The stoplight-as-robot metaphor reminded me of two favorite terms I've heard for two kinds of road furniture:
The first is for speed bumps: "sleeping policemen".
The second is for those lines of small, reflective squares set into pavements to serve as nighttime road lane markers: "Martian droppings".
-mpg
Following up on my own post, I'll note that the term "road furniture" (and variants thereof) is used by urban planner types, to describe things like street signs, bus stop waiting areas, benches, etc.
-mpg
And following up on my follow-up, let me for the record note that I never know what to do when writing things like
The term road furniture (and variants thereof) IS used by urban planners.
Is the singular noun turmped by the parenthetical? Should it be IS or ARE?
-mpg
Mpg, I'd heard "sleeping policemen" and "sleeping Bobbies," but not "Martian droppings." Appetizing! Was not aware of "road furniture" either, thanks.
It's a close call, but I'm inclined to say that the "and variants thereof" is so closely associated with "road furniture" as to render it one idea, and therefore I'd use "is," just as I'd say "Macaroni and cheese is great comfort food."
What say the rest of you smart folks?
Before the smart people answer, I will weigh in. I like "is" better in that case as well. The stuff in parentheses should not contribute to the main sentence. If the parenthetical stuff were in plain text, then "are" would be correct.