# Why do stop signs ALWAYS say "STOP" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 19, 2000, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-stop-signs-always-say-stop/37486 "2000-10-19T01:35:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-stop-signs-always-say-stop/37486/1 "2000-10-19T01:35:00Z")
In other countries, I mean. The only place I’ve encountered that has lots of roads that has the STOP in a different language is in Quebec, where they properly say “Arret” (with the accent or something). However, in every European country myself and my girlfriend have been to (about 12), they ALL say “STOP.” Why not “Arret” in France? Or whatever language the country speaks. They say “stop” in Slovenia, Poland, Germany, Austria, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Sweden, etc…why?? They look identical to the stop signs in the US. Odd. I could understand in Germany since the word is the same…but not the rest. Jman ---
**Author:** ![woolly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ebca7d/32.png) [@woolly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woolly)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-stop-signs-always-say-stop/37486/2 "2000-10-19T02:02:49Z")
The fact that you recognised them as stop signs, despite probably not speaking the local language, would probably be the best indication of both the why and the wisdom of this convention. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ignoscop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/94ad74/32.png) [@ignoscop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ignoscop)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-stop-signs-always-say-stop/37486/3 "2000-10-19T02:02:53Z")
They used to say Arret in France, they changed over in the late 60’s, when the other signs got standardized. I guess they thought a wordless sign too subtle. As to needing to be in your own language, not necessarily. We could get along the first day with Halt. And how long would it take you to figure out Arret? I caught on the first corner I turned in France, coming out of the rental lot. Not a bad learning curve. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-stop-signs-always-say-stop/37486/4 "2000-10-19T02:08:41Z")
> [@](#): > > I caught on the first corner I turned in France, coming out of the rental lot. Not a bad learning curve. corner you turned. . .not. . .bad. . .CURVE. . . AHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!! ---
**Author:** ![TheBori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ee7513/32.png) [@TheBori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBori)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-stop-signs-always-say-stop/37486/5 "2000-10-19T02:24:47Z")
When I was in Russia I was surprised to see red octagonal signs with the Cyrillic (sp?) letters CTO{pi} pronounced…you guessed it…STOP. It set me back. Here was a sign that, at first glance was unpronounceable to me but turned out to be a good ol’ stop sign. Very interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-stop-signs-always-say-stop/37486/6 "2000-10-19T02:27:57Z")
Why do stop signs ALWAYS say “STOP”? Because if they said “TEATS” there would be alot of accidents. ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-stop-signs-always-say-stop/37486/7 "2000-10-19T02:29:26Z")
Well, believe it or not, the word “arrêt” is incorrect and treated as a regionalism (i.e. Quebec) by the supreme powers of linguistic good taste (residing in France). The correct term, _in French_, is…STOP. French is my mother tongue and, to this day, this remains a mystery to me. A universal, wordless, red octogonal sign would, in my opinion, be the most logical solution. This “form” undoubtedly ranks as one of the most recognizable in the world today. ---
**Author:** ![Renton\_lvr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7feea3/32.png) [@Renton\_lvr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renton_lvr)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-stop-signs-always-say-stop/37486/8 "2000-10-19T02:37:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jman \* > **The only place I’ve encountered that has lots of roads that has the STOP in a different language is in Quebec, where they properly say “Arret” (with the accent or something** Actually there are some areas here in Montreal where the signs say Stop and some that are bilingual as well as the unilingual French ones. There has been much debate over the issue in past years because it is known that it is pretty standard to have STOP even in countries like France but having it say STOP contradicts Bills 101 and 178. I really think the fact that most stop signs in Quebec are French has to do with rampant Anglophobia. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-stop-signs-always-say-stop/37486/9 "2000-10-19T02:48:29Z")
The French word **stop** is derived from the English word, according to my Petit Larousse. The word for “stop sign” in German is “Stoppschild”, but I was under the impression that the signs themselves said “Halt” in Germany. (But I’ve never been there, so I couldn’t really say.) ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-stop-signs-always-say-stop/37486/10 "2000-10-19T03:10:14Z")
I think the road signs are adopted by some international convention and mostly have no words. The Stop sign says stop by international convention. It seems there are a few people out there who consider collecting photos of international road signs is worth their time and effort. Check out: [http://www.geog.okstate.edu/users/lightfoot/stop/stop.htm](http://www.geog.okstate.edu/users/lightfoot/stop/stop.htm) [http://members.aol.com/rcmoeur/r1.html](http://members.aol.com/rcmoeur/r1.html) [http://www.raspbrry.demon.co.uk/roadsigns/gallery.html](http://www.raspbrry.demon.co.uk/roadsigns/gallery.html) [http://www.ips.be/\_wbm/rcoulst.htm](http://www.ips.be/_wbm/rcoulst.htm) ---
**Author:** ![RESOL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecc23a/32.png) [@RESOL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RESOL)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-stop-signs-always-say-stop/37486/11 "2000-10-19T03:37:18Z")
The USA is the worlds largest Stop Sign producer cornering 95% percent of the market. Since English stop signs are stock they are cheeper, other languges require a set up fee and a custom printing fee, so many countries just order the STOP to save some money ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-stop-signs-always-say-stop/37486/12 "2000-10-19T04:15:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RESOL \* > The USA is the worlds largest Stop Sign producer cornering 95% percent of the market. No doubt because the US is also the biggest consumer of stop signs. From what I understand, something like half of all stop signs are in the US. Partly for that reason, it’s the only sign that they took unchanged from the US when they standardized international signs. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-stop-signs-always-say-stop/37486/13 "2000-10-19T04:31:34Z")
For the record, Israeli stop signs don’t have _anything_ written on them. Just a big, white hand. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-stop-signs-always-say-stop/37486/14 "2000-10-19T04:43:15Z")
if someone is implying the Stop signs are exported from the US, I hope it is with tongue firmly placed in cheek. International signs are divided by categories: triangular, round, etc. and have no words. The US has its own system with words in English. The old international stop sign was a triangle but it was then considered the stop sign was important enough to deserve a category of its own and the American sign was adopted internationally. The US has made a faint effort towards adopting the international signs , sometimes adding words, like the wrong way sign. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-stop-signs-always-say-stop/37486/15 "2000-10-19T05:26:34Z")
> [@](#): > > if someone is implying the Stop signs are exported from the US, I hope it is with tongue firmly placed in cheek. As a matter of fact, Stop signs _were_ exported from the U.S. to Mexico in the 60’s by a large corporation, free of charge. All the signs in Tijuana said “Alto” on the front, and “Pepsi” on the back. ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-stop-signs-always-say-stop/37486/16 "2000-10-19T13:24:48Z")
Dang it, Fear beat me to it. I was going to mention that stop signs in Mexico say _ALTO_. ---
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2000, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-stop-signs-always-say-stop/37486/17 "2000-10-20T19:50:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Renton\_lvr \* > \*\*I really think the fact that most stop signs in Quebec are French has to do with rampant Anglophobia. \*\* Yup, that’s why. I believe it was the Francophone Police in the 1970s that made that change. ---
**Author:** ![zzcool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@zzcool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zzcool)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2010, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-stop-signs-always-say-stop/37486/18 "2010-12-26T09:05:13Z")
in sweden the word stop means stop it’s the same word ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2010, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-stop-signs-always-say-stop/37486/19 "2010-12-26T11:10:28Z")
Stop signs can also be used to bludgen zombies. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2010, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-stop-signs-always-say-stop/37486/20 "2010-12-26T12:59:30Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > For the record, Israeli stop signs don’t have _anything_ written on them. Just a big, white hand. Sounds to _me_ like they’re pledging fealty to Saruman. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-stop-signs-always-say-stop/37486.md?page=2)