Polite Notice
I just recieved an e-mail from a restaurant at the University where I work. It started with the dread phrase "Polite Notice".
Where the hell did this thing of putting "Polite Notice" everywhere come from! I don't even know what people mean when they use it. Does it mean that this is a polite notice but an impolite notice may follow? Does it mean that I should understand that the note was meant to be polite even if it seems rude?
What I am slightly more sure of is the etymology of the term. As I understand it (and this is only backed up by personal observation) the original use of the phrase was on signs such as "Polite Notice: No Parking" which were made to look almost identical to the signs "Police Notice: No Parking" apart from that change of a single letter. I guess that this was done in the hope that a busy motorist would not notice this difference and would be dissuaded from parking and blocking someones drive/garage.
Somehow this usage has seeped in to common parlance and I think it has lodged in peoples minds as a phrase, like "yours sincerely" at the end of a letter, that doesn't really have any specific meaning any more but is just a formal part of the structure of the communication. So "polite notice" is "something that you put before a sign/notice". This thoughtless use of language annoys me disproportionately.
I think I will make up a sign to put around the place. It will say "Polite Notice: Stop putting 'Polite Notice' on signs",
jk