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

[kadioguy]

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It says:

Sidewalk prohibition of bicycle parking. Violators towed to Shuiyuan Campus.
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Is it grammatical? I would say: (Although I do not think there is enough space for these words.)

(The) Prohibition of bicycle parking on (the) sidewalk. Violators will be towed to Shuiyuan Campus.

What do you think?

 

[Rover_KE]

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

 

[Matthew Wai]

(The) Prohibition of bicycle parking on (the) sidewalk. Violators will be towed to Shuiyuan Campus.

What do you think?

I think it is bicycles rather than violators that will be towed.

 

[kadioguy]

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

But I am thinking that Sidewalk is placedbefore prohibition, which sounds strange. Does it mean the following?

(On) (the) Sidewalk (the) prohibition of bicycle parking ....

I think it is bicycles rather than violators that will be towed.

Good point!

Violators towed to Shuiyuan Campus.

Is this use part of typical of public notices?

 

[Matthew Wai]

(On) (the) Sidewalk (the) prohibition of bicycle parking ....

Bicycle parking is prohibited on the sidewalk.

 

[kadioguy]

Bicycle parking is prohibited on the sidewalk.

I agree with you, so I don't understand why it places 'Sidewalk' before 'prohibition of bicycle parking'.

 

[Matthew Wai]

It is a literal translation of the Chinese text, and that is why.

 

[kadioguy]

It is a literal translation of the Chinese text, and that is why.

Violators towed to Shuiyuan Campus.

Is it a literal translation of the Chinese text, rather than a part of typical of public notices?

 

[Matthew Wai]

I consider it a word-for-word translation.
A moderator would move this thread to this section if we kept talking about translation.

 

[Matthew Wai]

I just found some examples of 'Violators will be towed'.
Examples found by Google.

 

[tedmc]

[STRIKE]Violators[/STRIKE] Offending bicycles will be towed to Shuiyuan Campus.

I think wrong translations on signs are common in many Asian countries due to translations being done too literally from the translator's native language to English, which they are less proficient in.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Unauthorized bicycles will be ...

 

[tedmc]

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.

 

[kadioguy]

If there are "unathorized" bicycles, there would be "authorized bicycles".

Maybe it is off topic, but I am wondering why not the following:

If there are "unathorized" bicycles, there will be "authorized bicycles".
or
If there were"unathorized" bicycles, there would [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]be "authorized bicycles".[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif](The first is real [/FONT]conditional[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]; The second is unreal conditional.)[/FONT]

 

[kadioguy]

I just found some examples of 'Violators will be towed'.
Examples found by Google.

I think we need native speakers' help to tell whether 'Violators will be towed' is acceptable.

 

[Rover_KE]

Yes, it is.

 

[tedmc]

You are right; that should have been in first conditional.
Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[tedmc]

I think we need native speakers' help to tell whether 'Violators will be towed' is acceptable.

But I thought violators are people and not objects. And I have checked with the dictionary definitions to confirm:
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/violator

 

[kadioguy]

I think we need native speakers' help to tell whether 'Violators will be towed' is acceptable.

Yes, it is.

But I thought violators are people and not objects. And I have checked with the dictionary definitions to confirm:
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/violator

Um, I am confused. :-?

 

[Matthew Wai]

It is unacceptable to two Chinese speakers but acceptable to the native English teacher.

You know how to make the right choice.