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minerva commented on the word trap street
From Wikipedia: "a fictitious street included on a map, often outside the area the map covers, for the purpose of "trapping" potential copyright violators of the map, who will be unable to justify the inclusion of the "trap street" on their map."
See mountweazel.
February 12, 2008
john commented on the word trap street
I love this whole business of trap streets and mountweazels.
Actually, we all must. Wordie is about 1/3 mountweazels. Copyright violators, beware!
February 12, 2008
minerva commented on the word trap street
As someone who has a tendency to get lost, I'm glad I can now blame this failing on trap streets.
February 12, 2008
reesetee commented on the word trap street
Thanks, Minerva! I mentioned that fictitious street device on mountweazel but I didn't know an actual phrase existed to describe it. And I'm with you on the getting lost part. :-)
Actually, I lived very near a mountweazel at my last home--online directions always told me to go in the wrong direction to get somewhere, and I finally figured out why after I took a good long look at the maps.
February 12, 2008
mollusque commented on the word trap street
A rich madeupical history! I love the diversions through mountweazel, esquivalience and kelemenopy.
Reminds me of a story I heard in graduate school, of a scholar who invented a reference in his monograph of (say) ants of the world. Twenty years later he published a list of those who'd cited the imaginary work, as evidence of their sloppy scholarship. Perhaps apocryphal, certainly cautionary.
February 12, 2008
vanishedone commented on the word trap street
Angloe was a trap town until it became actual.
March 27, 2009