washing car windows at stoplights in this city

[GoodTaste]

The father of her three children had been picked up by immigration agents earlier in the day, part of a recent crackdown that netted 67 other migrants, many of whom were asking for handouts or washing car windows at stoplights in this city across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas.

Source: AP 38 dead in Mexico fire after guards didn’t let migrants out


I don't quite understand the description of "washing car windows at stoplights in this city" - Washing car windows in this city, OK, it is simple and everyone is too familiar with it. The problem for me is how to correctly understand "at stoplights"- what does it mean? What is stoplight here? Concerning driving, the rear light is lit when you stop your car, which is called stoplight. But it is odd to me that you wash your car at the stoplight - it sounds as if the father of the three kids waved at the passing cars and washed them when the drivers stopped their cars. I don't know whether it is the sense that the author wants to convey.

What does "washing car windows at stoplights in this city" actually mean then?

 

[dunchee]

stoplight | meaning of stoplight in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English | LDOCE

stoplight meaning, definition, what is stoplight: a set of coloured lights used to control...: Learn more.

www.ldoceonline.com

"American English
a set of coloured lights used to control and direct traffic
SYN traffic lights"

Some people do this for a living. An example on YouTube:

 

[Barque]

it sounds as if the father of the three kids waved at the passing cars and washed them when the drivers stopped their cars.

No, not exactly.

As post #2 says, stoplights in this case are traffic lights. Cars stop at them if the light is red. Some people go up to those stopped cars and wipe the windscreen and then ask the driver for money. It's like asking for handouts because the drivers don't ask for this "service". Another reason the authorities crack down on this is that some of these people can be quite persistent about asking for money, even if the driver indicates he doesn't want his windscreen wiped or that he won't pay.

 

[emsr2d2]

... even if the driver indicates he doesn't they don't want his their windscreen wiped or that he they won't pay.

@Barque Let's try to get learners into the habit of using the gender-neutral "they". It's really important for everyone to understand that it is no longer acceptable to use "he" when talking about people in general. The wording of the end of your post #3 suggested that all car drivers are male.

 

[SoothingDave]

The red lights on the rear of the car are "brake lights," not "stop lights."

 

[5jj]

That's what I would have said, but some dictionary compilers think differently:

Definitions of stoplight

1. noun
   
   • a visual signal to control the flow of traffic at intersections
     synonyms:traffic light, traffic signal
     see more
     
   • noun
     a red light on the rear of a motor vehicle that signals when the brakes are applied to slow or stop
     synonyms:brake light

Stoplight - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms

a visual signal to control the flow of traffic at intersections

www.vocabulary.com

 

[SoothingDave]

Some dictionary compilers are happy with people using "enormity" and "beg the question" wrong, too.

 

[Barque]

Some dictionary compilers are happy with people using "enormity" ... wrong, too.

I thought 'enormity' meant 'magnitude' or 'immensity' and the dictionary I just looked at says it also means 'outrageousness' or 'atrociousness'. Do you mean the first definition, the one that most people use it for, isn't correct?

 

[SoothingDave]

Yes, I do. "Enormousness" means something is really big. "Enormity" means something is really big and evil. And the sense of evil is the first definition in the dictionaries I checked.

The enormity of the Holocaust, not the enormity of the Grand Canyon.

 

[Skrej]

The red lights on the rear of the car are "brake lights," not "stop lights."

I recently had to replace a burned out brake bulb in my vehicle recently, and while looking in the owners manual on how to even access the stupid thing, it referred to them as "stop lamps".