The London Metropolitan Police is running a campaign that encourages the public to report stuff that looks suspicious. Their slogan goes ‘See it, say it, sorted’. That’s dodgy already. After ‘see it’ and ‘say it’, ‘sorted’ sounds like ‘sort it’—and the last thing the police want is civvies mugging odd-looking people.
But the daft thing is that the Met’s messaging amplifies this ambiguity. Every few minutes, London stations broadcast a message that goes: ‘If you see something that doesn't look right, speak to staff or text the British transport police on 61016. We'll sort it. See it, say it, sorted.’ So: see it, speak it, sort it?
I know these verbal blunders aren’t likely to cause harm. But they're also reeeeally preventable. Which, incidentally, is pretty much the Met's message too. A better station announcement might be this: ‘If you see something that doesn't look right, say something to staff or text the British transport police on 61016. They’ll get it sorted. See it, say it, sorted.’ Bosh.
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