# Amusing Signs **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 3, 2024, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074 "2024-02-03T19:04:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/221 "2024-02-13T20:27:23Z")
In my town, you will be on a large road, and there will be a side street to the left, then a side street to the right, then a side street to the left, then a side street to the right, etc. A few decades ago, the city decided to take pairs of side streets, and turn them into single cross streets. So now there are a bunch of places where a street will suddenly zigzag and change names. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/222 "2024-02-13T20:45:24Z")
I don’t know if this is “amusing” or not. But, I like it. [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/M1nh5o6.jpeg "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/M1nh5o6) ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/223 "2024-02-13T20:48:56Z")
But, this one is amusing: [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/IDO1P7x.jpeg "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/IDO1P7x) ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/224 "2024-02-13T20:55:02Z")
Do the fragments say something, or is the amusing aspect just the fact that there’s (effectively) so sign there? I tried zooming the image but I can’t make out anything legible. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/225 "2024-02-13T21:01:10Z")
No, the sign is completely gone. It’s more of a statement than a sign now. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/226 "2024-02-13T21:03:38Z")
Looks a lot like a Tetris screen turned 90°, though, and that’s kinda funny. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/227 "2024-02-13T21:06:02Z")
Yes, yes it does… ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/228 "2024-02-13T21:08:53Z")
Seen outside Amarillo near Cadillac Ranch a few years ago: [![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53527639018_eb38ea2602_c.jpg) ](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53527639018_eb38ea2602_c.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/229 "2024-02-13T21:42:19Z")
Could be a rudimentary QR code type signaling device. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/230 "2024-02-14T00:23:13Z")
I suppose this sign in Green Bank, WV is amusing. [![](https://laughingsquid.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/20141222.greenbank-sign-2000.jpg) ](https://laughingsquid.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/20141222.greenbank-sign-2000.jpg) It’s at the entrance to the National Radio Observatory. Spark plugs cause interference with the super-sensitive radio telescopes. For getting around the (large) facility, your options are diesel cars, or bicycles (there are a bunch of communal-use vehicles of both types about the place). ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/231 "2024-02-14T02:04:20Z")
This sign was posted in the bathroom at a house I rented. I think the owner was not a native English speaker. I hypothesized that a “famine napkin” is a napkin you use when you’re really really hungry. [![Google Photos](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ABLVV852O1EdXEmS-rQMaJUVl2MyWK0xgFKGeR8oEsFk9UKUZfF-XivbZm1qDyoqo9gkDiaSI8LcmTZ3KmegEh_jQ-yEqEHD7vvjdZb59W0oQn8OvToHO73K=w422-h315-p-k "New item by Mark Nudelman") ](https://photos.app.goo.gl/1SR4n2DpD7W2g7T19) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/232 "2024-02-14T02:53:20Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > I saw a sign on a street saying Slow Children Crossing and thought it would be cool to film kids walking across reallly slow. I always like it when I see one of those signs and a bit later down the same road a “Slow Men Working” sign. It gives me hope the kids’ll be able to find jobs when they grow up. > [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > > [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > > > I am not enamored with people who puree and eat babies. If that’s your thing then cool, I guess. > > What is your problem with humanitarians??? I LOLed for real. Nicely played!! ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/233 "2024-02-14T03:12:15Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > But that little girl does NOT look happy to be holding that guy’s hand. > > Which, you’d think someone would have noticed. Not only that, but the fedora somehow makes the man look sinister, like a 30s-era gangster. Very strange sign indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/234 "2024-02-14T03:56:25Z")
They say that hunger is the best sauce. But I’m not sure I’ve ever been that hungry. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/235 "2024-02-14T05:06:28Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > > [@Bullitt](#): > > > > Those things have gotten craaaazy expensive now. Long after we bought ours. There’s no way I could afford more of them! > > But hey, you really own at least one, and that’s mighty cool. Sure, they’re very expensive now, but I think still more affordable where you live than in their country of origin. In Germany, much less have survived because of the humid climate and the inevitable rust. It has been a thing for German aficionados of classic Porsches to import them back from California and other South Western US states for decades. Yes I have to admit that it is nice to have one and be able to enjoy it. And it can be quite the conversation starter. A good ice breaker. I’m somewhat amazed at how reliable a car it is. I feel confident that I can hop in it in the morning and drive it across the country. And the car is 61 years old. I have entertained thoughts of shipping it to Germany to tour there and do a road trip. That would be fun to do. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/236 "2024-02-14T06:03:49Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Guess who owns that 356 sign today? 😉 You’re lucky to have made it home! Dave Barry wrote a column about being pulled over one time when he was young and foolish, and the cop noticed a pile of municipal traffic cones in the back of his car. The cop asked him, somewhat rhetorically, if they were his. I don’t remember if poor Dave was actually arrested, but he definitely got a citation for theft. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/237 "2024-02-14T14:57:03Z")
Interesting…I’ve been there (or at least to the museum nearby? Pretty sure we were on the radio telescope grounds, I know we got a tour that showed some) and don’t remember my very ordinary car being restricted in any way from driving to their parking lot. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/238 "2024-02-14T17:00:21Z")
Over here, the Daily Telegraph has a running collection (sadly not free): > **[Sign Language](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/sign-language/)** > > Interesting collection of strange signs and odd translations from around the world - sent in by our readers. They also produced a book, which includes such gems as - the road sign “Cats eyes removed”\* outside a Blue Cross animal hospital. \*(This is meaningful in the UK - reflectors mounted on springs to mark the centre line on unlit roads) - an Australian sign “No understanding either side” - an American sign “Citizen Disposal Facility” on Furnace Road - a couple of street names “Witts End” and “Back Front Street” - in Hong Kong, the Wong Fook Hing Book Store ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/239 "2024-02-14T17:20:51Z")
Lonely Planet has also published a number of _Signspotting_ books. And website [engrish.com](http://engrish.com) is, of course, well known. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/240 "2024-02-14T17:23:11Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Sooo… abduction is permitted in other zones?? or of little boys? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074.md?page=13)