Here I am back again with another question about words. I am hearing the word "signage" instead of "signs."

Question:As in, "We need to put up some new signage." Also I am hearing "planking." As in, "Put some planking down so we will not have to walk in the water." Any thoughts on why these two changes, or at least they seem like changes to me, are taking place?



Answers:
the term signage first showed up in 1976, and it works well as a term for a system of signs, or as OED puts it below, "signs collectively"

" Signs collectively, esp. public signs on facia boards, signposts, etc.; the design and arrangement of these.
1976 Federal Suppl. (U.S.) CDXIV. 1168/1 All signage, stationery, forms, calling cards and other symbols are identical with no distinction between the main bank and the drive-in facility. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 21 Aug. 8/2 They are being a lot tougher on signage and landscaping and buildings. 1979 Amer. Banker 28 Feb. 4 The overall appearance of your bank, the building, the grounds, the signage. 1981 Beautiful Brit. Columbia Fall 16/2 Many British Columbians..have traced Lewis and Clark's travels through the Pacific northwest, following rustic highway signage and visiting the many historic stopping places. 1983 N.Y. Times 23 Oct. VIII. 7/1 The cacophony of visual accents in the Times Square area{em}the graphics and the signage. 1986 Your Business Mar. 32/1 Every aspect of a company's personality is reviewed..to the design of invoices and signage."


It's the same with "Planking" which shows up even earlier, in 1432!

"1. a. Planks collectively; the planks of a structure; plank-work. Also: a layer or surface made of planks, spec. one forming the outer shell or inner lining of a ship's hull.
1432 in J. C. Tingey Rec. City of Norwich (1910) II. 390 The seyd kaye xal halden in brede in the ground upon the plankyng v quarters be the kyngs standard. 1631 T. HORNE tr. J. A. Comenius Porta Linguarum Reserata xlviii. ยง526 A mason climing..to the rafters, rearings or plankings of a house, buildeth..the walls. 1656 J. PHILLIPS Sportive Wit 18 The Prince an hundred pound hath sent To mend the leads and plankings rent Within this living tombe. 1706 Phillips's New World of Words (ed. 6), Contabulation, a joyning of Boards together, a boarding or planking; a Floor, a Timber-Frame. 1751 C. LABELYE Descr. Westm. Bridge 29 The Carpenters were at Work on the Grating and Planking for the Caisson. 1819 SCOTT Ivanhoe I. iii. 47 The roof..had nothing to divide the apartment from the sky excepting the planking and thatch. 1842 DICKENS Amer. Notes I. ii. 37 The planking of the paddle-boxes had been torn sheer away. 1871 W. D. HOWELLS Their Wedding Journey (1892) 295 The promenaders..paced back and forth upon the planking. 1904 A. GRIFFITHS Fifty Years Public Service iii. 28 There was little enough comfort for us subalterns{em}a few feet of planking on the orlop deck. 1952 B. HARWIN Home is Upriver xviii. 178 He heard the dull thunk of wood against wood and felt the planking jar over his head. 1991 Constr. News 26 Sept. 2/3 King, prosecuting, told the court that planking on an overhead walkway has been cut from the usual 8 m length to less than 3 m."

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