# 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:** 26
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2024, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/501 "2024-04-16T07:12:35Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > I was really surprised while watching a youtube of Seoul South Korea to see that the road signs on the way out of the airport were identical to American billboards – including the interstate shield. I’m guessing they’re an artefact of the Korean War? As a font geek, I’d guess that they were more a “clarity” issue than anything else. White on green shows up just fine, and the font used—and I’ve seen it in the US, Canada, Australia, and Spain—is “Highway Gothic”: > **[Highway Gothic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway_Gothic)** > > Highway Gothic (formally known as the FHWA Series fonts or the Standard Alphabets for Highway Signs) is a sans-serif typeface developed by the United States Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and used for road signage in the Americas, including the U.S., Canada, Latin America and some Caribbean countries, as well as in Asian countries influenced by American signage practices, including the Philippines, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. > Variants, major and minor, but not the ... I like Highway Gothic. As a designer, I’ve used it a number of times when designing something that relates to roads. But the latest trend for transport authorities to use is Clearview: > **[Clearview (typeface)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clearview_(typeface))** > > Clearview, also known as Clearview Hwy, is the name of a humanist sans-serif typeface family for guide signs used on roads in the United States, Canada, Indonesia, the Philippines, Israel, Brazil and Sri Lanka. It was developed by independent researchers with the help of the Texas Transportation Institute and the Pennsylvania Transportation Institute, under the supervision of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). It was once expected to replace the FHWA typefaces in many applications, althou... Locally, they’ve been replacing worn-out Highway Gothic signs with Clearview, as well as bringing signs up-to date with the _Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices_ (MUTCD). Yes, we’re in Canada, but the American MUTCD makes things so clear that it would be a shame not to use it. More on the MUTCD: > **[Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices | Other jurisdictions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manual_on_Uniform_Traffic_Control_Devices#Other_jurisdictions)** > > The United States is among the majority of countries around the world that have not ratified the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals (based primarily on European signage traditions), and the FHWA MUTCD differs significantly from the Vienna Convention. Apart from the 1971 effort to adopt several Vienna Convention-inspired symbol signs (as explained above), achieving worldwide uniformity in traffic control devices was never a priority for AASHTO because the number of motorists driving regul... ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2024, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/502 "2024-04-16T08:05:03Z")
That was my thought too ---
**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:** [April 16, 2024, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/503 "2024-04-16T12:25:14Z")
This was a t-shirt, not a sign, but it was amusing. I’m on a cruise. Some people bring out their inner Clark Gable / Greta Garbo, and others bring out their inner WalMartian. This was one of the latter. An enormous fat man, about 35, not real bright looking, dirty crocs, beat up swim shorts, and a truly huge T-shirt: > Duct Tape Can’t Fix Stupid > [Biig drawing of a thick roll of black tape] > But It Can Muffle The Noise ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2024, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/504 "2024-04-16T15:10:57Z")
> [@Quondam\_Mechanic](#): > > AFAIK, all the US “routes” are concatenations of local roads, so both route and road names apply. Isn’t this the same in just about every country? Of course, in many cases, the town centres have been bypassed so roads that were originally the main highway may now be pedestrianised and traffic-free. You also have the common case that the road leading out of town is often named for the next town along. So you have Woodstock Rd Oxford and Oxford Rd Woodstock. I imagine that this is common too. ---
**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:** [April 16, 2024, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/505 "2024-04-16T16:03:25Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Are you sure they weren’t doing a whisky promotion? LOL!! And no, they definitely were not; in my state, liquor is sold only in state-run shops, while beer / wine can be sold anywhere with the appropriate licensing. There truly was some kind of county-wide teacher appreciation week going on, about then. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2024, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/506 "2024-04-16T18:54:14Z")
Thanks, @Spoons! Now, I’ll know not to be surprised if I see those signs in other countries. It does make sense that if someone has invented the wheel, you don’t need to do it again. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2024, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/507 "2024-04-17T06:33:16Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > For a number of years, I lived in an apartment that was across the street from a mall. One of the anchor stores was Sears. At some point, the top and middlem crossbars of the E on the SEARS sign on the store burned out. The store became known locally as SLARS. Makes me think of The Goof in Toronto, which was officially the Garden Gate restaurant. The sign had the words Good Food, but years ago part of it burned out, so it read Goo F. > **[The Goof](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goof)** > > The Goof, officially the Garden Gate Restaurant, is a well known eatery in the Beaches neighbourhood of Toronto. Founded in 1952, it serves Canadian Chinese cuisine as well as diner fare such as breakfast and hamburgers. Its nickname comes from the restaurant's neon sign. The word "good" is vertical on the sign and "food" horizontal, so when at some point in its history the "d" in "good" burnt out, it read "Goo F". It is today near universally referred to as The Goof by media and locals, while th... ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/508 "2024-04-19T12:39:28Z")
Amusing Sign #508: [![](https://i.imgur.com/n02ld9v.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/n02ld9v.jpg) Is April misspelled intentionally? ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/509 "2024-04-19T17:12:02Z")
Is “cinnamon”? ---
**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:** [April 19, 2024, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/510 "2024-04-19T17:18:12Z")
A few years back, we were eating at a Johnny Rockets. The table had a listing of all their milkshake flavors. such-and-such “made with” this-or-that. yes, the words “made with” were in quotes. I did not know how to interpret that. If it had said something like xxx made with “yyy” I might have surmised that they didn’t use real yyy in the product, but just something yyy-like. Maybe it meant there was some genuine yyy product in the kitchen, and they assumed that by putting “made with” in quotes, that meant it was equivalent to “made in the same kitchen as”??? ---
**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:** [April 19, 2024, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/511 "2024-04-19T17:21:26Z")
Or the person from the staff or whoever set up the menu didn’t know how and when to use quotation marks. There are legions of these people, as I can see every day in real life and on the internet. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/512 "2024-04-19T18:08:17Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > Is “cinnamon”? Heh, I didn’t even read that far. ---
**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:** [April 19, 2024, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/513 "2024-04-19T21:59:02Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > such-and-such “made with” this-or-that. > > yes, the words “made with” were in quotes. > > I did not know how to interpret that. If it had said something like > xxx made with “yyy” I might have surmised that they didn’t use real yyy in the product, but just something yyy-like. > > Maybe it meant there was some genuine yyy product in the kitchen, and they assumed that by putting “made with” in quotes, that meant it was equivalent to “made in the same kitchen as”??? “made with” is an FDA-defined buzzphrase with a specific meaning. Just like “cheese food” is a buzz phrase for a product that isn’t legally cheese, but is cheese-adjacent and starts with at least some real cheese as one ingredient. I suspect the less that fully illiterate person who did the menu knew “made with” was a magic phrase so the intent was > such-and-such made with this-or-that (in accordance with the magic FDA definition of “made with”). Which they shortened to > such-and-such “made with” this-or-that. ---
**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:** [April 20, 2024, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/514 "2024-04-20T14:05:04Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Is April misspelled intentionally? They also misspelled “ripoffs” as “specials”. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > Just like “cheese food” is a buzz phrase for a product that isn’t legally cheese, but is cheese-adjacent and starts with at least some real cheese as one ingredient. “Cheese food” is just cheese that’s been melted and re-solidified. If you’re going to be nitpicky, then every pizza or grilled cheese sandwich uses “cheese food”, rather than cheese, and all “American cheese” is “cheese food”. The stuff with cheese as one of the ingredients (at some minimum percentage) is “cheese food product”. ---
**Author:** ![Eric1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3bc359/32.png) [@Eric1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eric1)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2024, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/515 "2024-05-03T19:54:39Z")
I saw a sign in Spanish on the back of a pickup truck today: No Airbags: Here we die like men. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/516 "2024-05-12T20:34:49Z")
We drove through this yesterday. I was driving, Mrs T took the picture. Oh, and it’s google photos so click for the full picture\> [![Google Photos](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczOWK5TCeosL5pzvskYrj_vdhW0D9s05_qxBjNZ7qPXytxcARZCnc0b4Y8tmcrmmkNZSViAMQGQk68NldOXwAv8JOO4Le-YWmgCw9J3569hvXPEvNPg=w600-h315-p-k "New item by j") ](https://photos.app.goo.gl/22soiPSMMAfi4PoN8) If you’re using your phone and can’t read the sign: [![Google Photos](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczOoKtn1DEq-Ha7mOFntU_Sw1vexulv5LnmFOFvDGbYHffjhxUM-IIxSO8ok7CQmRp4doX6t44mEfw8Hj0uRWnwyqWdUpkVLhNLQ_agZv5T0rurK5NQ=w330-h229-p-k "New item by j") ](https://photos.app.goo.gl/HWnxHTiYvseJ8iMs8) Uhhh - incorrect? Any chance of specifying… how? Or what’s about to happen to me? A little context - this isn’t some tiny junction in the middle of nowhere - this junction is on the M23, the motorway which connects London (and the rest of the country) to Gatwick Airport. Sheesh. .j ---
**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:** [May 13, 2024, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/517 "2024-05-13T07:14:27Z")
I’d guess it means drivers should ignore what’s painted on the road surface, and stick with the roadside directional signs to find the right exit from the roundabout. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/518 "2024-05-13T10:43:28Z")
It’s like seeing the unfolded seasonal signs “Bridge ices before road.” Phrased that way makes it sound like there’s a bridge made out of ice and then the road starts. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/519 "2024-05-13T10:50:18Z")
At my Mother-in-law’s for Mother’s Day yesterday. We were on the porch and I asked her, “hey, how about a quickie?” Then I pointed out her broom/dustpan. [![](https://i.imgur.com/N7q6oIr.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/N7q6oIr.jpeg) ETA: I blame the mimosas. ---
**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:** [May 13, 2024, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074/520 "2024-05-13T18:59:50Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > I’d guess it means drivers should ignore what’s painted on the road surface, and stick with the roadside directional signs to find the right exit from the roundabout. This reminds me of a place nearby where they really SHOULD have markings on the pavement. You need to be in such-and-such lane to go one way on the highway ahead, and so on. These are all clearly indicated on signs over the road. Only, the road curves just before the signs. So, a few hundred feet back, it looks like you need to be in the second lane from the right, when really you need to be in the third from the right, or whatever. It’s one of many reasons we rarely use that route to get to the highway. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074.md?page=25) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amusing-signs/997074.md?page=27)