Signs, Signs, Everywhere There's Signs!!

sarasphotos

OK, now that I'm back I'll post a few... I just love this thread. I take pictures of signs for many reasons - some because they're funny or ironic, some because they're creative pieces of art or interestingly shaped and some because of the translation mishaps.

1) Here's one of the loveliest public toilet signs I've ever seen:



2) Questionable taste...


3) I'm particularly fond of "The Ham Cave"




4) This was at King's College, Cambridge for some special event




5) I wondered if this was synonomus for "easy targets"...


6) I've only ever seen this sort of sign in France...


7) Well, at least they're honest!


Cheers, Sara

Stumblebum

I need to hire a luxury toilet just to check it out!

Sam

Asign you should pay attention to!

Earache

^^^ Good ones Sara!!
I've never seen an Elderly people warning sign... lol :giggle
It's so cute... they seem to be holding hands... perhaps they merged?

Also, I wonder if anyone sells the Fake Fake Watches ?

In #2, I can't say specifically about that item, but I was surprised to learn that in the U.S., there is a
recognized category of collectible vintage-era art and objects that depict such themes, and when
possessed, displayed, and understood in that context (objects of historical significance),
they are not considered offensive/objectionable... although, I imagine for some, it's still a (understandably) debatable issue.
Some of the items I saw appraised were amazingly valuable.

willard3

Free tasting, oil in this case

sarasphotos

@Willard3: so I'm curious, is she a piñata? With a nose like that she should be able to judge the smell of the oil very well...

@Eric: The Elderly People sign was in Cambridge - took it on the same day as the Classical Toilets sign... I can't decide what that says about our British friends...

As far as the #2 sign goes - I know objects of this art are often collectors items and I find them interesting as period pieces although I am still not quite sure about the political correctness of their contemporary usage. But then here in Europe I find that often things are not so overly politically correct as in the US. Sometimes I find it jarring, sometimes refreshing... [But I don't want to turn this into a political correctness discussion!!!]

On a lighter note, here's another sign I found directly adjacent to the "Genuine Fake Watches" place at Ephesus in Turkey. Did you know you could take a taxi to see the Virgin Mary??

willard3

She's an outside advertisement on the street, Sara, and about life-size.

Placed in front of the oil-maker's store.

I love the color.

bristlecone

Only in San Francisco

pathfinder

Maybe someone can explain this sign to me - I shot this in Bath, England in May of 2008, and I'm still trying to figure out what it means. Anyone who knows what this sign means? ??Beware of rocket powered bicycles. perhaps?

Stumblebum

That is beautiful sign Len....
Jim it means, the road is reserved for bicyclists and rockets.

Cavalier

Since it is a triangle, it must mean to Yield to bicycles and rockets. But then who wouldn't yield to rockets?

pathfinder

Jo, that makes sense, finally.

I looked and looked at that sign to see if the rocket was't added on by someone other than the highway department that put up the sign, but I could never find any evidence that the rocket wasn't on the sign originally - at least none that I could see.

Yield to bikes and rockets. Ok......

Earache

^^^ I was getting very curious too, so I did a bunch of Google-ing this morning and I learned that this style of triangle sign
contains an advisement or warning on road conditions... Yield is actually the 180 deg. rotated (inverted) version of this triangle.

I couldn't find any sign or image or reference to a sign with a rocket in combination with an official message...
And, the UK has pretty strict specifications and requirements for official road signage...
And, it seemed unlikely to me that the government would mix images on official signs, so, I'm guessing
that the rocket is a decal/sticker with a very clear background, applied by a civilian prankster.
Maybe pixel-peep and see if you can see an edge to the rocket image?

It was a fun search... there are lots of funny and gag road signs out there... some not suitable for polite company, lol

Earache

The food-to-go window at the very controversial Che Cafe on the campus of UCSD in La Jolla, CA.

Stumblebum

There may be controversy about the cafe, but there is no controversy about the shot: GREAT!

GSPeP

pathfinder

I just remembered some more - thanks GS PeP

Watson Lake's sign forest park - just a small part of it



Some of the friendly locals in Alaska left some reminders of their presence

Stumblebum

@ Denali sign!

sarasphotos

Here's a couple on the "sign forest" theme:

In Rome:



Along the Canal du Midi:



Cheers, Sara

GSPeP

IJzer (Yser) River along which thousands of young men died during World War One.

Richard

Lost in translation
Saw this one today in my favorite market:

willard3

Catrina in front of a restaurant

Cavalier

Shaver Lake in the foothills near Fresno, Ca. The lake was drained for repairs to the Dam over the winter of 2011/2012. An old mining office is still at the bottom of the lake with a lightbulb still in the socket of an old hanging lamp. I've always loved the sign "Lake closed".

sarasphotos

Richard wrote: »

Saw this one today in my favorite market:

I just couldn't let this go uncommented... "do EAT Yourself..." this is the kind of thing I see all the time in Germany. Drives me nuts even though I have a good laugh.

Since English is the "hip" language and everyone had it at school they all imagine that they can express themselves perfectly. My very favorite here is the constant misuse of the apostrophe. (It gets used a lot not just for posessives but for plurals as well.)

Ok, rant ended...

Cheers to all,

Sara

Richard

Don't be too hard on your fellow Germans. Lots of native English speakers don't understand that the apostrophe is not for plurals either.

English is used all the time for publicity and marketing in Spain these days. I don't really understand why, except when the business is directed at foreign tourists. But it goes way beyond that--very few tourists make it to this market. It's in an up-scale neighborhood so I guess they think it makes them look sophisticated. Too bad they don't know that eat is not a reflexive verb in English (unlike Spanish), and the error is hilarious.

GSPeP

Sign at the entrance of one of the nature reserves in my village. The picture on the top right is one of mine.



The large center picture is how it used to look. This is how it looks now:

willard3

As I was taking this foto, a resident of the house near where it was posted told me he had put the sign up 50 years ago. It is made of a refrigerator panel.

Country hunters always use signs for target practice.

Molsondog

Extreme Precision

DonRicklin

Don

sarasphotos

willard3 wrote: »

As I was taking this foto, a resident of the house near where it was posted told me he had put the sign up 50 years ago. It is made of a refrigerator panel.

Country hunters always use signs for target practice.

I love how this has grown into the tree!