[Talk-GB] Made-up motorway junction names

[Mark Goodge]

On 05/01/2023 18:10, Richard Fairhurst wrote:
> Mark Goodge wrote:
>  > That's why I think that the best check, most of the time, is to see
>  > if the local media are using the names. If they are, then that's
>  > good evidence that their readers are using the names.
> 
> It's not really. The Reach/Newsquest local media has devolved into a 
> knowledge-free regurgatron that basically just rewords whatever press 
> releases they're sent. In this case, they're probably going off incident 
> reports from either the local highway authority's incident desk, or the 
> local police force - both of whom are essentially highways 
> professionals, so not really a good guide to what's in general usage.

On the contrary, I'd say that the police and highways professionals are 
precisely the kind of sources that are most valuable when it comes to 
colloquial names of things.

Mark