# Signs or graffiti that give you pause... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 28, 2013, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-or-graffiti-that-give-you-pause/651621 "2013-02-28T11:38:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-or-graffiti-that-give-you-pause/651621/81 "2013-03-04T17:50:43Z")
> [@slightly\_askew](#): > > Not a sign per se, but I saw a license plate last week that was “BLU BYU”. > I wasn’t sure if the owner of the vehicle was attesting to his speeding or his relations with the co-ed population of a certain institution of higher learning in Salt Lake City. I suspect maybe they were fans of the Roy Orbison song “Blue Bayou”, but that’s just literal, unfun, me. > **[Blue Bayou](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Bayou)** > > "Blue Bayou" is a song written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson. It was originally sung and recorded by Orbison, who had an international hit with his version in 1963. It later became Linda Ronstadt's signature song, with which she scored a top 5 hit with her cover in 1977. Many others have since recorded the song. > "Blue Bayou" was originally recorded by Roy Orbison at the end of 1961. In the UK, it was released by London Monument as the double A-side track with "Mean Woman Blues" on a Monument Rec... ---
**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:** [March 4, 2013, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-or-graffiti-that-give-you-pause/651621/82 "2013-03-04T17:55:43Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I suspect maybe they were fans of the Roy Orbison song “Blue Bayou”, but that’s just literal, unfun, me. > > [Blue Bayou - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Bayou) Or maybe Linda Ronstadt’s cover? ---
**Author:** ![slightly\_askew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@slightly\_askew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slightly_askew)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-or-graffiti-that-give-you-pause/651621/83 "2013-03-04T18:33:18Z")
Was unaware of the song… still, it lends itself to multiple interpretations. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-or-graffiti-that-give-you-pause/651621/84 "2013-03-05T00:26:35Z")
This sign is on an island that I beach at frequently. [Don’t be an asshole](http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a162/rbp2/funnysignjpeg_zpsae626be8.jpg) is probably good advice for all of us sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-or-graffiti-that-give-you-pause/651621/85 "2013-03-05T01:53:02Z")
Saw this today on one of those paper towel dispensers in a restroom where your supposed to pull the towel out and then the next one is there ready for the next person. On the side is a little hand doohicky to turn in case the towel didn’t come out. “In case of emergency, turn knob to dispense towel.” Or something like that. Not sure how a towel not being ready is an emergency, but it cracked me up. > [@pullin](#): > > This sign is on an island that I beach at frequently. > > [Don’t be an asshole](http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a162/rbp2/funnysignjpeg_zpsae626be8.jpg) is probably good advice for all of us sometimes. The last rule in the softball league I played in was “No guns and no assholes.” I never saw any guns but the ‘no assholes’ rule was broken constantly. Funny how that happens when you mix middle aged competitive men with alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-or-graffiti-that-give-you-pause/651621/86 "2013-03-05T02:28:21Z")
“Hard hats must be worn on this site”. Oh OK, where can they wear the unscuffed ones? “No entry Authorised personnel only”. So the cops can’t follow me! Form One PLaneT And of course the hardy perennial “This Door is Alarmed” - anyone know a door whisperer? ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-or-graffiti-that-give-you-pause/651621/87 "2013-03-05T05:21:32Z")
I was puzzled a few years ago to see in downtown Kenosha, Wisconsin, signs reading CIVIL WAR TRUCKS—\> It turns out that a Civil War Museum was under construction a few blocks off the main street. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-or-graffiti-that-give-you-pause/651621/88 "2013-03-06T03:18:13Z")
A media team had “liberated” one of those cardboard cutout carnival ride height signs where a clown is holding his pointer finger horizontally. The sign usually says “You must be at least this tall to go on this ride” but one of the cameramen had changed it to read “You must be at least this tall to sniff my finger.” ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-or-graffiti-that-give-you-pause/651621/89 "2013-03-06T09:32:29Z")
This is one of my favorites. I’m still looking for one of those old timey McDs so I can take my own version of this: [Ronald smacking a kid](http://www.guzer.com/pictures/ronald-beat-down.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-or-graffiti-that-give-you-pause/651621/90 "2013-03-06T15:19:18Z")
> [@lorene](#): > > Every morning, on the way to the gym I pass a billboard that informs me: > > Murder… > It’s NOT ok. So, they’ve changed the billboard and now it’s something about Standing up to Bullying. Due to a lack of information about whether murder is OK, I’m going to assume I should murder the bullies. > [@lieu](#): > > I remember one out in the country that read > **Slow > Children > at play** > > Okay, I promise I won’t point. They grow up to be Slow Men Working. > [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > What is with the enormous amounts of blank space that are always in your posts? Is it intentional? > [@CalMeacham](#): > > Generally. > [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Why? To leave room for grafitti. Duh. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-or-graffiti-that-give-you-pause/651621/91 "2013-03-06T19:09:44Z")
> [@Molesworth](#): > > Winding roads in Australia sometimes have a sign reading ‘Do not overtake unless safe’. I like the idea that elsewhere, you can overtake whether it’s safe or not. When I was a little kid we were always driving on roads with alternating passing/no passing zones. The signs just baffled me. First, ‘‘Do not pass.’’ Then, after just a minute or so, ‘‘Pass with care.’’ Then, right after that, ‘‘Do not pass.’’ Why didn’t they just make up their minds?! ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-or-graffiti-that-give-you-pause/651621/92 "2013-03-06T19:24:01Z")
Not far from here is a building with a sign that says “School for the Blind.” Who is that sign for? ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-or-graffiti-that-give-you-pause/651621/93 "2013-03-06T19:29:42Z")
By my Grandparents’ house in North Central Arkansas was this sign where the highway crossed the Strawberry river: [Road Unsafe When Under Water](http://www.funwithsafety.com/wp-content/uploads/jlRVYTmq8sLwadi7qEmX.jpg). We stopped laughing when my Grandfather told us that several times cars had been swept away when trying to cross the flooded highway. The sign didn’t really help much. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-or-graffiti-that-give-you-pause/651621/94 "2013-03-06T20:49:11Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Not far from here is a building with a sign that says “School for the Blind.” > > Who is that sign for? The blind visitors and sightless delivery people who need to find the school? 😉 In an Irish pub in New Orleans I saw some graffiti in the bathroom that said _ **Real Irishmen Kill Their Boss** _. ---
**Author:** ![Anonymous\_Coward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/94ad74/32.png) [@Anonymous\_Coward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anonymous_Coward)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-or-graffiti-that-give-you-pause/651621/95 "2013-03-07T16:09:07Z")
Graffiti in town: “Question Everything!” and under it someone else painted “why?”. I thought it was clever. ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-or-graffiti-that-give-you-pause/651621/96 "2013-03-07T18:34:24Z")
A grade school in Holland named De Pluizenbol (Dandelion fluff) was easily renamed by obscuring the P into “lice riddled noggin” ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-or-graffiti-that-give-you-pause/651621/97 "2013-03-07T19:45:20Z")
This was Fella’s idea. When he was younger he would label the hot air blow dryers in restrooms with labels. And his story cracked me up and so I printed about 20 off for him to carry in his wallet. You know the ones–image of hands washing and then waves of heat. And if you’ve seen “RUB HANDS RECEIVE BACON” right by the symbols… ---
**Author:** ![Pacific420](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Pacific420](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pacific420)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-or-graffiti-that-give-you-pause/651621/98 "2013-03-08T03:27:31Z")
Growing up I lived near a rail switching yard and used to walk through the yard all the time. One box car had some chalk drawing on it (pretty good too), a hobo name and Corpus Christie. Ever since then for some reason I want to go to Corpus Christie, I still think about that hobo mark, the distance that rail car had travelled and the hobo himself. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2013, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-or-graffiti-that-give-you-pause/651621/99 "2013-03-10T21:42:47Z")
Printed in very small letters at the bottom edge of the bathroom stall door, so that you had to lean way down to read it … “You are now shitting at a 45-degree angle.” I like Weird Al Yankovic’s graffiti campaign: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/RGWiTvYZR_w/maxresdefault.jpg ""Weird Al" Yankovic - grammar lesson") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGWiTvYZR_w) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/QgTsF1ZCuRc/maxresdefault.jpg ""Weird Al" Yankovic - public service") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgTsF1ZCuRc) ---
**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:** [March 19, 2013, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-or-graffiti-that-give-you-pause/651621/100 "2013-03-19T05:02:08Z")
Near Kona Int’l Airport (KOA) on the big island of Hawaii, the landscape is black because of all the lava rocks. It almost feels like you’re on the moon. Graffiti there consists of white rocks arranged to form letters and messages. Driving north from KOA, there are lots of messages written this way. So, no particular graffiti message here, just the unique and cool way it’s done there near KOA airport. ETA: [here are a few images](http://www.google.com/search?q=white+rock+graffiti+kona&hl=en&client=safari&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=X_FHUceAJeKE2wX0zYGgCg&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1024&bih=644) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-or-graffiti-that-give-you-pause/651621.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-or-graffiti-that-give-you-pause/651621.md?page=6)