# I saw a nude man, woman, and child on a Canadian highway sign **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 12, 2018, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-nude-man-woman-and-child-on-a-canadian-highway-sign/817764 "2018-07-12T04:25:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2018, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-nude-man-woman-and-child-on-a-canadian-highway-sign/817764/21 "2018-07-12T15:56:32Z")
Those taken aback by simple signage (tourists) are likely to be even more so should they accidentally happen upon an actual naked person, so I’m not seeing how they could win. Better they should simply be on about the signage I suspect. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2018, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-nude-man-woman-and-child-on-a-canadian-highway-sign/817764/22 "2018-07-12T17:14:09Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > Why do they all have the letter “I” on their backs? > [@SlackerInc](#): > > I take that as being a crude depiction of the crease your back muscles make. I think an exclamation mark would be more anatomically appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![xnylder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbce88/32.png) [@xnylder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xnylder)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2018, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-nude-man-woman-and-child-on-a-canadian-highway-sign/817764/23 "2018-07-12T18:04:37Z")
Because French is our only official language, but in reality English and many other languages are widely spoken among locals (not to mention tourists), many Quebec road signs are pictograms. This leads to some[pretty amusing signs](http://www.rsr.transports.gouv.qc.ca/Dispositifs/Accueil.aspx?p=0&ca=GrandeVignette) (note the sinister-looking one for “monastery ahead”). ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2018, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-nude-man-woman-and-child-on-a-canadian-highway-sign/817764/24 "2018-07-12T19:22:04Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Those taken aback by simple signage (tourists) are likely to be even more so should they accidentally happen upon an actual naked person, so I’m not seeing how they could win. Better they should simply be on about the signage I suspect. Maybe so, but would anyone dispute my assertion that this would never fly in the US? ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2018, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-nude-man-woman-and-child-on-a-canadian-highway-sign/817764/25 "2018-07-12T19:52:22Z")
What wouldn’t fly in America? Nudist areas? Signage warning of nudist area? Or just the amusing graphic would be beyond offensive and too graphic? (Really? It’s just a line drawing after all.) ---
**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:** [July 12, 2018, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-nude-man-woman-and-child-on-a-canadian-highway-sign/817764/26 "2018-07-12T19:53:59Z")
Isn’t that sign kiddie porn? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2018, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-nude-man-woman-and-child-on-a-canadian-highway-sign/817764/27 "2018-07-12T20:24:31Z")
> [@xnylder](#): > > Because French is our only official language, but in reality English and many other languages are widely spoken among locals (not to mention tourists), many Quebec road signs are pictograms. This leads to some[pretty amusing signs](http://www.rsr.transports.gouv.qc.ca/Dispositifs/Accueil.aspx?p=0&ca=GrandeVignette) (note the sinister-looking one for “monastery ahead”). The Blessed Convent of the Overlook Hotel? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2018, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-nude-man-woman-and-child-on-a-canadian-highway-sign/817764/28 "2018-07-12T21:59:17Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Or just the amusing graphic would be beyond offensive and too graphic? (Really? It’s just a line drawing after all.) This one. I could never imagine any official signage depicting anyone naked, let alone a child. And I would expect a ton of people to complain if someone used it for private signage. Publicly depicting naked people is just not done. If you must, you have strategic objects to cover private parts (of which the butt counts). ---
**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:** [July 12, 2018, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-nude-man-woman-and-child-on-a-canadian-highway-sign/817764/29 "2018-07-12T22:05:46Z")
> [@xnylder](#): > > Because French is our only official language, but in reality English and many other languages are widely spoken among locals (not to mention tourists), many Quebec road signs are pictograms. This leads to some[pretty amusing signs](http://www.rsr.transports.gouv.qc.ca/Dispositifs/Accueil.aspx?p=0&ca=GrandeVignette) (note the sinister-looking one for “monastery ahead”). I was wondering about the blue one with a picture of a slice of cheese. “Welcome to… the Cheeseway!” (“_Bienvenue à la route des fromages!_”) And what was the one warning of four pine trees? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2018, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-nude-man-woman-and-child-on-a-canadian-highway-sign/817764/30 "2018-07-12T22:25:22Z")
I couldn’t find those two, but the blue ones with a “bienvenue” are tourist routes. There was one for the fjords, one for historic Nouvelle-France, and so on. So I imagine the cheese one was for an area that specialized in cheese production, with area tourists could visit, try sample, buy cheese, and so on. I believe the québécois cheese-makers have been blessed with the secret recipe for Venezuelan beaver cheese and have successfully adapted it to local conditions. ---
**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:** [July 12, 2018, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-nude-man-woman-and-child-on-a-canadian-highway-sign/817764/31 "2018-07-12T22:47:55Z")
The cheese one had no words, just the cheese icon. I’ve been looking through the list, and there are a lot of these tourist symbols. Fromagerie (cheeseworks); skiing area, waterslide… Some of them are awfully specific. “Motoquad sur chenilles” (four-wheeler on tracks)? “Cyclisme aérienne” (Aerial cycling? I wonder whether some of them have been used exactly once, but still had to be put in the catalogue. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2018, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-nude-man-woman-and-child-on-a-canadian-highway-sign/817764/32 "2018-07-12T23:39:47Z")
I can’t believe people are put out by this sign. Yes, Quebec does use pictorial signs because they won’t permit English. I think this sign mildly amusing, that’s all. The worst sign I have ever seen is not pictorial and the French is pretty near incomprehensible. I don’t recall the exact wording, but it means “protected left on flashing green”. It is actually a very good idea but no one outside of Quebec has adopted. It means any ordinary traffic light can be converted to one with a protected left turn while not needing a left arrow. Tourists will not understand the sign and will not react to the flashing green. ---
**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:** [July 12, 2018, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-nude-man-woman-and-child-on-a-canadian-highway-sign/817764/33 "2018-07-12T23:50:41Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > …It means any ordinary traffic light can be converted to one with a protected left turn while not needing a left arrow. We had that in Ontario too, but they’ve been gradually getting rid of them. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2018, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-nude-man-woman-and-child-on-a-canadian-highway-sign/817764/34 "2018-07-12T23:59:08Z")
And in Sask. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-nude-man-woman-and-child-on-a-canadian-highway-sign/817764/35 "2018-07-13T00:00:17Z")
Would “Cyclisme aérien” be trick cycling on ramps and jumps? ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-nude-man-woman-and-child-on-a-canadian-highway-sign/817764/36 "2018-07-13T00:02:36Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > What wouldn’t fly in America? > > Nudist areas? > > Signage warning of nudist area? > > Or just the amusing graphic would be beyond offensive and too graphic? (Really? It’s just a line drawing after all.) We have nude beaches, and signs warning about them. We don’t have official notifications about them out on the freeway (maybe that point was missed: this was not where anyone would be walking along, about to wander into something they weren’t expecting—clearly the intent was to bring people in rather than warn them away). And certainly not with pictures. People would be outraged not that this line drawing exists somewhere, but that tax dollars paid for it to be commissioned and government workers installed it as an official wayfinding sign on the interstate. > [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I don’t recall the exact wording, but it means “protected left on flashing green”. It is actually a very good idea but no one outside of Quebec has adopted. It means any ordinary traffic light can be converted to one with a protected left turn while not needing a left arrow. Tourists will not understand the sign and will not react to the flashing green. Yes, we have been gradually figuring this out on our own, without signage (my French is pretty good). I understood pretty quickly that it protected turning left; I was at first unsure whether one could also go straight. ---
**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:** [July 13, 2018, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-nude-man-woman-and-child-on-a-canadian-highway-sign/817764/37 "2018-07-13T00:45:02Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Would “Cyclisme aérien” be trick cycling on ramps and jumps? If I’m understanding the description right, it’s like pedaling along a zipline. I think. ---
**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:** [July 13, 2018, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-nude-man-woman-and-child-on-a-canadian-highway-sign/817764/38 "2018-07-13T00:47:58Z")
I understand that the tourist-attraction signs out by the (provincial) highway in Ontario are paid for by the business; the MTO\* just installs them. \*Ministry of Transportation of Ontario ---
**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:** [July 13, 2018, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-nude-man-woman-and-child-on-a-canadian-highway-sign/817764/39 "2018-07-13T00:51:34Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > If I’m understanding the description right, it’s like pedaling along a zipline. I think. Yes: [https://www.audiablevert.com/en/vélovolant---canopy-cycle.htm](https://www.audiablevert.com/en/v%C3%A9lovolant---canopy-cycle.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-nude-man-woman-and-child-on-a-canadian-highway-sign/817764/40 "2018-07-13T01:08:08Z")
> [@xnylder](#): > > Because French is our only official language, but in reality English and many other languages are widely spoken among locals (not to mention tourists), many Quebec road signs are pictograms. This leads to some[pretty amusing signs](http://www.rsr.transports.gouv.qc.ca/Dispositifs/Accueil.aspx?p=0&ca=GrandeVignette) (note the sinister-looking one for “monastery ahead”). What’s going on with [this sign](http://www.rsr.transports.gouv.qc.ca/Dispositifs/Details.aspx?cid=13644&che=INDCT-EQUTO-PICTG&cat=PICTG&p=28&ca=PetiteVignette) then? It doesn’t look like either of them are wearing any clothes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-nude-man-woman-and-child-on-a-canadian-highway-sign/817764.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-nude-man-woman-and-child-on-a-canadian-highway-sign/817764.md?page=3)