My mom's car is a Honda 2011 minivan, and on the dashboard there is a yellow-orange fishbowl with an exclamation mark. I was wondering what that means?
-- Kathleen
Car Talk: It means it's time to feed the guppies, Kathleen.
"Fishbowl" is a funny description. The icon is actually supposed to be a cross-section of a partially deflated tire. The warning light is on because the air pressure is low in one or more of your mom's tires.
It's not a great icon. And you're not the first one to have no idea what that image is, Kathleen. To me, it looks like someone's large posterior sitting on a lawn chair. But once you mentioned it, I can see it as a fishbowl, too. Chalk it up to bad icon design.
For the rest of the Car Talk readers: What do you guys see in the "low tire pressure" icon? Send us your thoughts, and I'll share your answers with Dr. Freud.
__________________
The Principle of Least Interest: He who cares least about a relationship, controls it.
