# Bathroom signs **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 6, 2017, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-signs/779140 "2017-02-06T02:21:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-signs/779140/41 "2017-02-07T02:54:06Z")
**OBJECTS IN MIRROR APPEAR LARGER THAN THEY ACTUALLY ARE** I put that up at work one April Fool’s Day. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-signs/779140/42 "2017-02-07T14:40:26Z")
My old office used to have cavernous stalls (meaning the door was far away from the toilet) and the locking system on the doors was one of those push-button ones, which I never trusted. I went into the bathroom one day to a sign saying “The lock doesn’t work, please knock first”. I have to wonder how many people were walked in in before it necessitated the sign. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-signs/779140/43 "2017-02-07T15:31:27Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Oh sorry. I’ve lived in Ohio for my entire life (in the city adjacent to Hudson(?)). Every third building and business is named “Western Reserve Something” so the origin of the phrase is neither noteworthy nor “mind blowing” for me by this point, d00d. Bummmmmer. But, you know, Connecticut… the flyover state of New England, we gotta grab what glory we can. I guess I will throw in another mirror sign, the frosted letters across the tiny rearview mirror of my Cobra: \*\*OBJECTS IN MIRROR ARE LOSING \*\* Hey, it made a CHP laugh. No, I wasn’t getting a ticket, just hadn’t put my updated reg sticker on yet and it was an excuse to pull me over and chat. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-signs/779140/44 "2017-02-07T15:39:02Z")
I always think bathroom signs are funny when they’re in Braille and the sign is located over the door for the bathroom. Who’s going to be able to reed that? ---
**Author:** ![somepumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@somepumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/somepumpkin)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-signs/779140/45 "2017-02-07T17:08:04Z")
I’ve seen that first one from \*\*jtur88 \*\*showing-up throughout SE Asia. I assumed it was to tell the residents how to use this new-style toilet. This other one was in a chemical plant in Asia. It’s interesting that the dehydration scale values are in English while the rest of the sign is written in some alien script. The plant was producing sulfuric acid and perhaps there’s a greater need to monitor one’s personal hydration in environments like that. [[3 new items added to shared album] Misc - Temp ![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AJFCJaVssKZkp2xuUB6qILI4VQB5QPZXG_No1daQfDtnb_1_KfShXNaDCT8J3JFNQwLL1-1FxLhMQ12woxQYLb-tSWjewnahN8opFxAuMXhX0_auSGBvNmA=w525-h315-p-k "Misc - Temp") ](https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipOxeQ4-cVH3jn0Ma0v3B59kEl6Yc0bf07KlITHNdvrGsxdYyb_3VXFKagMVRzDU4A?key=M3duYURsX1NsT2R2VElTUVRTMVFRUFdEMFZZV0lR) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-signs/779140/46 "2017-02-07T17:41:57Z")
I have one I picked up in an antique store, and have it over the toilet in the guest bathroom. It has a Santa Fe logo and says “Do not flush while train is in station”. Because those older passenger cars don’t have tanks - they just dumped your crap down the center of the track. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-signs/779140/47 "2017-02-07T17:54:11Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Some signs can be [misunderstood.](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/65/04/60/650460cce5d545426e05d38cc5cf5516.jpg) Classic Don Martin. I loved that guy. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-signs/779140/48 "2017-02-07T18:22:36Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Classic Don Martin. I loved that guy. The only person on earth instantly associated with the phrase, “hinge-footed.” ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2017, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-signs/779140/49 "2017-02-09T04:12:54Z")
Many years ago I was in Lagos, Nigeria on a business trip. I remember, the first sign I saw after getting off the airplane was this, on a building at the airport: “ **DO NOT URINATE AGAINST THIS WALL** ” I also liked the one at our hotel, next to the elevator doors: “ **Do not interfere with the doors closing, as it damages the lift machinery** ” ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2017, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-signs/779140/50 "2017-02-09T04:40:56Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Seen mostly in German-speaking countries, although the last time I saw one was in France, signs explaining how to use the toilet brush. I’m gonna need that sign. Toilet brush? In a public toilet? Is it for the toilet or the user? > [@Ambivalid](#): > > What? Is this not a ‘thing’ in the non-handicap stalls? It definitely is for the handicap accessible stalls. A “shit bomb” exploding is the only way to describe what I find. For the life of me I cannot imagine what could happen to result in such an “accident”. In a handicap accessible stall? Probably a colostomy or ileostomy bag being emptied by someone sitting in a wheelchair and it went awry. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2017, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-signs/779140/51 "2017-02-09T04:50:28Z")
We have a couple unisex restrooms at work and IT was directed to make and post the following sign in each: GUYS - IF YOU SPRINKLE WHEN YOU TINKLE BE NEAT AND LIFT THE SEAT On the chuckle scale it beats the daylights out of the urine-color-hydration chart posted everywhere else. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2017, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-signs/779140/52 "2017-02-09T06:58:24Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Hipster for “Google”. > 😉 _Ancient_ hipster. I associate it with people talking about the Google Groups Usenet access, because Google grabbed the DejaNews archives to populate its newsgroup databases. Hence Gooja, for the merger of Google and Deja. It was a nice little service until Google crapped it up so bad you can’t even find a post by its MessageID anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2017, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-signs/779140/53 "2017-02-09T18:58:05Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > Under the category of misused quotation marks, I saw this in a restaurant bathroom a while back: > > EMPLOYEES MUST WASH HANDS WITH “SOAP AND WATER” BEFORE RETURNING TO WORK. > > Uh…OK. It was a pretty good restaurant though. Most of the McDonald’s around here have signs that just say “Employees must wash hands”. My reaction: “Uh, I’d like to wash my own hands, please.” ---
**Author:** ![marking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4da419/32.png) [@marking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marking)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-signs/779140/54 "2017-02-10T01:20:56Z")
"Employees must return to work after washing their hands " Ba-da-boom ! ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-signs/779140/55 "2017-02-10T02:00:42Z")
Back when I was in college I went out with friends to a nearby tavern. I had to use the ladies room and while sitting I saw a picture on the side of the stall. It was a small picture of a mostly naked man, with a little trapdoor over his genitals. Looked like a Tarzan loincloth. The sign said \*\*“DO NOT RAISE THIS TRAPDOOR!!” \*\*So of course I tried lifting it up. As I did a buzzer sounded outside the ladies room, and I realized that damned loincloth was a tempting trap, so that **everyone** outside knew I’d tried to peek. I hadn’t been the only victim though, and there were others, as none of us women wanted to be the only one caught. ---
**Author:** ![that\_darn\_cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/59ef9b/32.png) [@that\_darn\_cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/that_darn_cat)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-signs/779140/56 "2017-02-10T03:10:20Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > We have a couple unisex restrooms at work and IT was directed to make and post the following sign in each: > > GUYS - IF YOU SPRINKLE > WHEN YOU TINKLE > BE NEAT > AND LIFT THE SEAT > > On the chuckle scale it beats the daylights out of the urine-color-hydration chart posted everywhere else. Version I’ve seen: If you sprinkle when you tinkle, Be a sweetie, wipe the seatie. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-signs/779140/57 "2017-02-10T05:10:40Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > That was the answer I was looking for. I find it hilarious that Connecticut had a “Western Reserve” on the Lakes. > > (Actually, most of the original colonies “owned” all the land between their northern and southern borders, all the way across the then-unknown US.) > > For bonus points, explain why Johns Hopkins U/Hospital is named that. 🙂 It was named for the benefactor named Johns Hopkins. Was that also supposed to be mind blowing? 😕 And yes, his name was Johns. It was his mother’s maiden name or something like that. Family name. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-signs/779140/58 "2017-02-10T13:32:14Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > I’m gonna need that sign. Toilet brush? In a public toilet? Is it for the toilet or the user? The one for the toilet, yes in a public toilet, and I’ve encountered toilet brushes in public or semi-public toilets (restaurants, offices, malls…) all over Western Europe. I realize they’re rare in the US. The signs vary, but they’re basically cartoons similar to the one about not squatting on the toilet. There will be a toon using the brush in different ways with big NO!!!s, and finally one using it right with the local version of YES!!! Some have the NOs in different sizes and with different amount of exclamation marks depending on how wrong the action depicted is. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-signs/779140/59 "2017-02-10T14:29:22Z")
Years ago in Indonesia most toilets were flushed via a bucket of water, which you filled from the convenient cistern built, often a small concrete/tile tub like structure, called a mandy. The cistern water was also used for bathing, using a scoop, and refilled from a faucet which fed into it. Problem was white people were confused and thought it was a bathtub of weird dimensions, and would climb into the thing. As a result, often when you’d go into the washroom there would be a sign saying “Do Not Get In Mandy!”. Of course the other issue was persons naive enough to cimb into the mandy rarely knew that’s what it was called so didn’t understand the sign at all! ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-signs/779140/60 "2017-02-10T14:34:26Z")
You came and you climbed in for bathing, but I need you to stay out of Mandy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-signs/779140.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathroom-signs/779140.md?page=4)