:47 PM
Some people insist "3di" is used by everyone who speaks English to mean "3 digit route of any sort".
On a related note, I accept that the initialisms are written as "3di" or "2dus" but I don't understand why neither the "i" nor the "us" are capitalized. Is there any reason, other than accepted usage?
Readability?
Quote from: 1 on March 02, 2014, 03:32:08 PM
Anything involving "Federal Route" is a problem, if talking about the United States.
Not for Viatologists.
Okay, I feel like bringing this up here. You're making your plurals wrong.
Quote from: agentsteel53 on March 03, 2014, 12:30:55 PM
radius -> radii
virus -> viri
Prius -> Prii
penis -> penii
The first two are right. The third one is debatable (http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2011/02/plural-of-prius-prii-not-according-to-latin-experts.html).
As for the last one,
penii would be the plural of
penius.
There are patterns though. -us -> -i, -ius -> -ii, -is -> -es. (Which means the plural of
penis would be
penes.)
But by extension,
Quote from: 1 on March 03, 2014, 12:44:46 PM
3dus -> 3di
:-D
Quote from: sammi on March 03, 2014, 01:44:30 PMThere are patterns though. -us -> -i, -ius -> -ii, -is -> -es. (Which means the plural of penis would be penes.)
Which in turn is the correct plural in Spanish :-D.
I have a massive headache about how to translate the Spanish words
autopista and
autovía into English. Highway, motorway, expressway, freeway... Usually I see
autopista translated into motorway and
autovía into expressway, however all Spanish
autovías built from mid-90s onwards have been identical to an
autopista, and as such I refer to them as motorways too. Since in the USA the term motorway isn't oficially used, in this forum I use the term expressway instead. I avoid the term freeway due to confusion (As some people think that a tolled freeway is an oxymoron), and I see highway as a synonim of road.
Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on March 03, 2014, 03:38:57 PM
Quote from: sammi on March 03, 2014, 01:44:30 PMThere are patterns though. -us -> -i, -ius -> -ii, -is -> -es. (Which means the plural of penis would be penes.)
Which in turn is the correct plural in Spanish :-D.
I have a massive headache about how to translate the Spanish words autopista and autovía into English. Highway, motorway, expressway, freeway... Usually I see autopista translated into motorway and autovía into expressway, however all Spanish autovías built from mid-90s onwards have been identical to an autopista, and as such I refer to them as motorways too. Since in the USA the term motorway isn't oficially used, in this forum I use the term expressway instead. I avoid the term freeway due to confusion (As some people think that a tolled freeway is an oxymoron), and I see highway as a synonim of road.
Do
autovía and
autopista mean the exact same thing, or is one on a higher level than the other?
In theory autopista is of an higher standard than autovía (i.e. no roundabouts/rotaries/traffic circles or at-grade intersections, slow vehicles are forbidden, etc), but in practice both are essentially the same. Although there are a few autovías which indeed have at-grade intersections and even roundabouts.
Quote from: sammi on March 03, 2014, 01:44:30 PM
Okay, I feel like bringing this up here. You're making your plurals wrong.
Quote from: agentsteel53 on March 03, 2014, 12:30:55 PM
radius -> radii
virus -> viri
Prius -> Prii
penis -> penii
The first two are right. The third one is debatable (http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2011/02/plural-of-prius-prii-not-according-to-latin-experts.html).
As for the last one, penii would be the plural of penius.
There are patterns though. -us -> -i, -ius -> -ii, -is -> -es. (Which means the plural of penis would be penes.)
But by extension,
Quote from: 1 on March 03, 2014, 12:44:46 PM
3dus -> 3di
:-D
I started high school the year they dropped Latin class. Only these many years later do I finally feel the loss.
Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on March 03, 2014, 03:38:57 PM
Which in turn is the correct plural in Spanish :-D.
but the singular is "pene", no?
also: 3dus -> 3di. any examples other than 395 to 580 in Nevada?
Quote from: agentsteel53 on March 03, 2014, 04:33:09 PM
also: 3dus -> 3di. any examples other than 395 to 580 in Nevada?
395 to 215 in California. 130 to 295 in New Jersey.
Quote from: NE2 on March 03, 2014, 04:37:31 PM
Quote from: agentsteel53 on March 03, 2014, 04:33:09 PM
also: 3dus -> 3di. any examples other than 395 to 580 in Nevada?
395 to 215 in California. 130 to 295 in New Jersey.
Arguably 202 to 287 in New Jersey, as well. I say that because I believe the original piece of I-287 (NJ 10 to US 46) wasn't signed as a relative of US 202, but I don't know.
US 218->I-380, IA (northernmost bit)
3dky --> 3di: 841 to 265.
Quote from: agentsteel53 on March 03, 2014, 04:33:09 PM
also: 3dus -> 3di. any examples other than 395 to 580 in Nevada?
240 to 270 (by way of 70S) in Maryland.
117 to 795 in North Carolina.
Michigan: 496 to 127
Quote from: hbelkins on March 03, 2014, 10:26:11 PM
3dky --> 3di: 841 to 265.
3dwa --> 3di: 518 to 405, 525 to 405.