POLL: What Do You Call Those Multi-Colored Traffic Control Devices?

[thenetwork]

Now that I am officially a part of the workforce forced to take an extended unemployment vacation, I figured I'd make a few more posts to keep the boredom away. 

[kphoger]

I can't vote for two different ones??

I call it a "light" or a "stoplight".  But those are two different choices, and I can't choose both.

[corco]

I can't vote for two different ones??

I call it a "light" or a "stoplight".  But those are two different choices, and I can't choose both.

Same here - usually "light" if I'm sitting at one and "stoplight" if referring to one in the abstract. Never ever "signal."

[CtrlAltDel]

I dislike the expression "traffic signal" since it's inherently vague (the same reason I dislike "grade crossing" and also, incidentally, all acronyms). You can signal traffic to do anything. "Stoplight" gives some indication of what the signal is for.

I recognize that this is a minority view, but I stand by it.

[SSR_317]

I dislike the expression "traffic signal" since it's inherently vague (the same reason I dislike "grade crossing" and also, incidentally, all acronyms). You can signal traffic to do anything. "Stoplight" gives some indication of what the signal is for.

I recognize that this is a minority view, but I stand by it.

I dislike the terms undercrossing and overcrossing because they are very confusing ways of describing a grade separation, since they do not specify what is crossing under or over what. Yes, they are often used from the perspective of a traveler on the dominant pathway, but they are still are needlessly confusing.

One critical note on your observation above: If a traffic signal displays a green light, it is NOT a "stoplight", but rather a "golight". (apologies in advance for being so picky)

[1995hoo]

Normally I say "traffic light," but I might say "go right at the light" or "left at the light" depending on context–for example, if I'm giving directions, I'll say "go right at the light at the top of the ramp, then go straight through the next four lights."

I never say "stoplight," in part for the pedantic reason SSR_317 notes, and I don't call it a "red light" for the same reason. I've never said "signal." If I hear "signal," I think of the device the Brits call an indicator and that some people call a blinker–the device you use to signal a change of direction or a lane change.

[GaryV]

I call it a traffic light now.  But when I was young, we called them red lights, no matter what color was showing.

[CtrlAltDel]

I dislike the terms undercrossing and overcrossing because they are very confusing ways of describing a grade separation, since they do not specify what is crossing under or over what. Yes, they are often used from the perspective of a traveler on the dominant pathway, but they are still are needlessly confusing.

I dislike "positive" and "negative" contrast for the same reason. The terms are inherently confusing even if they're not technically ambiguous.

One critical note on your observation above: If a traffic signal displays a green light, it is NOT a "stoplight", but rather a "golight". (apologies in advance for being so picky)

I admit that there's limits to this preference. My grandmother, for example, calls them stop-and-go-lights, but that's too long for me. I also don't like "grade separation structure," preferring the shorter "bridge."