I took this photo in the restrooms at Jodrell Bank, of the University of Manchester. The correct word is "dispense", not "receive". Hence, the name of that thing over the sink that holds liquid soad, the soap dispenser. It's not a soap receiver; that's the person.
I agree that they should have used "dispense" here. And then I thought "but ultimately, you do receive the soap..." And then I read it a few more times and thought "yeah, but "receive" just sounds weird used in that context." So, to sum up, I was with you, then I wavered, now I'm with you again. All is well.
ReplyDeleteAlso, this is a postgrad department at a pretty decent university. They really should have English usage solid before they move on to astrophysics.
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