I love hiking. Last week I walked the South Downs Way between Woodingdean and Seaford, sixteen miles or so.
Along the way I came across a bunch of new signs saying permissive pathway. Which made me giggle.
Why? Because permissive means habitually accepting something, for example social behaviour, that others might disapprove of. They should have said permitted footpath of course, which means allowed.
On the other hand there’s no need to qualify the word ‘footpath’ in any way. If you’re not allowed to use it, you don’t need a signpost for it. If you are allowed to use it, footpath on its own will do just fine.
Who needs a freelance writer? The person who commissioned those signs.
