Comments on: Any (lab) test? We're so discreet, we even use parentheses.

Question: Any (lab) test? We're so discreet, we even use parentheses.

tegoo — Sat, 27 May 2006 07:58:25 -0800

Billboards around town offer the service of "Any (lab) test." The companies offering the service vary, but they all include the word "lab" in parentheses. Why the consistent parenthetical? The service wouldn't really make sense without the parentheses, would it?

By: borkingchikapa

borkingchikapa — Sat, 27 May 2006 08:32:52 -0800

I imagine they're probably all operating under the same umbrella company, like a lot of spam-type websites. Why the parentheses are there in the first place I couldn't guess at.

By: davidmsc

davidmsc — Sat, 27 May 2006 10:17:04 -0800

What town is it? I've never seen any signs like that here in Montana (USA).

By: SuperSquirrel

SuperSquirrel — Sat, 27 May 2006 11:23:35 -0800

Maybe they mean, tests performed in a lab, as opposed to a neuromuscular test of some kind that would be performed in a doctor's office?

Is it always obvious that is a medical context? Maybe they insert the word lab so you don't think they also offer brake tests on your car or carbon monoxide tests on your furnace or Java certification tests?

I'm rambling, sorry. Have never seen these billboards.

By: tegoo

tegoo — Tue, 30 May 2006 12:04:22 -0800

They're common here in Atlanta. I've never noticed them elsewhere. I was kinda hoping it was some sort of universal thing that I wasn't aware of, but the fact that no one else has seen them points to borkingchikapa's umbrella spam theory.