Construction Workers on Job at Whittier College Take Care to Cuss Politely

Hard hats, soft language: Ann Farmer passed along an article from Whittier College’s newspaper about the restrictions on workers renovating a library there. “Since the work is taking place on a campus known for its Quaker roots,” the newspaper said, the building contract forbade raucous behavior, including cursing.

The workers “followed these rules,” one school official told the newspaper. “I actually saw a rather large construction worker drop a piece of equipment on his foot and yell, ‘Oh, drat!’ ”

There’s always a Hollywood angle: Doug Stokes of Duarte saw an ad that mentioned the small amount that movie extras get paid in this era of multimillion-dollar projects (see accompanying).

I could understand if it referred to teenagers: Harold Knox of Woodland Hills came upon a warning to parents that parodied no-parking signs (see photo).

On the road: A Culver City reader who signed himself “W.B.” noticed a turnoff for an Austrian village whose name might be a turn-off for some Americans.

Actually, he said, Rottenegg “translates to something like like red furrow.”

And Fred Booth of Costa Mesa was one of several readers who’ve sent along shots of parking signs seemingly mentioning X-rated fires. Actually, they refer to lighted matches (see photos).

You think you have problems: In Seal Beach, “a resident complained of a business’ front door ‘dinging’ whenever someone enters,” said the police log of the Los Alamitos News-Enterprise.

The SWAT team wasn’t needed here, either: A Laguna Beach resident said a dog had been barking nonstop in the neighborhood, and when she contacted the owners “their response was, ‘He’s a beagle, that’s what he does.’ ” But, the Laguna News-Post said, when police went to the location the dog was quiet.

L.A. Insult of the Day: Those snooty Easterners are at it again. In an article on the competition between JetBlue Airways and Southwest Airlines, the New York Times referred to Southern California as a “land of strip malls and stucco houses.” Oh, drat.

miscelLAny: My wife and I casually remarked to a young shop clerk that it was our 15th anniversary. He stared at her in disbelief. We asked him why he seemed so surprised. He laughed and replied, “Oh, I thought you said ‘50th anniversary.’ ” He couldn’t believe, he said, that my wife had been married that long. He never mentioned me, I realized later. I’m so glad the weekend’s here.

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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LA-TIMES, ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A. 90012 and by e-mail at steve .harvey@latimes.com.