Why are street signs written in broken English?

Dear Matt:

Why many street sign in broken English? I can understand trying to put as few words as possible so speeding motorists can quickly get the message. But "End Construction" & "End Landscaping"? These are very large signs with plenty of room for the word "of." Also, how is it that the letter "X" became the abbreviation for crossing ("xing")? As a ped, I rarely, if ever, cross a road moving catty-corner. I have seen a few deer do this, and unless the intersection is a very unusual one, most RRs do not cross in "X" but rather "+". +ing fingers you have answer.

-- JDM, Encinitas

The elves have voted you the person they'd least like to carpool with. Such a headache they've got! If your own explanation doesn't satisfy you -- that it's a telegraphic system -- well, at least you can feel good about the cost of the paint saved, statewide, on all those "of"s. Hows about, from now on, every time you see one of those signs, think protest. Think exclamation points. "End Construction!" "End Landscaping!" "End Broken English!" As for your plussed fingers (sorry, + is "plus" to the rest of us), we tried putting a real cross on the "Ped Xing" signs, but the atheists sued.