I heard this on a radio program yesterday morning.

Problem:
The speaker used the wrong noun to indicate where the police car was hidden.

Explanation:
The DJs on KRBE radio yesterday morning were discussing speeding tickets and how traffic officers like to hide their vehicles to catch speeders.

One of them said something to the effect that “the police car was hidden in the medium.”

At first I wondered whether I had mis-heard what was said, but then the other two DJs started to say “medium” with no hint of sarcasm.

It became sadly clear that the three DJs did not know the correct noun — “median” — for that portion of a street that runs down the middle of it.

I believe that the use of “medium” in place of “median” is consistent with my “Devolution toward Simpler” linguistic hypothesis. It is simpler to say the “um” in “medium” than to say the “an” in “median” for two reasons: the vowel (“u” vs. “a”), and the final consonant (“m” vs. “n”). Try saying each noun, and you’ll feel what I mean.

Solution:
“The police car was hidden in the median.”