What is the most funny sign you read that didn't translate?
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Jan 4th, 2004, 04:01 PM
#5
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I live in Brooklyn, NY near a Chinese Supermarket, and in the parking lot they have a sign written in Chinese and underneath the Chinese they have it translated to English:
No cars parking here will be dragged away.
I think they mean you will be towed away if you are not a customer. I've been getting a kick out of it for the last 7 years going to and from the subway to and from work every day
No cars parking here will be dragged away.
I think they mean you will be towed away if you are not a customer. I've been getting a kick out of it for the last 7 years going to and from the subway to and from work every day
Jan 4th, 2004, 04:09 PM
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Before we went to Italy this summer, I read a book (can't remember which one...) about Italy that talked about the fairly widespread kidnapping that happens (or used to happen) in southern Italy.
While walking down the street in Orvieto, we saw a sign that looked just like a man with a briefcase grabbing the hand of a girl with pigtails and running away with her. I turned to my husband and said, "I think we just entered the kidnapping-free zone."
We thought it was so funny, we took a picture of it and tell that to our friends when we go through our pictures. They are shocked for just a second, until they realize it is a school zone sign.
While walking down the street in Orvieto, we saw a sign that looked just like a man with a briefcase grabbing the hand of a girl with pigtails and running away with her. I turned to my husband and said, "I think we just entered the kidnapping-free zone."
We thought it was so funny, we took a picture of it and tell that to our friends when we go through our pictures. They are shocked for just a second, until they realize it is a school zone sign.
Jan 4th, 2004, 06:35 PM
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You'd think a sign with only pics and symbols would require no translation, especially if you're already in an English speaking country. But...
Ireland. The traditional yellow diamond sign. At the top is a car, careening on two wheels, debris flying off to the side. Below the car symbol is the picture of a stick figure running for it's life.
Seriously, we see these all over Ireland. Anybody know the actual meaning? Even our cousins there in Ireland don't know, but speculate they may mean "Beware the Irish driver"
Jan 4th, 2004, 06:54 PM
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Try www.engrish.com
Jan 5th, 2004, 01:49 AM
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Here is a list of signs seen around
the world.
1) Cocktail lounge, Norway:
LADIES ARE REQUESTED NOT TO HAVE CHILDREN IN THE BAR.
2) At a Budapest zoo:
PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS. IF YOU HAVE ANY
SUITABLE FOOD, GIVE IT TO THE GUARD ON DUTY.
3) Doctors office, Rome:
SPECIALIST IN WOMEN AND OTHER DISEASES.
4) Hotel, Acapulco:
THE MANAGER HAS PERSONALLY PASSED ALL THE WATER SERVED
HERE.
5) Information booklet about using a hotel air
conditioner, Japan:
COOLES AND HEATES: IF YOU WANT CONDITION OF WARM AIR
IN YOUR ROOM, PLEASE CONTROL YOURSELF.
6) Car rental brochure, Tokyo:
WHEN PASSENGER OF FOOT HEAVE IN SIGHT, TOOTLE THE
HORN. TRUMPET HIM MELODIOUSLY AT FIRST, BUT IF HE
STILL OBSTACLES YOUR PASSAGE THEN TOOTLE HIM WITH
VIGOUR.
7) In a Nairobi restaurant:
CUSTOMERS WHO FIND OUR WAITRESSES RUDE OUGHT TO SEE
THE MANAGER.
8) On the grounds of a private school:
NO TRESPASSING WITHOUT PERMISSION.
9) On an Athi River highway:
TAKE NOTICE: WHEN THIS SIGN IS UNDER WATER, THIS ROAD
IS IMPASSABLE.
10) On a poster at Kencom:
ARE YOU AN ADULT THAT CANNOT READ? IF SO, WE CAN
HELP.
11) In a City restaurant:
OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK, AND WEEKENDS TOO.
12) One of the Mathare buildings:
MENTAL HEALTH PREVENTION CENTRE.
13) In a cemetery:
PERSONS ARE PROHIBITED FROM PICKING FLOWERS FROM ANY
BUT THEIR OWN GRAVES.
14) Tokyo hotel's rules and regulations:
GUESTS ARE REQUESTED NOT TO SMOKE OR DO OTHER
DISGUSTING BEHAVIOURS IN BED.
15) On the menu of a Swiss restaurant:
OUR WINES LEAVE YOU NOTHING TO HOPE FOR.
16) Hotel room notice, Chiang-Mai, Thailand:
PLEASE DO NOT BRING SOLICITORS INTO YOUR ROOM.
17) Hotel brochure, Italy:
THIS HOTEL IS RENOWNED FOR ITS PEACE AND SOLITUDE. IN
FACT, CROWDS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD FLOCK HERE TO
ENJOY ITS SOLITUDE.
18) Hotel elevator, Paris:
PLEASE LEAVE YOUR VALUES AT THE FRONT DESK.
19) Hotel, Japan:
YOU ARE INVITED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE CHAMBERMAID.
20) Supermarket, Hong Kong:
FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE, WE RECOMMEND COURTEOUS,
EFFICIENT SELF-SERVICE.
21) Hotel, Zurich:
BECAUSE OF THE IMPROPRIETY OF ENTERTAINING GUESTS OF
THE OPPOSITE SEX IN THE BEDROOM, IT IS SUGGESTED THAT
THE LOBBY BE USED FOR THIS PURPOSE.
22) A laundry in Rome:
LADIES, LEAVE YOUR CLOTHES HERE AND SPEND THE
AFTERNOON HAVING A GOOD TIME.
23) Tourist agency, Czechoslovakia:
TAKE ONE OF OUR HORSE-DRIVEN CITY TOURS. WE GUARANTEE
NO MISCARRIAGES.
24) The box of a clockwork toy made in Hong Kong:
GUARANTEED TO WORK THROUGHOUT ITS USEFUL LIFE.
25) Airline ticket office, Copenhagen:
WE TAKE YOUR BAGS AND SEND THEM IN ALL DIRECTIONS.
Jan 5th, 2004, 04:41 AM
#15
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These are photos of my favorites from the UK:
http://mightymac.org/gb039.JPG
http://mightymac.org/gb044.JPG
http://mightymac.org/gb087.JPG
Keith
http://mightymac.org/gb039.JPG
http://mightymac.org/gb044.JPG
http://mightymac.org/gb087.JPG
Keith
Jan 5th, 2004, 04:46 AM
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I love all of these!
I can add to Keith's picture of the sign saying "elderly persons"....
one year I saw one that also said elderly persons, but was illustrated by two hunched over silhouettes walking with canes.
I also liked (and still don't understand!) the sign I read in England that said, "Rising Bollucks!"
Annette
I can add to Keith's picture of the sign saying "elderly persons"....
one year I saw one that also said elderly persons, but was illustrated by two hunched over silhouettes walking with canes.
I also liked (and still don't understand!) the sign I read in England that said, "Rising Bollucks!"
Annette
Jan 5th, 2004, 04:59 AM
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In England, there were two:
Dead Slow
Children Crossing
(were these zombie kids?)
A sign for hand made cards:
Hand Jobs
(didn't even bother explaining this to my mother)
Where I live, there's a sign for "Modern Man Modifications" meaning tatoos, piercings, etc.
Dead Slow
Children Crossing
(were these zombie kids?)
A sign for hand made cards:
Hand Jobs
(didn't even bother explaining this to my mother)
Where I live, there's a sign for "Modern Man Modifications" meaning tatoos, piercings, etc.
Jan 5th, 2004, 05:36 PM
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I remember being amused with two common signs while living in Paris:
A common sign at construction sites is "Chantier Interdit", which always made me think "Singing is forbidden"
(Chanter = to sing, interdit = forbidden . . . chantier, the real word used, means work site)
Another one outside stores that could do passport photos said something like "Photographs qui vous rassembler dans 2 minutes". Made me think: "Photographs that resemble you in 2 minutes", as though they would just look through some stock pictures they had on hand and would pick some that looked like you. (Rassembler means that you can take them with you in 2 minutes).
A common sign at construction sites is "Chantier Interdit", which always made me think "Singing is forbidden"
(Chanter = to sing, interdit = forbidden . . . chantier, the real word used, means work site)
Another one outside stores that could do passport photos said something like "Photographs qui vous rassembler dans 2 minutes". Made me think: "Photographs that resemble you in 2 minutes", as though they would just look through some stock pictures they had on hand and would pick some that looked like you. (Rassembler means that you can take them with you in 2 minutes).
