# Here's your sign? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 13, 2006, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-your-sign/368516 "2006-08-13T03:29:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-your-sign/368516/1 "2006-08-13T03:29:17Z")
I don’t usually watch redneck comedy, but I’ve got Comedy Central on and they’re having such a show. The guy kept saying, ‘Here’s your sign.’ The audience thinks it’s funny. Why? To what does the phrase refer? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-your-sign/368516/2 "2006-08-13T03:30:24Z")
Bill Engvall. “Some people are so stupid they ought to be made to wear a sign around their neck so you’d know not to ask them anything.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-your-sign/368516/3 "2006-08-13T03:31:19Z")
Ah. That makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-your-sign/368516/4 "2006-08-13T03:31:30Z")
“Here’s your sign.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-your-sign/368516/5 "2006-08-13T04:10:28Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > Why? To what does the phrase refer? Here’s your sign. 🙂 Jest kidding, of course. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-your-sign/368516/6 "2006-08-13T04:10:59Z")
He uses it to demonstrate when people asking stupid questions. He had one on himself, when his son, who is apparently quite a piano player, told him he was going to play the theme from _Harry Potter_. Bill said, “Oh, from the movie?” Another time, his plane landed at a tiny airport and hit a deer while taxing to the gate. When he told his wife the plane had hit a deer, she said, “Oh my God! Were you on the ground?” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-your-sign/368516/7 "2006-08-13T04:21:14Z")
Yeah, that’s the routine. (No idea when it was taped.) Only he didn’t actually have any signs. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-your-sign/368516/8 "2006-08-13T11:42:57Z")
I’ve only heard audio of Bill Engvall. Did he ever do the “L on the forehead” to illustrate said sign? I always had the impression that’s what the sign was. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-your-sign/368516/9 "2006-08-13T14:12:36Z")
In the bit I saw last night he pantomimed handing someone a sign. Perhaps he explained the sign thing earlier, but I just sort of channel surfed over to CC and wasn’t really paying attention to the show. Later there was ‘Larry the Cable Guy’ (I’ve never seen the film), who kept saying 'Get ‘r done’. Again, he may have explained it when I wasn’t paying attention, but I got the impression that it was a tag-line that everyone already knew. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-your-sign/368516/10 "2006-08-13T15:14:09Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > I’ve only heard audio of Bill Engvall. Did he ever do the “L on the forehead” to illustrate said sign? I always had the impression that’s what the sign was. It’s actually a literal sign saying “I’m Stupid” worn around somebody’s neck. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-your-sign/368516/11 "2006-08-13T22:12:36Z")
The phrase “Here’s your sign” is a more recent addition to the “stupid sign” bit. Bill Engvall has been around much longer than than the others. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-your-sign/368516/12 "2006-08-13T22:27:20Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > The phrase “Here’s your sign” is a more recent addition to the “stupid sign” bit. Bill Engvall has been around much longer than than the others. Yeah, he used to explain the concept of the Sign before he’d do the “Here’s Your Sign” thing. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-your-sign/368516/13 "2006-08-13T22:45:35Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > In the bit I saw last night he pantomimed handing someone a sign. > > Perhaps he explained the sign thing earlier, but I just sort of channel surfed over to CC and wasn’t really paying attention to the show. Later there was ‘Larry the Cable Guy’ (I’ve never seen the film), who kept saying 'Get ‘r done’. Again, he may have explained it when I wasn’t paying attention, but I got the impression that it was a tag-line that everyone already knew. I think ‘git r done’ is just a stupid catchphrase that doesn’t actually refer to anything. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-your-sign/368516/14 "2006-08-13T22:49:48Z")
Mad magazine should sue.