• Vogi@piefed.social
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    2 hours ago

    TIL that “loitering” does not mean leaving garbage in public spaces. Ive heard the term but never expected it to mean standing around idle, this is so stupid.

    EDIT: nvm i was thinking about “littering”. english is hard.

    • Yeather@lemmy.ca
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      5 hours ago

      You are thinking of littering. Loitering is standing around idle on another person’s property. It’s usually used now adays to move vagrants along but the law has jim crow origins.

      • Vogi@piefed.social
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        3 hours ago

        Oh wow, you just blew my mind. I am in fact thinking about littering! I was a bit suspicious about me not realizing the true meaning sooner, but did not look into it further. This makes a lot more sense now, thank you for clearing this up. :)

        • Yeather@lemmy.ca
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          3 hours ago

          It’s a common mistake since the words are very close, it does not help that many people who loiter also usually litter.

      • x00z@lemmy.world
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        4 hours ago

        It’s a common mistake for non native English speakers. I thought the same for years but now know the difference.

    • jpablo68@infosec.pub
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      4 hours ago

      It’s baffling to me that you can get fined by just standing somewhere doing nothing…