“The disabled” refers to people who are unable to walk or have some physical or mental disabilities. They were previously called the handicapped. I was at a local shopping mall when I came across this signage at a parking space.

The Problem

The word “disabled” is wrongly used. “Disabled” means two things:

• disabled (n. / adj.) = a person who has difficulty moving around
  (e.g.: Facilities for the disabled are available at the airport.
  The disabled child was assisted by a nanny.)
• disabled (v.) = to stop something from being used / accessed
  (e.g.: The alarm was disabled, so the thief stole everything.
  After 30 days, some of the software features will be disabled.)

Therefore, based on the above explanations and examples, “Disabled Parking” is wrong because a parking spot is not human, and it’s not possible to disable the place used for parking a car.

The signage wants to tell shoppers that the parking space is for the disabled (people). Therefore, the signage should be correctly labelled as “Parking for the Disabled“.