(DC -> Houston) the off position

ok...there are two things that are starting to really bother me, as i hear them over and over:


1) ...place your electronic devices in the off position...
where to start with this?
a) there is nothing to "place" to turn off a cellphone - only buttons to press.
b) off is a condition, not a position. tray tables and seats have positions. a cellphone doesn't, unless you're talking about its location.
c) grr.

2) i can't remember the second. but the first one is bad enough to warrant its own blog entry.

3) oh yeah. the second is "use of cellphones are now permitted." c'mon, delta...isn't subject-verb agreement part of your flight attendant training?

and i'm only 5 planerides into my month of N planerides... sigh.