Posted Thu, 26 Aug 2010 at 9:37 am
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I love funny signs, and I know that many of my readers enjoy them also. At the beginning of my 38th year (!) of teaching French, I decided to share some French humor. I'll try to do it in a way that all can enjoy, even if they've never studied French.
In a post called Unhelpful Road Signs I poked fun at the following combination of signs:

I still miss the logic of one sign's saying Toutes Directions, indicating all directions, right next to another sign saying other directions. If all means all, how can there be other?! And yet you see that pairing of signs all over France!
This next pairing is even more illogical.
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Tags: France · French · signs
Posted Thu, 22 Jul 2010 at 6:46 am
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It's been a while since I posted some funny signs. All of the signs in today's post are ones that readers wanted me to share.
I didn't know that apple fritters grew on trees....

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Tags: signs
Posted Mon, 31 May 2010 at 6:02 am
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Today's blog post is a collection of signs that deliver some ironic messages. I hope you enjoy them.
The invention of the system of raised dots by Frenchman Louis Braille dramatically changed the lives of blind people. But Braille writing shows up in some of the oddest places — the number pads of drive-thru ATM's and warning signs on doors opening outward, for example. Here's an instance of where the placement of Braille seems not only ironic, but also downright cruel.

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Tags: signs
Posted Thu, 20 May 2010 at 6:58 am
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Being a person who likes to leave things better than I found them, I have never understood the mentality that does graffiti or other forms of vandalism. Some "graffiti artists" might argue that they are trying to improve things by leaving something eye catching behind, but many of them do not leave something good behind. Much of graffiti is vulgar and unsightly, seeking to show disrespect or to draw attention to the vandals themselves, and most people do not appreciate having their property defaced or having to clean up graffiti. In this post I am in no way trying to encourage or excuse vandalism, but since graffiti happens, I will try to look at some of the effects that are actually interesting or even beautiful. Some graffiti is quite creative ... if only that creativity could be directed into more acceptable activity....
I'll start off with some that are really pretty cool.
Here's a staircase illusion.

Here is some modern art done by someone named Banksy, a British street artist with an international reputation.
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Tags: art · France · signs
Posted Mon, 26 Apr 2010 at 6:33 am
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I don't know what it is about funny signs that I find so amusing. Maybe it's just the highly public nature of a sign that makes a strange or confusing wording or an absurd picture all the more humorous. I'm sure that some signs are intentionally funny, just to grab attention and brighten someone else's day. But the thought that a sign is absurd without intentionality amuses me to no end. I've recently been sent or been pointed to some signs that had me laughing out loud (lol). If they amuse you as much as they did me, you might want to be sure you are reading this in a place where you are free to lol.
Here's a building that used to be located somewhere in Saint Louis. I understand it has since been torn down. Was there a butcher's shop down that side street?

Here are several signs that might make you think twice about parking near them.
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Tags: signs