[Grammar] Sidewalk prohibition of bicycle parking. Violators towed to Shuiyuan Campus.

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Rover_KE

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I should have said it's acceptable (for the sake of economy in the number of words) in the sense that the meaning is understandable. Strictly speaking, it should be rephrased.
 

kadioguy

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I should have said it's acceptable (for the sake of economy in the number of words) in the sense that the meaning is understandable. Strictly speaking, it should be rephrased.

Pardon me, but do you mean the following?

... it's acceptable (for the sake of economy in the number of words) in the sense where the meaning is understandable.
 

emsr2d2

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No. "in the sense that" was perfectly correct.
 

Tarheel

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"Violators will be towed" is not meant literally. If it were meant literally they would be towing the person and not the car.
 

kadioguy

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Let me draw some conclusions from our discussion:

1. 'Sidewalk prohibition of bicycle parking' is a literal translation from Chinese into English.
2. '
Violators towed to Shuiyuan Campus' is acceptable (for the sake of economy in the number of words) in the sense that the meaning is understandable. Strictly speaking, it should be rephrased.
 

tedmc

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Let me draw some conclusions from our discussion:

1. 'Sidewalk prohibition of bicycle parking' is a literal translation from Chinese into English.
2. '
Violators towed to Shuiyuan Campus' is acceptable (for the sake of economy in the number of words) in the sense that the meaning is understandable. Strictly speaking, it should be rephrased.

Both are phrases and not sentences. I think it is better to use sentences.

I can't find the meaning of the word "violators" from the dictionaries to mean other than people. Can you?
 

kadioguy

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Both are phrases and not sentences. I think it is better to use sentences.

I can't find the meaning of the word "violators" from the dictionaries to mean other than people. Can you?

I cannot either. I would think we can follow what Rover_KE said:

Omission of nonessential words is typical of public notices such as this.

I should have said it's acceptable (for the sake of economy in the number of words) in the sense that the meaning is understandable. Strictly speaking, it should be rephrased.
 

Matthew Wai

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If there are "unathorized" bicycles, there would be "authorized bicycles".
"Unauthorized" is used in restricted areas where the regulation applies to some but not others.
You can't rule out authorized ones because you know nothing about the actual situation there.
 

tedmc

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You can't rule out authorized ones because you know nothing about the actual situation there.

It would be strange indeed to impose a ban on certain bicycles from sidewalks and not on others.
 

Rover_KE

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'Violaters will be towed' is not used in the UK, but such notices proliferate in the USA. click
 

GoesStation

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Towed doesn't work with bicycles. More natural wording would simply tell the owners of removed bicycles where they could pick them up.
 

ruthluo

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In the original post, "Violators towed to Shuiyuan Campus" is all good.

But I would suggest a different translation for the first line: "No Sidewalk Bicycle Parking". Isn't this neater and more concise?
 
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SoothingDave

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Yes, exactly.

"No Bicycle Parking on Sidewalk"
 
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