Professional indexer Glenda Browne, who lives in Australia, has been traveling, observing all the while. She says:
We’ve been travelling in Europe. As an indexer, this sign took my fancy:
BACKGROUND: Browne was awarded the 2007 Ig Nobel Prize in literature for her study of the word “the” — and of the many ways it causes problems for anyone who tries to put things into alphabetical order. That study is:
“The Definite Article: Acknowledging ‘The’ in Index Entries,” Glenda Browne, The Indexer, vol. 22, no. 3 April 2001, pp. 119-22.