Phil has encountered this sign in Atlanta: "Caution: Bridge Spalling." He writes to inquire, "Does that seem weirdly obscure to you? Even if one knew what 'spalling' was, what is one supposed to do about it? Not be there? You think it's deliberately obfuscatory, or am I being crazy paranoid again?" No, I'm with you, Phil. I am not ashamed to admit that I had to look up "spalling" in my dictionary, and only then concluded that the bridge in question is either being broken into chips with a hammer or just falling apart. Phil speculates: "I can imagine a court case in which someone got hit with a chunk of bridge, and the Govt representative testifying: 'What do you want from us? We told you it was spalling!'" Happily, however, this "post" gives me a chance to put up a picture of one of my favorite actors, Timothy Spall.
